South Sudan: Deadly Conflict Continues Despite Ceasefire

Nairobi — Both pro and antigovernment armed forces are responsible for serious abuses that may amount to war crimes in two key oil hubs in South Sudan during recent fighting, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch researchers visited Malakal and Bentiu, the capitals of two oil producing states, between January 29 and February 14, 2014. Researchers found that armed forces from both sides have extensively looted and destroyed civilian property, including desperately needed aid facilities, targeted civilians, and carried out extrajudicial executions, often based on ethnicity.

"The wanton destruction and violence against civilians in this conflict is shocking," said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Both sides need to stop their forces from committing abuses and hold those who have responsible for their actions, and the African Union (AU) should accelerate its long promised investigations."

Since late December 2013 Human Rights Watch researchers have investigated allegations of serious abuses and violations of international humanitarian law in Juba, Bor, Bentiu, and Malakal. Researchers interviewed hundreds of victims and witnesses of the fighting and attacks, and investigated sites of attacks in all locations where security permitted access.

The towns of Malakal and Bentiu are now extensively destroyed and mostly empty because terrified residents fled to United Nations (UN) camps and surrounding rural areas. Threat of further attacks and targeting of civilians based on ethnicity prevent the vast majority from returning. Both towns are important political and economic hubs, where residents from many ethnicities have lived together.

Despite an agreement on January 23, 2014, to end the hostilities, and signed on by both the government and antigovernment forces, now known as SPLA-in-Opposition, there have been new attacks by both sides. Credible reports indicate that government forces, in some cases supported by the Ugandan military, attacked Leer, Gatdiang, and other locations in Unity state in early February.

On February 18 opposition forces, including the so-called white army of armed Nuer fighters, attacked Malakal. Human Rights Watch has also received credible reports that on February 19 opposition forces killed civilians at the Malakal hospital, and that fighting both near and inside the UN camp in Malakal resulted in additional casualties.