The United Nations Mission in South Sudan says it has found evidence of ‘widespread human rights abuses allegedly committed by the SPLA and associated armed groups’ during the recent clashes in Unity State.

The UN mission cites interviews it conducted with 115 victims and eyewitnesses from Rubkona, Guit, Koch, Leer and Mayom counties, where the SPLA launched an attack against opposition forces starting in late April.

The survivors of these attacks reported that SPLA and allied militias from Mayom County carried out a campaign against the local population that killed civilians, looted and destroyed villages and displaced over 100,000 people, it says in a press statement.

Women and girls were sexually abused, some of whom were reportedly burnt alive in their huts.

“This recent upsurge (in fighting) has not only been marked by allegations of killing, rape, abduction, looting, arson and displacement, but by a new brutality and intensity,” says the UNMISS report.

“The scope and level of cruelty that has characterized the reports suggests a depth of antipathy that exceeds political differences.”

Access denied

It says some of its staff that tried to access the sites for verification were denied access by the army.

“UNMISS sought to visit the sites of the alleged atrocities to verify the allegations but were routinely denied access by the SPLA, and they also encountered logistical obstacles,” it continued.

For its part, the SPLA says it is ready to be investigated.

“SPLA is ready to go for investigation of any complaint, if there is any violation committed by the SPLA forces,”Col Phillip Aguer told Eye Radio.

“We can send a team to go with those who are raising the complaint, and those who are writing.”