Thousands of South Sudanese are now sheltering in United Nations sites in Juba, and elsewhere in the country.
Advertisement
In at least one of the sexual assaults on July 17, armed United Nations peacekeepers from Nepal and China allegedly witnessed the attack from a guard tower and an armored vehicle.
“They were seeing it”. “The woman was seriously screaming, quarreling and crying also, but there was no help. She was crying for help”, said one unnamed eyewitness to the gang rape of a woman in public.
The women “want to stock food because they are not sure what will happen next”, said a field monitor with WFP who was helping to distribute food to women with children.
Civil war broke out when soldiers from Kiir’s Dinka ethnic group disarmed and targeted troops of Machar’s Nuer ethnic group.
In March 2016, Amnesty International released a briefing detailing the deliberate suffocation of more than 60 men and boys in shipping containers in Leer, Unity Statein October 2015 and called for an end to unlawful killings by the armed forces.
“I saw the men taking their pants off and the ladies crying inside”, said a middle-aged woman. As she spoke, she began to cry.
“I want to assure you that South Sudan will be more peaceful with Taban and Kiir instead of Riek Machar”, he added.
Among the interviewees were 26 women and girls who had escaped or been freed from captivity, many of whom were subject to repeated sexual and physical violence while being held. Reports from human rights groups claim that the number of refugees crossing into Uganda has ballooned within recent weeks, with 8,000 fleeing in one day. She said the soldier slapped her before another soldier intervened, allowing her to escape. Two of the victims died from their injuries.
The United States funneled millions into Salva Kiir’s administration to stabilize the country, despite reports of the rampant use of child soldiers. It was here that a girl we’ll call Sara, who is 15 years old, was gang raped by six soldiers on July 18.
This week, Salva Kiir, the president of South Sudan and the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), swore in Taban Deng Gai as first vice president, replacing former Vice President Riek Machar. Army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang told the AP they had not received any formal complaints about the rapes, therefore could not do anything to punish the perpetrators. Two Chinese peacekeepers were killed.
The council’s veto-wielding powers – the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain – are already discussing a second, more substantial US draft resolution that would impose an arms embargo and authorize more troops, diplomats said.
The U.N. has said it has increased patrols outside the camp in response to reported rapes.
Advertisement
Nyewutda, a 31-year-old woman who lost five of her friends in the attack on Toch Reah Island in September, said: “When the government forces came, we ran away with our cattle to Bul”. The UN was unable to move freely in the days after the shooting started because government soldiers blocked them, and a planned food distribution was delayed for roughly 10 days. “The WFP food was looted, so in case the same thing happens they have nowhere to go”.
