At least 440 civilians were killed between June and September 2021 in South Sudan in clashes between factions of Vice President Riek Machar and the army loyal to President Salva Kiir, according to a UN report published on Tuesday March 1.
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In addition to these hundreds killed, 18 civilians were injured and 74 abducted during the violence in the Tambura region, in the south-west of the country, says this report by the UN mission in South Sudan (Unmiss) and the Human Rights Office of the United Nations.
The report names Vice President Riek Machar's movement (the SPLM/A-IO) and the South Sudanese Defense Forces (SSPDF) loyal to President Kiir "
as well as their respective militias as responsible for the violations and abuses
" committed during these politico-ethnic clashes.
The UN investigation also identified 64 civilian victims of sexual violence, "
including a 13-year-old girl who was gang-raped to death
."
At least 56 civilians are still missing, adds the report, which also mentions "
the looting and destruction of property, the conscription of children, (...) hate speech (...) among other human rights violations humans uncovered by the survey
”.
This violence has caused 80,000 people to flee, estimates the UN.
“Large-scale” killings
The youngest country in the world, South Sudan has experienced chronic instability since its independence from Sudan in 2011. Between 2013 and 2018, it descended into a bloody civil war between sworn enemies Riek Machar and Salva Kiir, which claimed nearly 400,000 dead and millions displaced.
A peace deal signed in 2018 led to power-sharing in a national unity government inaugurated in February 2020, with Kiir as president and Machar as vice-president.
But the provisions of the peace agreement remain largely unimplemented, due in particular to the persistent disputes between the two rivals.
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The failure to set up a unified army and command is notably fueling a climate of violence and impunity and the UN warned in February of a "
real risk of a return to conflict
" in the country.
The investigation into the violence around Tambura found that both sides “
killed civilians on a large scale
”.
"
A large number of victims and witnesses interviewed routinely depicted men armed with AK-47 assault rifles as well as machine guns...and other weapons, including machetes, knives and clubs, moving about in small groups, (...) with their faces masked, speaking a combination of languages, namely Azande, Balanda and Arabic
,” the report says.
"Political manipulation"
The Tambura region, located in Western Equatoria State, is the scene of a long-standing rivalry between the Azande and Balanda ethnic groups.
The UN denounces a "
political manipulation of the Azande and Balanda ethnic identities to qualify the conflict as inter-communal violence
", affirming that "
the situation in Tambura has been characterized by numerous clashes between organized armed groups or militias, under the command and direct control of the SPLM/A-IO or the SSPDF
”.
The people behind the violence "
have been identified, including high-ranking soldiers and community and religious leaders
", underlines the UN.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, called for
prompt, thorough and independent investigations
” and that “
the perpetrators (be) brought to justice and held accountable
”.
In addition to civilians, humanitarian workers are regularly the target of attacks in this country, which is among the poorest in the world.
The Unmiss and the World Food Program on Tuesday condemned an "
ambush attempt
" the day before against an aid convoy in the state of Jonglei (center), while Médecins Sans Frontières said that one of its teams was attacked Tuesday morning and its vehicles burned in Central Equatoria (south).
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), 591 "
incidents
" targeting humanitarian workers were recorded in 2021, more than in 2020 (580) and 2019 (535).