Foreign victims of the Terrain hotel incident that took place in Juba have rejected the financial compensation awarded last year, an army official said.
The incident occurred on July 11, 2016 as President Salva Kiir’s forces won a battle over opposition fighters loyal to the country’s former First Vice President, Riek Machar.
In September last year, a military court sentenced 10 soldiers to prison for the rape of at least five international women and the murder of a local journalist in an attack on the Terrain hotel, and ordered the government to pay compensation to all the victims.
Each of the five female aid workers was to be given $4,000 as compensation while the family of the slain South Sudanese journalist was to get 51 cattle.
The hotel owner, according to the military court, would receive $2.2 million in compensation for the destruction of his property.
But speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, South Sudan army spokesperson, Major General Lul Ruai Koang said foreign victims rejected the financial compensation, saying it cannot be compared to the amount of psychological loss and treatment costs incurred.
He said the victims of the hotel attack wanted $200.5 million in compensation for the losses, but the court decided to award $4,000.
Koang, however, said the government would still look into the victims’ demands, besides the compensation for the slain journalist’s family.