UN envoys accuse South Sudan’s warring parties of committing sexual violence
October 22, 2014 (NEW YORK) – United Nations envoys have accused South Sudan’s warring parties of committing sexual violence and perpetuating the suffering of their people on a devastating scale.
She said Bentiu in Unity state, which is home to the rebel leader Riek Machar but currently under the control of forces under president Salva Kiir’s government, is the hardest hit by sexual violence and threats of harm against the internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have taken refuge at UN camps.
“The circumstances that I witnessed, particularly in the fiercely contested town of Bentiu in Unity State, are among the worst I have ever experienced. The IDPs seeking refuge there face a devastating combination of chronic insecurity, unimaginable living conditions, acute day-to-day protection concerns and rampant sexual violence,” she told the UNSC.
“The character of sexual violence crimes shocked me to my core, captured in the words of one survivor who told me: ‘It is not just about rape – it is to break your dignity, it is done to cause unimaginable suffering and destruction,’” she said.
South Sudan, she explained, is widespread with sexual violence, including acts of rape, gang rape, abductions, forced marriage and sexual slavery, and mutilation of sexual organs.
These violations, she added, are being perpetrated by all sides in the conflict and have since the crisis reached an alarming level, expressed in a vicious cycle of retribution and revenge.
“I am gravely concerned about the ethnic dimensions, manifest particularly in targeting and reprisals between Dinka and Nuer communities,” she told the UN body.
The UN envoy on sexual violence prevention further reported that 75% of survivors of sexual violence in the capital, Juba, are girls under the age of 18, revelation she unearthed after visiting Juba Teaching Hospital, which is the biggest government run hospital in the country.
She said generally in the country victims of sexual violence have no access to medical services and are also denied access to justice.
The envoy however applauded signing a communique with president Kiir which committed the government to addressing the issues of sexual violence and called on the opposition leader, Riek Machar, to sign a similar document with the UN system so as to reign in his forces.
DETERIORATING HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
The head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and special representative of the Secretary-General Ellen Margrethe also depicted the gravity of the dire humanitarian situation in South Sudan in a separate report she presented to the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Over 1.8 million people, she said, have been displaced with 1.3 million internally and another 453,000 to neighbouring countries of Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan. Around 4 million, she added, are facing serious food insecurity unless the warring parties stop the war.
Currently, she reported, 100,000 IDPs have taken refuge in nine UN sites across the country with the highest number in Bentiu which hosts 49,000 people, with 28, 000 in Juba and over 18, 000 in Upper Nile state capital, Malakal.
She accused the parties of mistreating UN personnel, citing arrests and tortures of their personnel by government security officials. The envoy called on the warring parties to conclude a peace agreement in order reverse the negative trend and suffering of the people.
“There is no alternative to silencing the guns and concluding, without further delay, a comprehensive peace agreement in order to return the country towards the path of peace and stability,” she said.
(ST)