Juba: THE staggering brutality of a recent military offensive in South Sudan - including murder of civilians, systematic rape of women and girls and massive looting and destruction - was fuelled by the authorities’ failure to prosecute or remove suspected war criminals, Amnesty International said in a new report.
“A key factor in this brutal offensive was the failure to bring to justice those responsible for previous waves of violence targeting civilians in the region,” said Joan Nyanyuki, Regional Director for East Africa at Amnesty International.
“Leer and Mayendit counties have been hard hit in the past, and yet the South Sudanese government continues to give suspected perpetrators free rein to commit fresh atrocities. The result has been catastrophic for civilians.”
Dozens of civilian women and men told Amnesty International how the offensive was characterized by staggering brutality, with civilians deliberately shot dead, burnt alive, hanged in trees and run over with armoured vehicles in opposition-held areas in Mayendit and Leer counties.
Soldiers and militias used amphibious vehicles to hunt down civilians who fled to nearby swamps. Survivors described how groups of five or more soldiers swept through the vegetation in search of people, often shooting indiscriminately into the reeds.
Nyalony, an elderly woman, told Amnesty International she witnessed soldiers killing her husband and two other men:
“When the attack started, early in the morning while we were sleeping, my husband and I ran to the swamp together. Later in the morning, after the fighting was over, the soldiers came into the swamp looking for people, and sprayed the area where we were hiding with bullets. My husband was hit; he cried out in pain. He was still alive, though, and the soldiers caught him, and then they shot him again and killed him. He was unarmed and wasn’t a fighter; just a farmer.”
Those unable to flee - especially the elderly, children and people with disabilities - were often killed in their villages. Several people described how elderly relatives or neighbours were burnt alive in their tukuls - traditional dwellings - and one man over 90 years old had his throat slit with a knife.
In addition to being raped, many of the abducted women and girls were subjected to forced labour, including carrying looted goods for long distances, as well as cooking and cleaning for their captors. Some of those abducted - including women and men - were held in metal containers and were beaten or otherwise ill-treated.
Source: Amnesty International
