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Escalated fighting in S. Sudan violates int'l law: UN rights chief

Xinhua, May 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, warned Friday that the escalation of fighting in recent weeks between government and opposition forces in South Sudan has resulted in "alarming gross violations" of international human rights and humanitarian law, and has taken a terrible toll on civilians.

The senior UN official said that since the escalation of fighting at the end of April, there have been alarming reports of gross violations, including killings, rapes, abduction as well as burning and destruction of towns and villages in various counties of Unity State.

"UN human rights monitors have been denied access by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) to various sites in Unity," deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said at a daily news briefing.

The high commissioner also noted that successive commitments to ending the hostilities have failed to be implemented and there has been a lack of justice and accountability for the victims. He urged the parties to the conflict to take all feasible measures to prevent harm to civilian lives and infrastructure, including the personnel and premises of the UN and humanitarian agencies.

Meanwhile, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is also deeply concerned that its compound continues to be caught in the cross-fire. There have been eight fatalities among the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) so far. There are more than 1,600 IDPs currently being protected by UNMISS in Melut.

South Sudan's ongoing conflict began in December 2013 and has been marked by brutal violence against civilians and deepening suffering across the country. Some 119,000 people are sheltered in UN compounds there while the organization estimates that the number of people in need for 2015 will include an anticipated 1.95 million IDPs and a projected 293,000 refugees.

In a press release, the high commissioner warned that for more than 17 months, millions of people across South Sudan had been " senselessly suffering through an entirely man-made catastrophe" which has robbed more than two million people of their homes and livelihoods and plunged the entire country into violent instability.

In recent weeks, the fighting in the country has worsened considerably with reports of widespread killings, rapes, abductions and the burning and destruction of towns and villages throughout South Sudan's Unity state.

Earlier in this week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored that the renewed fighting between the SPLM/A and opposition and allied groups is unacceptable -- part of a series of violations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement signed by the parties on Jan. 23, 2014, and undermines the ongoing Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) efforts to find a political solution to the conflict.

The secretary-general called upon South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and former Vice-President Riek Machar to immediately cease all military operations and reminded them of their obligations to protect civilians under international human rights and humanitarian law, after two mortar bombs landed within the compound managed by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Tuesday. Endite