Under offensiven angreb regeringstropper sammen med allierede militser oprørsgrupper i den olie-producerende delstat, Unity.
“Brutale angreb på flygtende civile kombineret med udbredt afbrænding af landsbyer, mad og andre ting, som folk behøver for at kunne overleve, tyder på, at regeringens mål var tvinge folk væk fra deres hjem”, siger organisationens Afrika-direktør Daniel Bekele.
Mindst 60 civile – herunder børn og ældre – mistede livet ved offensiven, skriver Human Rights Watch i sin netop udgivne rapport; ”De brændte det hele”.
Heri beskriver 170 ofre og vidner deres oplevelser af regeringstroppernes angreb, der varede frem til midten af juni.
“De kørte efter folk i kampvogne, og efter de havde ramt dem, bakkede de tilbage for at sikre sig, at de var døde”, fortæller et vidne i rapporten.
“Brændt levende”
Mange blev også hængt, skudt eller brændt levende, og flere kvinder tævet, bortført og udsat for voldtægter – i flere tilfælde massevoldtægter.
Kun én overlevende kvinde har efterfølgende fået lægebehandling, fremgår det af rapporten.
Ifølge Human Rights Watch kan de mange drab og voldtægter være forbrydelser mod menneskeheden.
En talsmand for regeringen i Sydsudan kalder anklagerne “grundløse”.
Sydsudan opnåede uafhængighed fra Sudan i juli 2011 efter en blodig borgerkrig, der varede flere årtier.
I december i 2013 blev den unge nation kastet ud i en grusom konflikt, da en gruppe indenfor militæret forsøgte at kuppe præsident Salva Kiir, der kort forinden havde fyret sin vice-præsident Riek Machar.
Borgerkrigen har standset stort set al fremdrift i landet og f.eks. Danmark har måttet omlægge sin betydelige udviklingsbistand til humanitær nødhjælp.
Udviste FNs humanitære koordinator
Sydsudan udviste i maj FN’s humanitære koordinator i landet, Toby Lanzer. Det skete uden officiel forklaring fra regeringen.
Men Toby Lanzer har været meget aktiv på Twitter. Her skriver han ofte om den fortvivlede situation i landet.
FN’s generalsekretær, Ban Ki-moon, fordømte beslutningen og opfordrede regeringen til at samarbejde med de FN-organisationer, som er til stede i Sydsudan.
Lanzers periode som FN-koordinator i det afrikanske land var tæt på at løbe ud. FN har allerede meddelt, at han skal erstattes af ghaneseren Eugene Owusu.
FN’s fredsbevarende styrke i Sydsudan, UNMISS, ledes af den tidligere danske FN-ambassadør og Danida-chef, ambassadør Ellen Margrethe Løj.
Læs mere om hende og jobbet på U-landsnyt.dk.
“De jagtede mennesker og køer”
Human Rights Watch skriver videre i sin pressemeddelelse om rapporten “They Burned it All: Destruction of Villages, Killings, and Sexual Violence in South Sudan’s Unity State”:
Killings took place in towns and villages but fighters from the Bul Nuer ethnic group operating alongside government forces also shot at terrified civilians as they chased them into forests and swamps.
“They were hunting people and cows,” said one woman, who, like numerous others, described spending days hiding amid reeds (rør) or long grass.
Bevidst brændt-jords taktik
Human Rights Watch spoke to people from more than 25 villages or settlements who said government forces and aligned militia had deliberately burned their villages to the ground, in whole or in part.
The soldiers and militia also deliberately destroyed food stores and seeds intended for cultivation.
Since a gun battle between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar triggered the civil war, the conflict has been dominated by war crimes, including widespread killings of civilians because of their ethnicity or perceived allegiances.
Nye titusinder i yderste nød
In April 2015, the government opened a multi-pronged offensive to recapture opposition-held territory in Unity State. The campaign by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and allied militia has displaced at least 100,000 people, according to the United Nations.
Without food, cattle, or shelter, tens of thousands of destitute people have fled to a UN base in the state’s capital, where many live in overcrowded and often unsanitary conditions.
Others have fled to swampy areas where aid agencies are struggling to reach them.
Anbefalinger fra Human Rights Watch
The UN Security Council should expand targeted individual sanctions on commanders and others responsible for serious crimes during the Unity State offensive, and impose an arms embargo on the parties to the conflict to help stem ongoing attacks on civilians, Human Rights Watch said.
United States President Barack Obama should make a public commitment to advance an arms embargo when he visits the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in late July, Human Rights Watch said.
The Security Council should also promote a way to increase accountability, such as the establishment of a hybrid court made up of South Sudanese and international lawyers and judges to investigate and prosecute the worst crimes or an investigation by the International Criminal Court, or both.
The African Union, regional governments, and key partners of South Sudan, such as the US, should support these steps.
Læs videre på Human Rights Watchs hjemmeside – begynd fra: “Human Rights Watch documented 63 cases of rape, including gang rapes and….”
2,2 millioner fordrevne og otte millioner i fare for at sulte
Samtidig skriver FNs Nyhedstjeneste tirsdag, at en højtstående FN-repræsentant er sendt til Sydsudan:
The top United Nations humanitarian official is heading to South Sudan where a new cholera outbreak has claimed nearly 40 lives, more than 2.2 million people have been uprooted from their homes by conflict and nearly eight million others are expected to face food shortages during the rainy reason.
Over 1,210 cholera cases, including 39 deaths, have been reported in Juba and Bor counties, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Most of the cases, and 38 of the deaths, were reported in Juba County.
“In response to the outbreak, health partners have set up cholera treatment centres and oral rehydration point in both counties, and are conducting cholera prevention activities, including hygiene promotion and improvement of access to safe drinking water,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, reported Tuesday.
OCHA added that some 99,000 people have received cholera vaccines in two counties, Juba and Bentiu.
På besøg i fire dage fra onsdag
The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, is scheduled to visit Juba and Unity state in South Sudan beginning Wednesday on a four-day visit to see first-hand the humanitarian consequences of the conflict, and efforts by aid organizations to respond to escalating needs.
Among the more than 2.2 million South Sudanese, who have been uprooted from their homes by the conflict, are 1.6 million internally displaced (fordrevne) people and over 600,000 who have fled to Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda as refugees, according to OCHA.
Læs videre hos UN News – begynd fra: “During his visit Mr. O’Brien is expected to…..”
