25 Jun 2012

SOUTH SUDAN / JONGLEI REPORT

The United Nations today called on South Sudan to develop a comprehensive plan for curbing violence in Jonglei state, as it released the findings of an investigation into inter-communal attacks that claimed hundreds of lives there in 2011 and early 2012. UNMISS

Posted at: June 25, 2012 5:28 pm

Duration: 02:45

Available in: SD

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STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / JONGLEI REPORT
SOURCE: UNMISS
TRT: 2.45
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 23 JUNE 2012, JUBA / FILE

SHORTLIST:

FILE – 7 JANUARY 2012, PIBOR, SOUTH SUDAN

1. Wide shot, women walking through their burnt hut
2. Various shots, delegation looking at burnt huts

23 JUNE 2012, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Bennett, Director of Human Rights, United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
"The recommendations are constructive, and they are intended to support the government and the people of South Sudan and especially in Jonglei State to prevent this cycle of violence recurring in the future."

FILE – 28 DECEMBER 2011, LIKUANGOLE, SOUTH SUDAN

4. Various shots, armed Lou Nuer youth taking over Likuangole
5. Med, shot, burning house
6. Med shot, dead woman
7. Wide shot, dead person

FILE – 6 DECEMBER 2011, BOR, SOUTH SUDAN

8. Med shot, injured in Bor State hospital
9. Close up, injured child with head wound
10. Med shot, injured child

23 JUNE 2012, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Bennett, Director of Human Rights, United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
"Many civilians were killed, thousands were displaced from their homes, their homes were looted and destroyed and as well as this, children and women were abducted. It was a test for the government to protect civilians."

FILE – 2 JANUARY 2012, PIBOR, SOUTH SUDAN

12. Wide shot, aerial view of Pibor
13. Med shot, UN helicopter landing in Pibor 
14. Wide shot, burning tukul 
15. Wide shot, UN and SPLA forces walking in Pibor
16.  Wide shot, UN forces

23 JUNE 2012, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN

17. SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Bennett, Director of Human Rights, United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS): 
"There were constraints with not having sufficient peacekeepers to deploy with transport especially helicopters and of course with the lack of accessibility at that time of the year – the roads were still not passable for traffic and so it was very difficult to reach those areas. Nevertheless, UNMISS did deploy a significant number of its peacekeepers five or six hundred to the area to help the government protect its civilians, but the government was too slow to react."

FILE – 2 JANUARY 2012, PIBOR, SOUTH SUDAN

18. Med shot, displaced civilians
19. Wide shot, Force Commander talking to displaced civilians in Pibor

STORYLINE:

The United Nations today (25 June) called on South Sudan to develop a comprehensive plan for curbing violence in Jonglei state, as it released the findings of an investigation into inter-communal attacks that claimed hundreds of lives there in 2011 and early 2012.
 
SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Bennett, Director of Human Rights, United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
"The recommendations are constructive, and they are intended to support the government and the people of South Sudan and especially in Jonglei State to prevent this cycle of violence recurring in the future."

The 45-page report entitled "Incidents of Inter-communal Violence in Jonglei State" documents crimes and human rights violations that took place during tit-for-tat attacks by armed Murle and Lou Nuer against each other's civilian populations.

It concludes that the South Sudanese government's failure to protect civilians from violence, investigate incidents and hold perpetrators accountable is believed to have contributed to this cycle of attacks.

In December 2011, an estimated 6,000-8,000 armed youth, militarily organized and primarily from the Lou Nuer group, mobilized in Jonglei and launched a series of systematic attacks over 12 days on areas inhabited by the Murle group. The violence led to nearly 900 deaths, incidents of abductions of women and children, the destruction of homes and the displacement of thousands of civilians. 
From 27 December, smaller groups of armed Murle youth began launching retaliatory attacks on Lou Nuer and Bor Dinka areas which lasted until 4 February. These incidents were the latest in a cycle of retaliatory attacks which had escalated in the course of 2011.

SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Bennett, Director of Human Rights, United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS):
"Many civilians were killed, thousands were displaced from their homes, their homes were looted and destroyed and as well as this, children and women were abducted. It was a test for the government to protect civilians."

The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, carried out a series of extensive air and ground patrols that provided intelligence on the mobilization of armed youths and the destruction they inflicted on unarmed civilian populations in Jonglei. The mission also deployed troops alongside units of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, which helped save many lives in Pibor County in December 2011 and early January of this year.

The report however identifies constraints that prevented UNMISS from fulfilling more effectively its mandated responsibility to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.

SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Bennett, Director of Human Rights, United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS): 
"There were constraints with not having sufficient peacekeepers to deploy with transport especially helicopters and of course with the lack of accessibility at that time of the year – the roads were still not passable for traffic and so it was very difficult to reach those areas. Nevertheless, UNMISS did deploy a significant number of its peacekeepers five or six hundred to the area to help the government protect its civilians, but the government was too slow to react."

The report provides nine recommendations to avert future major outbreaks of violence, including the urgent activation of the Government's Investigation Committee into the Jonglei State Crisis. It also calls for the prosecution of all those responsible for the violence – which will require urgent Government action to strengthen all aspects of the country's justice system.