UN mission urges South Sudanese leaders to sanction sexual violence perpetrators

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) called on President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar to take personal responsibility for immediately sanctioning the soldiers responsible for these unacceptable acts of sexual violence, a UN spokesman said here Thursday.

UNMISS "notes that it is following up on the deeply disturbing reports of sexual violence reported earlier, including the rape and gang rape by soldiers in uniform of a number of civilians, including minors, around UN House as well as in several neighborhoods of Juba," the capital of the world's youngest country, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

The mission reported that the number of victims could be in the dozens and that these acts have taken place since the start of the current spate of violence in Juba two weeks ago, Haq said. "The mission's human rights team is currently documenting these cases, which may constitute a war crime."

Meanwhile, the UN mission has stepped up its patrols in and around its Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites as well in Juba city, although with restrictions, and is taking measures to provide the required safety to women who need to go out of the PoC sites to collect firewood and procure other non-food items, he said. "The situation in the country remains tense and volatile."

In response to a question on access to PoC sites, the mission noted that protection of civilians, including in its PoC sites, is its main concern, he said.

Given the intense fighting that occurred close to the sites, extensive safety and security operations, including operations to clear any unexploded ordnance and weapons searches in both PoC sites, were the priorities for the mission in the sites during the first week following the fighting, he said.

"During this time, to minimise security risks, only the most critical UNMISS and humanitarian staff were allowed to enter the PoC sites," he said.

In the days since the conflict subsided, internally displaced people have been freely moving in and out of the sites whenever they deemed the situation safe enough. No displaced person has been stopped from speaking to the media outside the sites, he said.

"Given the continued volatile situation, the mission is evaluating the security situation on a daily basis and expects that media will be able to visit the PoC sites again in the coming days," Haq added. Enditem