UN urges South Sudan to end military raids in Upper Nile

The UN human rights chief on Thursday urged South Sudanese government to halt any further military offensives toward Aburoc on the west bank of the River Nile in the Upper Nile region.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also called on all parties to the conflict to comply with international humanitarian law, including taking all feasible precautions to prevent civilian casualties.

"These are women, children and men at the mercy of military commanders, on both sides of the political divide, who have consistently shown little or no regard for the protection of civilians," Al Hussein said in a statement.

Thousands have fled to the town of Aburoc, 30km north of Kodok where there are now an estimated 50,000 people, although some are now trying to cross over the border into Sudan after government forces took control of Kodok last week.

Some people arrived in recent weeks after terrifying journeys of up to 150 kilometers on foot, after Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) attacks on areas to the south of the town of Aburoc.

Al Hussein said civilians in Aboruc have nowhere left to go, with the SPLA closing in from the south and options to flee northwards severely limited and fraught with danger.

"I urge the SPLM/A-IO to ensure that areas containing large numbers of civilians, including Aburoc, are demilitarized and that measures are taken to ensure the protection of civilians under their control," he said.

The UN human rights chief also called on the government to grant the UN Mission in South Sudan access to Aburoc and Kodok, and to ensure that humanitarian agencies are able to deliver crucial aid to the internally displaced population.

According to the UN, civilians in Aburoc now find themselves in areas controlled by the opposition SPLM/A-IO armed group, facing a military offensive by the SPLA.

There are concerns that the SPLM/A-IO has positioned itself in close proximity to civilian areas, placing civilians clearly in harm's way in the event of an attack by the SPLA and affiliated forces.

The SPLA forces, meanwhile, reportedly include new recruits of Dinka ethnicity from the Western Bahr el-Ghazal area. The civilians in Aburoc are mostly of Shilluk ethnicity.

"Civilians in Aburoc are at serious and imminent risk of gross human rights violations, inter-ethnic violence and re-displacement," Al Hussein said. Endit