South Sudan: Open Letter to the UN Security Council From Human Rights Watch On Human Rights Abuses

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Dear Ambassador,

We write in advance of your trip to South Sudan to highlight key human rights concerns we hope you will be in a position to address.

Human Rights Watch has been researching human rights abuses in South Sudan for more than 20 years including during the 1983-2005 civil war in Sudan.

The past months have seen some of the worst crimes against civilians that South Sudanese have ever experienced. Our research in South Sudan since this latest conflict began in December 2013 has found that both sides are openly using tactics such as targeted killings of civilians on the basis of their ethnicity or presumed allegiances, mass looting and destruction to fight this war.

Our new report, "South Sudan's New War: Abuses by Government and Opposition Forces," released this week, documents how unlawful killings of civilians and the destruction and pillage of civilian property including their homes, food and the hospitals and markets they need to survive have dominated much of the violence in the capital Juba and then in the three main towns of Bor, Malakal and Bentiu.

Government and SPLA/M-in Opposition (the opposition) forces have, together with allied forces, since December committed extraordinary acts of cruelty that amount to war crimes and in some cases potential crimes against humanity.

The high levels of abuse have been fueled by impunity that has plagued South Sudan. South Sudan's leaders have time and again failed to hold abusive forces to account during Sudan's civil war, as well as during brutal violence that continued during peacetime. The country's history is a devastating illustration of how de facto blanket amnesties do not lead to lasting peace.

Experience by Human Rights Watch over the past 20 years in many different countries also suggests that the impact of justice is too often undervalued when weighing objectives in resolving an armed conflict.

Prosecutions send the message, especially to would-be perpetrators, that no one is above the law. Making provision for and underscoring the importance of the rule of law helps cement peace and stability, in addition to giving redress to victims.

South Sudanese victims, but also authorities, civil society and others from all ethnicities repeatedly told Human Rights Watch that the current conflict is proof that accountability is needed. While justice for the serious crimes will not be sufficient - national healing and truth telling, changes in governance, and military reform will be crucial as well - it is clearly necessary.

On the occasion of your visit, we would thus like to urge that you press the parties to the conflict to immediately end these abuses and to take steps to hold perpetrators to account fairly and effectively.

There is little indication that either side has made any meaningful moves in this direction. The government should as a priority make public the findings of various government investigations into killings and other abuses committed during the first days of the conflict in Juba and investigate those who planned or carried out attacks on civilians, including the attack on the UN base in Bor, Jonglei State, on April 17, 2014.

For its part, the opposition should investigate and provide a public report about abuses of civilians, including the killings of civilians in Bentiu, Unity State, during their April 15 attack on the town, and suspend and punish those responsible.