South Sudanese government forces committed widespread abuses against Nuer civilians after clashes in Juba, the UN human rights chief said on Thursday.
Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein described summarily executions, arbitrary arrests, and gang-rape by government soldiers that had become taken a “very dangerous ethnic undertone” and called “for urgent action by the Security Council.”
“We have documented at least 217 cases of sexual violence in Juba between 8 and 25 July,” Zeid said. “In a few areas, women from various ethnic groups were raped by heavily armed youth believed to be affiliated to the SPLA in Opposition (SPLA/IO),”
Hundreds of civilians were killed in the initial fighitng in July, the UN said and some were “reportedly summarily executed by Government (SPLA) soldiers, who appear to have specifically targeted people of Nuer origin.”
“On 11 July, South Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers reportedly arrested eight Nuer civilians during house-to-house searches in Juba’s Munuki area and took them to two nearby hotels, where they shot four of them” the UN said.
Al Hussein’s statement is a disturbing account of the actions of government soldiers, and was most critical about what he called impunity of troops.
“The rapes and killings of civilians continue, the impunity remains, and the Hybrid Court and other proposed measures to enhance protection and accountability have not yet been implemented,” Al Hussein said. “The Government says it has established a court martial to try SPLA soldiers accused of committing crimes against civilians, including ‘looting, murder and other forms of human rights abuses,’” he noted. “It has made similar promises in the past, but the violations continue unabated.”
Some of the women were reported to have been near UN peacekeepers, who are mandated to use force to protect civilians. Al Hussein said that strong action should be taken against UN military personnel who did not protect civilians.