South Sudan: Widespread Atrocities in Government Offensive

https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/21/south-sudan-widespread-atrocities-government-offensive

(Nairobi) – South Sudanese government forces and allied fighters carried out scores of killings, rapes, and widespread burning and pillage of civilian property in a military offensive in Unity State causing forced displacement, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian property during the offensive between April and June 2015 amount to war crimes, and the killings and rapes may also constitute crimes against humanity.

July 22, 2015 Report

"They Burned it All"

Destruction of Villages, Killings, and Sexual Violence in Unity State South Sudan

• Download the full report

The 42-page report, “They Burned it All: Destruction of Villages, Killings, and Sexual Violence in South Sudan’s Unity State,” is based on more than170 interviews in June and July with survivors and witnesses. More than 125 of these were displaced by fighting or attacks on their villages by government troops or allied militia from the Bul Nuer ethnic group. Human Rights Watch documented shocking accounts of about 60 unlawful killings of civilian women, men, and children, including the elderly. Some were hanged and others shot, and others were burned alive. Interviewees were selected randomly and the number of cases documented by Human Rights Watch almost certainly represents only a fraction of the total.

“Government-aligned forces carried out gruesome killings and widespread rapes and burned countless homes as they swept across large parts of Unity State,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The devastating offensive in Unity State is the latest in a conflict characterized by shocking disregard for civilian life.”

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During a visit in May, UNMISS staff found that parts of Nhialdiu town, Rubkona county, had been burned down, including these huts.
© 2015 Private

Killings took place in towns and villages but fighters from the Bul Nuer ethnic group operating alongside government forces also shot at terrified civilians as they chased them into forests and swamps. “They were hunting people and cows,” said one woman, who, like numerous others, described spending days hiding amid reeds or long grass. Human Rights Watch spoke to people from more than 25 villages or settlements who said government forces and aligned militia had deliberately burned their villages to the ground, in whole or in part. The soldiers and militia also deliberately destroyed food stores and seeds intended for cultivation.
South Sudan’s conflict began in December 2013, triggered by a gun battle between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to the former Vice President Riek Machar. The conflict has been dominated by war crimes, including widespread killings of civilians because of their ethnicity or perceived allegiances. Two million people have fled their homes.

Government-aligned forces carried out gruesome killings and widespread rapes and burned countless homes as they swept across large parts of Unity State. The devastating offensive in Unity State is the latest in a conflict characterized by shocking disregard for civilian life.

Daniel Bekele

Africa director

In April 2015, the government opened a multi-pronged offensive to recapture opposition-held territory in Unity State. The campaign by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and allied militia has displaced at least 100,000 people, according to the United Nations. Without food, cattle, or shelter, tens of thousands of destitute people have fled to a UN base in the state’s capital, where many live in overcrowded and often unsanitary conditions. Others have fled to swampy areas where aid agencies are struggling to reach them. The UN Security Council should expand targeted individual sanctions on commanders and others responsible for serious crimes during the Unity State offensive, and impose an arms embargo on the parties to the conflict to help stem ongoing attacks on civilians, Human Rights Watch said. United States President Barack Obama should make a public commitment to advance an arms embargo when he visits the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in late July, Human Rights Watch said.