Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 21:02:18 +0100
U.N. Report on South Sudan Paints Grim Picture
By <http://www.ipsnews.net/author/samuel-oakford/> Samuel Oakford
<http://www.ipsnews.net/reprinting-articles/> Reprint |
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 26 2014 (IPS) - An interim human rights report released
by the beleaguered U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan is being
tentatively hailed by rights groups and observers who have pressured the
mission to be more transparent with its findings.
<http://www.unmiss.unmissions.org/Portals/unmiss/Documents/PR/Reports/HRD%20
Interim%20Report%20on%20Crisis%202014-02-21.pdf> The report, delivered to
the Security Council Friday and tweeted by the mission, UNMISS, on Sunday,
is an overview of evidence collected by its roughly 80 human rights officers
<http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/02/u-n-report-south-sudan-paints-grim-picture/>
datinghttp://cdncache1-a.akamaihd.net/items/it/img/arrow-10x10.png from the
outbreak of violence on Dec. 15 through the end of January.
"Malakal is deserted, with houses burned throughout and countless dead
bodies strewn in the streets." -- Carlos Francisco
Jehanne Henry, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, who returned
last week from Bentiu and Rubkona, said she welcomed the report but stressed
that in a country beset by impunity, regular reporting from the mission
would serve as a powerful deterrent against atrocities.
"This is definitely a good step, but it is also clear that this is an
interim report," Henry told IPS, adding that the mission didn't provide "any
recommendations, fact-finding or legal analysis."
"We would have wanted to see more regular public reporting that might have
prevented some of this," said Henry.
Based on more than 500 interviews with civilians and officials, the report
contains accounts of mass ethnic-based killings, gang-rapes and torture
carried out by government troops and various militias in opposition.
The report focused on allegations of human rights violations in what it
called the four "red" states - Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity and Central
Equatoria - where battles were fiercest. It is clear, the authors wrote,
"that civilians bore the brunt of much of the fighting and that gross
violations of human rights were committed."
The mission said it was also investigating reported mass grave sites in
Juba, Bentiu and Rubkona.
Shortly after fighting broke out in Juba, the report states, "Sudan People's
Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers were reported to have engaged in targeting
killings of civilians of Nuer origin following house-to-house searches."
Meanwhile, in the strategic oil city of Malakal, Dinka civilians were the
alleged targets of defected Nuer SPLA and national police elements and of
the so-called Nuer White Army.
The report came as a surprise to some observers who had expected nothing
public until the end of April, when the mission delivers its full report to
the Security Council.
But the interim document does not contain charges or name individuals under
investigation. UNMISS human rights chief Ibrahim Wani defended that decision
Wednesday, saying "the most important response to such allegations is
obviously the credibility of the report itself."
Outside of what it sends the Security Council, UNMISS has released publicly
only two human rights reports in its nearly three-year history.
Ceasefire ignored
Both sides in the conflict appear to be ignoring the cessation of
hostilities reached by negotiators in Addis Ababa on Jan. 23. Shortly after
it was signed, government forces reportedly retook Leer, the hometown of
rebel-leader Riek Machar, burning down much of the town and forcing
thousands to flee.
On the day of the interim report's release, the U.N. said it had found 50
bodies in Malakal and more at a local teaching hospital where the medical
charity MSF said many had been shot through the head, execution-style.
"Malakal is deserted, with houses burned throughout and countless dead
bodies strewn in the streets," said Carlos Francisco, MSF's emergency
coordinator in Malakal.
On Sunday, the British NGO Oxfam was forced to evacuate all of its workers
from the city.
Malakal has already changed hands at least five times and the ethnic makeup
of the overflowing U.N. camp there largely depends on what army is currently
laying siege to the city.
Last week, the U.N. base there reported that during gun battles outside its
walls, inter-ethnic fighting broke out within the camp, resulting in the
deaths of six and injuring more than 43. Though UNMISS denied it via
Twitter, former BBC journalist Martin Plaut reported fighting took place at
the Malakal camp not only between displaced persons but between local U.N.
employees.
