South Sudan: Army and Police Forces Shooting and Raping Civilians in Jonglei

Amnesty International researchers, who travelled to some of the most remote villages in Pibor County in the south-east of Jonglei State, interviewed scores of people who described acts of torture and abuse committed against civilians, including children as young as 18 months old, in addition to having their property looted and crops destroyed.

South Sudan should take immediate action to end human rights violations including torture, shootings and sexual violence by security forces carrying out a civilian disarmament campaign in Jonglei State, Amnesty International said in a new report today.The abuses by the South Sudan Army (known as the SPLA) and the South Sudan Police Service Auxiliary Force (SSPS) have taken place during Operation Restore Peace, instigated by the government in March 2012.

"Far from bringing security to the region, the SPLA and the police auxiliary forces have committed shocking human rights violations and the authorities are doing very little to stop the abuse," said Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty International's Africa Director."Authorities have accepted that individuals are guilty of these violations and claim that it is not illustrative of the behaviour of the SPLA as a whole, but this cannot be used to justify these violations or the failure to deal with them properly."

Researchers spoke to a woman whose brother was shot dead by someone believed to be an auxiliary police officer in front of their home and to two men who were ambushed and shot by soldiers. None of the men who were shot had been armed.Amnesty International also documented credible reports of rape and attempted rape by SPLA forces. One elderly woman explained how a soldier raped her daughter while other soldiers were beating her and her granddaughter with large sticks. Her granddaughter was left unconscious. K.E, a mother of four explained: "I was at home with five other women and our children. They asked us to give guns and we said we didn't have guns and we were beaten with sticks. They took us to pools behind our homes. One soldier stepped on my neck to push my head down and one-stepped on my back so I couldn't jump out. My brother's wife was unconscious."

I have chosen this news article because the accounts of the Sudanese civil wars had on all occasions victimized the women and exposed them to more inhumane treatments than the men. Women in southern Sudan face a double crisis of trauma from the civil war, poverty, humiliation and most of all the depression caused by the hardships they undergo in their day-to-day lives. This issue is important because we are not just talking about an issue for the sake of talking, Its what is happening to real people, and in fact the ICC has recognizes RAPE as crime against humanity, therefore this leaves no room for us, international community or organization, a regional body to chose to remain silent on an issue related to crime of rape. I think that because of war many people are exposed to violence that they often turn to their own people for blame.  Like after the Rwandan genocide, much of what was going on was purely chaos because of confusing relationship among the people and the allocation of people that come back brought tension and more conflicting issues. South Sudan is very young with illegitimate constitutional traditions that do not have time to protect its citizens.

I think that the need to ensure justice for all is crucial in rebuilding Sudan. The South Sudanese authorities must carry out independent and impartial investigations into allegations of attacks against civilians by members of the armed forces and to monitor effectively the civilian disarmament process. The policymakers must also hold accountable the Security forces committing these horrific acts of violence. It’s also important for the Amnesty International to call upon the United Nations Mission in South Sudan to step up its efforts to protect civilians, including by deploying peacekeepers in areas where there is significant potential for violations by the SPLA.

Finally, We can’t change yesterday, but today the government should already have ways to stop the needless diseases and deaths from violations like this.  How and what  the governments is going to do about  is not a simple task given the situation of the country right now but with encouraging the NGOs to go right and help women, and widespread of clinics and parental care and gynecologists, a large number of women and children would be saved from the meek diseases that is taking their lives. Sudanese women themselves need to plan seeds in their communities.  Women returning back into Sudan from other neighboring countries or outside Africa would be useful in that they would use their respective knowledge to inspire or rather help those whose their voices can’t be heard. Only one woman who stands up for her community and shows that all women can rock on their own proves that there is power. What you are is what you do for one another; the women or young girls have got bigger responsibilities to rock their country. Rock it by helping rebuilt, educate, empower and to let the world know that they can in fact, without men do virtuous things. Before you discover it; you have to look at someone else and find, see what they do, whether on TV or radio then you can do it for yourself and others.

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201210030631.html