We agree - wars don't solve problems! In #SouthSudan, widespread#humanrights abuses have been committed by all parties to the conflict since Dec 2013 - hundreds of extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, forced recruitment & indiscriminate attacks against civilians. We urge all sides to negotiate in good faith as the peace process gets underway. See our new report with United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) http://ow.ly/XmhrU
Very few places in areas of conflict have been safe, as the parties have intentionally attacked traditional safe havens, such as places of worship, hospitals and, from time to time, UN bases. These attacks reveal a shocking disregard for civilian life, the report says, with an increasing number of armed groups and communities being involved in the violence. “From the middle of 2015, a new pattern emerged, particularly in the central and southern counties of Unity State, with entire villages being burned down, food crops destroyed and livestock looted. There are indications that this may have been a deliberate strategy by the government or the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) aimed at depriving civilians of any source of livelihood with a view to forcing their displacement,” says the report. There has also been sharp increase in child recruitment, with at least 13,000 to 15,000 child soldiers, recruited mainly, but not solely, by opposition forces, as of December 2015.
"The constant attacks on women, the rape, enslavement and slaughter of innocents; the recruitment of thousands upon thousands of child soldiers; the deliberate displacement of vast numbers of people in such a harsh and poverty-stricken country -- these are abhorrent practices that must be halted," said our High Commissioner #Zeid.
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