UNITED NATIONS (Oct. 5, 2016)―The United Nations needs to ensure transparency and accountability for the inadequate response of its peacekeepers during the July crisis in Juba, Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) said in a report released today. For its part, the Security Council should immediately impose an arms embargo, both to help protect civilians from further harm and in response to the national government’s obstruction of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
The 84-page report, Under Fire: The July 2016 Violence in Juba and UN Response, documents how, during four days of intense fighting in Juba in July 2016, the parties to the conflict killed and injured civilians in displaced persons camps with indiscriminate gun and artillery fire. Government forces also broke into a hotel and apartment complex to brutally attack international and national aid workers, and, in the weeks following the crisis, raped South Sudanese women who went outside the displaced persons camps in search of food.