Pressure on UNMISS
On Feb. 11, a mission spokeswoman informed IPS the interim report wouldn't
be public but rather was "an internal report similar to a roadmap that will
indicate trends based on initial findings and lead to" the late April
Security Council Report.
Sources at the U.N. who were aware of the report's delivery to the Security
Council Friday said they were unsure until the last moment whether it would
be made public. Though the report stresses its findings are still
provisional, it does appear the mission changed its mind at some point over
the past several weeks and decided to post the 21-page document publicly on
its website.
UNMISS' special representative Hilde Johnson has
<http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/02/transparency-urged-u-n-s-south-sudan-mission
/> come under criticism for her perceived closeness with the government of
President Salva Kiir. Human rights groups specifically alleged that the
mission under her command should have been more vocal, via regular
reporting, about human rights violations that foreshadowed the current
conflict.
Observers close to the U.N. and UNMISS suggest that when the mission's
mandate is renewed - as it is expected to be - in July, a new special
representative will likely be appointed. One diplomatic source who spoke
with IPS anonymously said Johnson, feeling heat from U.N. headquarters over
her bunker mentality and paralysis over reporting, is perhaps now less
inclined to safeguard relations with a government more belligerent towards
her by the day.
In a statement that accompanied the release, Johnson spoke of accountability
and said "without bringing to justice the perpetrators of these horrendous
crimes, revenge and impunity is likely to lead to a perpetual cycle of
violence."
"Some observers say she was too close to the government," D'Souza told IPS.
"But in this position, it shows that they are working to be seen as more
impartial - throughout the report, there were signs that SPLA soldiers were
engaged in targeting of civilians, said D'Souza. "By being impartial, you
come under pressure from one side or the other."
Indeed, upon learning of it, a government spokesperson called the interim
report "pure fabrication."
Impunity
South Sudan's 2011 independence failed to bring about a mechanism for
south-on-south justice, allowing longstanding schisms in the ruling SPLM to
metastasise into a body politic that only staved off collapse by rewarding
rebel leaders with ministries and by applying the salve of oil money to
succour displeased leaders.
Those schemes came to an abrupt halt on Dec 15, when Kiir, a Dinka, accused
his former vice-president and longtime rebel comrade Machar of plotting a
coup. Machar denied those charges but fled to take control of a mostly-Nuer
rebel force, though his command over erratic groups with local grievances
has been questioned throughout the conflict.
Soon after violence began, the African Union (AU) began piecing together a
commission of inquiry into the conflict. Recent
<http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/feb/06/africa-attacks-interna
tional-criminal-court/?pagination=false> efforts by the AU to distance
itself from the International Criminal Court (ICC) has led to suspicions
that the inquiry is at least in part an effort to elude the spectacle of yet
another African leader on trial in the Hague.
"You can probably argue that some countries want to sidestep the ICC,
however the commission of inquiry is still a huge deal," said D'Souza. "It
is very important for the international community to open its own
investigation to complement national initiative."
"South Sudan has a history of impunity which perpetuates the cycle of
intercommunal violence. It's absolutely critical that UNMISS human rights
officers are able to interview senior leadership of both the government and
the opposition to analyse the command and control structure and see who
should be held accountable within them."
UNMISS Facts and Figures
Strength
Authorised:
. Up to 7,000 military personnel
. Up to 900 civilian police personnel
. An appropriate civilian component
Current (as of Dec. 31, 2013)
. 7,684 total uniformed personnel:
. 6,796 troops
. 142 military liaison officers
. 746 police
. 861 international civilian personnel*
. 1,334 local civilian staff*
. 415 United Nations Volunteers
*NB: Statistics for international and local civilians are as of 31 August
2013. Source: UNMISS
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