Report: South Sudanese Officials Accused of Human Rights Abuses

Facts

• A UN-backed panel of investigators on Monday accused several South Sudanese officials of perpetrating serious human rights violations, urging that they be held accountable for their crimes.¹
• This comes as the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan on Monday released its new report, citing the governor of South Sudan’s Unity State, Joseph Monytuil, among government and military officials responsible for gross violations of human rights.²
• The report also mentions People's Defense Forces Lt. Gen. Thoi Chany Reat for his alleged involvement in state-sanctioned extrajudicial killings in Mayom County last August as well as Koch County Commissioner Gordon Koang for two attacks against civilians in the municipality of Leer in 2022.³
• The commission conducted a year-long investigation across six South Sudanese states, previously releasing a partial summary report in March. The panel states that none of those mentioned have faced any accountability despite the government announcing special investigation committees into multiple alleged incidents.⁴
• Commission chair Yasmin Sooka pointed out that impunity is a central driver of persisting violence devastating South Sudan, as authorities implicated in serious crimes remain in office. Nearly 400K people died during the civil war that broke out in 2013 before a peace deal was signed in 2018.⁴
• Established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016, the commission continues to report on human rights violations and abuses based on one-year mandates extended annually due to ongoing human rights breaches in the wake of armed conflict.⁵

Sources: ¹FOX News, ²Abc news, ³Associated Press, ⁴Al Jazeera and ⁵Jurist.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Amnesty international. Government and military leaders in South Sudan continue to be named as human rights violators, yet no one in the country is held accountable. The UN is right in urging an immediate investigation into various officials who perpetuate cycles of violence and unlawfully kill people. South Sudan is held hostage by its authorities and must improve its human rights situation by holding war criminals accountable.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by RT. The long-lasting chaos in South Sudan is a direct consequence of the US meddling in African affairs to create a new nation as if this move would finally solve decades of bloodbath and civil wars in the region. The US-backed project has miserably failed, causing more rifts within the nation than before the independence in 2011.