Also in the statement, the United Nations chief reiterated his outrage over the acts of violence committed by the government and opposition forces in Juba from 8 to 11 July, during which many South Sudanese civilians and two United Nations peacekeepers were killed.
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The U.S. ambassador to the U.N.is disputing accounts that the U.S. Embassy remained idle while South Sudanese forces last month allegedly raped, beat and robbed people in a residential complex home to foreign aid workers, including Americans.
Henry from Human Rights Watch says the entire ordeal lasted about five hours and some victims were stranded at the hotel all night, despite their appeals for help from the nearby United Nations base.
United Nations peacekeepers didn’t do enough to protect women from rape in surrounding areas, the statement said.
“Attacks against courageous individuals attempting to help the people of South Sudan are attacks against humanity itself”.
She added that the U.S.is demanding the U.N.to take “swift corrective action” if the allegations against its peacekeepers is found to be true.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon says he’s concerned by allegations that the U.N. mission didn’t respond appropriately.
He urged the South Sudanese government to investigate human rights abuses and prosecute those involved.
According to Power, the US embassy did respond to distress calls from the compound and coordinated a response with South Sudanese government officials. Some killings targeted certain South Sudanese due to their ethnicity, it said. “I think it is the duty of this house because all the members, it is now your turn to talk to these people to come out from the POCs and go back to their villages”. “We saw where they shot the local journalist and then they began to separate women into the various rooms”.
The New York-based group said its researchers had documented “targeted killings, rapes and gang rapes, beatings, looting and harassment, often along ethnic lines”, during four days of fighting between the army, loyal to President Salva Kiir, and troops supporting rebel leader Riek Machar. They signed a peace deal in August 2015, but sporadic fighting has continued.
The harrowing incident underscores the failure of the United Nations peacekeeping force to protect civilians despite its mandate to do so, particularly those who are “just a few minutes’ drive away”, according to the Associated Press.
“Whilst the council has authorized the force to use all necessary means to accomplish its mandate, actually doing so could be a turning point for UNMISS in South Sudan”, Bryce said. The Embassy also did not respond to repeated requests for comment from AP.
The United Nations peacekeeping troops deployed to South Sudan and various embassies there, including the USA consulate, have been accused of turning a blind eye to the recent violence against civilians, notes AP. The camp came under attack in February when fighting broke out between rival groups.
Sudan’s modern history has been extremely violent: in the 1950’s and 1960’s, by some estimates as many as two million southern Sudanese Christians and animists, or practitioners of native religions, were killed and, in thousands of cases, enslaved in Sudan’s Islamist north.
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Even the South Sudanese think that Obama is a worthless joke.
