A team of investigators appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have arrived in Juba to look into the the Terrain Hotel attack and the UN peacekeepers’ failure to respond to it, besides other incidents of sexual violence in Juba in July.
UNMISS announced today the arrival of the team saying that they have a mandate to look into incidents in Juba that occurred between 8-25 July 2016.
“The team, which is led by Major General (ret) Patrick Cammaert, will review reports of incidents of attacks on civilians and cases of sexual violence that occurred within or in the vicinity of the UN House Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites in Juba, and determine whether the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, responded appropriately to prevent and stop these incidents and to protect civilians, within its resources and capabilities at the time,” reads the peacekeeping mission’s statement.
At least 600 people died in Juba in the July fighting and there were more than 217 documented incidents of sexual and gender based violence, including rape and gang rapes of minors and women, at various locations in Juba. Thousands of South Sudanese women have been raped by soldiers since the start of the civil war in December 2013.
The team, comprised of experts with military, human rights and sexual- and gender-based violence, policing and legal backgrounds, is expected to submit its report to Secretary-General within one month.
Dutch Major General (retired) Patrick Cammaert leads the team.
Photo: Patrick Cammaert (Credit: NRC.nl)