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S. Sudan says ready to probe alleged human rights abuses

Xinhua, July 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

South Sudan is ready to conduct a fair investigation on human rights violations allegedly committed by government troops in recent battles in Unity and Upper Nile states, an army spokesman said on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported that it has found evidence of "widespread human rights abuses," including abduction and sexual abuse of women and girls, allegedly committed by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and associated armed groups during the recent escalation of fighting since late April.

"The UN report needs comprehensive investigation with participation of all parties," Philip Aguer, the spokesman said. "We are ready to conduct this investigation."

"The testimonies of the survivors are not enough, and therefore an investigation including both the government and the rebels must be conducted to get the facts and bring the perpetrators, if proved to be involved in the violations, to justice," Aguer said.

UNMISS said in its report that its staff members interviewed 115 victims and eyewitnesses from the Unity state counties of Rubkona, Guit, Koch, Leer and Mayom, where the SPLA launched a major offensive against armed opposition forces.

"Some of the most disturbing allegations compiled by UNMISS human rights officers focused on the abduction and sexual abuse of women and girls, some of whom were reportedly burnt alive in their dwellings," it said.

It added that the SPLA and allied militias from Mayom County carried out a campaign against the local population that killed civilians, looted and destroyed villages and displaced over 100,000 people.

South Sudan plunged into violence in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Riek Machar.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

The clashes have killed thousands of South Sudanese displaced around 1.9 million others. Endit