The UN Secretary-General is ‘alarmed’ by the findings of a preliminary investigation by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) into the attack on Hotel Terrain in Juba on 11 July, his spokesman said.

He has ordered an ‘independent’ investigation into why peacekeepers did not respond to distress calls from residents at the Terrain compound, which is near to a UN base. 

One person was killed and several civilians were raped and brutally beaten by SPLA soldiers at the upscale hotel compound last month, witnesses told the AP recently. 

In a statement, Ban’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric pointed to allegations that UNMISS “did not respond appropriately to prevent this and other grave cases of sexual violence committed in Juba.”

“Due to the gravity of these incidents, related allegations and the preliminary findings by UNMISS, the Secretary-General has decided to launch an independent special investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding these incidents and to evaluate the Mission’s overall response,” he said.

“The Secretary-General reiterates his outrage over the acts of violence committed by the SPLA and opposition forces in Juba from 8 to 11 July, during which many South Sudanese civilians and two UN peacekeepers were killed.”

He urged the South Sudanese government to investigate human rights abuses and prosecute those involved. Nobody in South Sudan has been publicly tried for any war crime or atrocity since the start of the civil war two and a half years ago.