Some of the more than 30,000 Nuer civilians sheltering in a United Nations base in South Sudan’s capital Juba on July 25, 2016.
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One female victim told the Associated Press that she was raped by 15 South Sudanese soldiers during the attack last month at a residential compound in Juba that is popular with foreigners.
For hours throughout the assault, the United Nations peacekeeping force stationed about a kilometre away refused to respond to desperate calls for help.
He said that the integration was in line with the August 2015 peace agreement aimed at ending South Sudan’s civil war.
Ban is “concerned” by accusations peacekeepers didn’t react appropriately “to prevent this and other grave cases of sexual violence committed” in the city and “has made a decision to launch an independent special investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding these incidents and to evaluate the mission’s overall response”, according to the Tuesday statement. Ban urged the government to investigate all human rights violations and prosecute those responsible, he said.
The U.S. embassy, which also received distress calls during the attack, “was not in a position to intervene”, Department of State spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters Monday, though it apparently passed along the information to South Sudanese officials.
The UNHCR said despite setting up a new 100,000-capacity camp at Yumbe, in northern Uganda, it urgently needs more money to accommodate almost one million South Sudanese refugees in six countries in the region, as well as some 1.6 million people internally displaced in the wake of fresh conflicts.
“I think there will be considerable global pressure for the perpetrators of this attack to be held to account”, said Bryce.
A peace deal signed between the government and rebels nearly a year ago has so far failed to end the conflict and last month, Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting between Kiir’s forces and those loyal to Machar.
The resolution demands that South Sudan’s leaders immediately end the fighting and implement the peace deal.
In response, the USA deputy ambassador to the U.N.on Friday accused South Sudan’s government of blocking the work of the United Nations mission.
Deng did not say how many troops had been arrested.
After initially agreeing to the force during a summit of the East African bloc IGAD, South Sudan’s government on Wednesday said it now had reservations.
The soldiers found John Gatluak, a South Sudanese journalist. During this incident, at least 30 internally displaced persons were killed and 123 were wounded.
The visiting South Sudanese delegation is expected to pay a courtesy visit to President Uhuru Kenyatta at the State House to discuss a range of issues, including the proposed deployment of regional force to Juba to restore security and protect civilians at risk in the capital.
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The U.N. and US embassies are accused of ignoring desperate pleas help, witnesses said.
