Civilians need protection – stop impunity! More than a million people on the run

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) appeals to all the conflict parties of the civil war in South Sudan to protect the civilian population. The STP also calls for an end to impunity and demands that those who are responsible for the serious attacks on the civilian population must be brought to justice. "More than a million people have fled from their homes in South Sudan since mid-December 2013, trying to escape arbitrary executions and arrests, mass murder, torture, rape and pillage," said Ulrich Delius, the STP's Africa-consultant, in Göttingen on Sunday. "It is especially the women, children, elderly people and the sick or disabled who fall victim to attacks by regular soldiers or rebels. All parties have committed crimes against international humanitarian law. South Sudan is not only facing a humanitarian catastrophe, but also a human rights tragedy."

On Friday evening, the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission (UNMISS) in South Sudan published an interim report concerning the human rights situation in the embattled country. The report, which covers the period from December 15, 2013 to January 31, 2014, is based on more than 500 interviews with eyewitnesses and victims of attacks. According to the report, most of the victims were persecuted or killed simply because of their ethnicity. It is especially the women, children or vulnerable who are affected by the human rights violations, because they are unable to escape their attackers fast enough. In South Sudan, most of the victims are members of the ethnic groups of the Dinka, the Nuer or people of foreign ethnicities. Numerous women of foreign ethnicity were raped. UNMISS will send its final report concerning the human rights situation to the UN Security Council in April 2014.

Recently, there were still several attacks – despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement on January 23, 2014. Last Thursday, for example, two children were shot in the vicinity of a UN camp near the embattled city of Malakal. The day before, rebels killed ten unarmed Dinka in the hospital of Malakal. "Nobody knows exactly how many people were murdered since mid-December," said Delius. "Even staff members of the Anglican Church were first raped and then shot. Almost all church buildings of the diocese in Bor were destroyed. More than 2,000 corpses were recovered in the town of Bor alone. "Undoubtedly, thousands of civilians were killed – but there's no one to be held responsible for their violent deaths." Government troops and rebel groups are accusing each other for causing the violence.

About 1.1 million people from South Sudan have fled from the violence since mid- December. 740,000 of them are still in South Sudan while 372,000 have sought refuge in neighboring countries. 76,000 IDPs are living in UNMISS camps, under protection of the United Nations.