Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Deng Dau Deng. | Photo: MFA&IC/ File

The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on Friday downplayed the UNMISS report citing an increase in violence and summary killings in Lakes and Warrap states.

Deng Dau Deng said the UN Mission must also acknowledge that the country has seen a drastic reduction in violence this year than in previous years.

UNMISS said Friday that violence against civilians persists across South Sudan, citing its latest quarterly Human Rights Brief.

It alleged that there were 22 documented cases of extra-judicial executions between January and May 2023.

The UN Mission said out of these, 14 people including one female were executed in Warrap State and eight in Lakes State by South Sudan security apparatus personnel.

Reacting to the report, Acting Minister Dau said although there are insecurity incidents, the current situation does not warrant the terms used in the UN report.

“We have not yet seen the report, but basically we in the government have been working very harmoniously with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. Secondly, from our own reports, there is a drastic decrease in violence this year,” he told Eye Radio.

“We need to really rethink the use of the term wide extrajudicial killings or increasing violence across the country. These are very serious terminologies.”

Meanwhile, UNMISS said it has recorded about 920 incidents of violence against civilians across the country during which 405 civilians were killed, 235 injured, and 266 abducted from January to March 2023.

It also says 14 people were subjected to conflict-related sexual violence during that period.

According to the mission, inter-communal violence by community-based militias and civil-defense groups constituted the primary source of violence affecting civilians.

It further says much of the violence was generated and documented in Jonglei State and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA), in the conflict which erupted at the beginning of the year.

Other conflict hot spots are Warrap, Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, and Lakes states.