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South Sudan rejects UN rape accusations against soldiers

Friday, 05 August 2016 5:24 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 05 August 2016 5:33 PM ]

The file photo shows a member of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). (AFP)

South Sudan on Friday dismissed accusations against its soldiers that they had raped and killed civilians during clashes in the capital Juba in July.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein said Thursday that at least 217 cases of sexual violence in Juba had been documented between July 8 and July 25.

The UN official blamed troops from Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) loyal to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir for the acts of violence.

Of the 217 cases documented by the UN, "those most affected were displaced Nuer women and girls and those responsible seem to have been mostly SPLA," Hussein said.

He also stated that although the government has established a military court aimed at trying SPLA soldiers who commit rights abuses, “the violations continue unabated.”

The SPLA spokesman, Lul Ruai Koang, on Friday rejected the UN official’s remarks as “baseless accusation.”

He said the alleged violence could have been carried out by men in uniform who were not necessarily government soldiers.

The SPLA spokesman said 19 government soldiers were currently on trial for crimes varying from looting to loitering to murder. He claimed that the SPLA had not received "any complaint from alleged victims regarding the above mentioned issue."

South Sudan has witnessed a new wave of conflict since July 8, when gunfire erupted near the state house in Juba, where President Kiir and then Vice President Riek Machar were meeting for talks. More than 300 people have been killed in the clashes.

The country gained independence from Sudan in 2011. It has gone through turmoil ever since.

The conflict in South Sudan has exposed deep ethnic divisions. It erupted after a power struggle between President Kiir, a member of the Dinka ethnic group, and rebel leader Machar, a member of the Nuer ethnic group.

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