UN peacekeepers in South Sudan 'turned blind eye' to rape and abuse of American aid workers

One man wore a blue police uniform, but the rest wore camouflage, the American said. Many had shoulder patches with the face of a tiger, the insignia worn by the president's personal guard.

In another incident, a South Sudanese soldier is said to have pointed his AK-47 at a female aid worker a^[1]nd told her: "Either you have sex with me, or we make every man here rape you and then we shoot you in the head."

The victim said she had no choice but to agree, but by the end of the evening she had been raped by 15 soldiers. Some soldiers broke into a two-story apartment where aid workers were taking refuge as it was guarded by a heavy metal door.

The building shook as soldiers shot at the door and pried metal bars off windows for more than an hour, said residents. Once inside, they then pulled people out one by one.

One woman said she was sexually assaulted by multiple men. Another Western woman said soldiers beat her with fists and threatened her with their guns when she tried to resist. Samantha Power^[2], the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said: "We are deeply concerned that United Nations peacekeepers were apparently either incapable of or unwilling to respond to calls for help.

"We have requested and are awaiting the outcome of an investigation by the United Nations and demand swift corrective action in the event that these allegations are substantiated."

References

1. ^{^} AK-47 at a female aid worker a (www.telegraph.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Samantha Power (www.telegraph.co.uk)