S. Sudan vows to cooperate with investigations into UN helicopter crash
September 10, 2014 (JUBA) – South Sudan has pledged to work together with the United Nations and the Russian government to carry out a full and independent investigation into the cause of a helicopter crash in Unity state on 26 August, which killed threw crew and injured another.
The comments come after the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) issued a statement on Tuesday saying preliminary investigations into the circumstances surrounding the crash indicate the Mi-8 helicopter was shot down.
The UN-contracted helicopter and its Russian crew were flying from Western Bahr el Ghazal state to Unity state capital Bentiu on a routine cargo flight went it down about 10km from its destination.
Bentiu has been a major flashpoint for violence since conflict erupted in South Sudan in mid-December last year and large swathes of the area remain under the control of rebel forces loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar.
Experts, who concluded the first stage of the investigation on Wednesday, have confirmed that during a phone call with a UNMISS staff member in Bentiu on 17 August, Peter Gadet, the commander of opposition forces in Unity state, alleged that UNMISS aircraft were being used to transport troops from the South Sudanese army (SPLA) and threatened to shoot down aircraft flying over its territory.
In an audio of the conversation by Al Jazeera, Gadet can be heard warning the UN representative: “We fire at all airplanes incoming.”
According to its communications with the rebel commander, the mission refuted Gadet’s accusations and immediately began sharing information on all its flights into Bentiu with both opposition forces and the SPLA.
Gadet was among several high-ranking government and rebel commanders hit with sanctions by the US and EU over their alleged role in human rights abuses committed during the conflict.
UNMISS spokesperson Joe Contreras is quoted by Al Jazeera as saying it is hoped the opposition leadership “would hold their own elements responsible and mete out a suitable punishment” if it is indeed proven that their forces on the ground were responsible for the attack.
Experts, however, have cautioned that the preliminary probe cannot be used as the basis for accusations over who may have been responsible for issuing the order for the helicopter to be shot down.
“It is premature at this stage to conclusively apportion blame for the shooting down of the helicopter,” investigators said in a statement.
“A more in-depth technical investigation, which is being conducted in compliance with international air safety standards, and an independent Board of Inquiry being established by the United Nations to look into the incident should provide additional information which will make it possible to conclusively determine the source of the ground fire which brought down the helicopter,” the statement adds.
Experts from the UN, South Sudan and Russia are reportedly involved in technical investigations into the crash.
The UN has condemned in the strongest possible terms what it describes as an “unprovoked” and deadly attack on its personnel and aircraft, stressing that the UN Security Council (UNSC) had emphasised that those responsible for the attack must be held accountable and that all necessary measures must be taken to avoid such attacks in the future.
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