Marc Simms is an occasional blogger for Proelium Law LLP. Marc holds an MLitt in Terrorism Studies and a Masters in International Relations, both from St Andrews. His particular interests are in emerging international security issues, unconventional warfare, and terrorism.
Mass atrocities blamed on SPLA in South Sudan
A UN investigation has accused the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) of committing mass atrocities, killing at least 114 civilians in the area of the town of Yei between June 2016 year and January 2017. The UN also accuses the SPLA of an unspecified number of rapes, torture and looting in addition to these killings.
Background to the conflict
South Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war since 2013, when President Salva Kiir dismissed Reik Machar, the vice-president, along with the rest of cabinet. A few months after this dismissal, fighting broke out in the capital of Juba between Nuer (a Nilotic ethnic group) and SPLA forces, and President Kiir clamed that Mr. Machar was pursuing a coup against the government. Mr. Machar denied the claim, however he did lead a breakaway faction of the SPLA in 1991 which aligned itself with the Nuer White Army, and was only reconciled with the SPLA in 2005.
Fighting in 2014 and 2015 was intermittent and interspersed with a number of ceasefires, but this nevertheless resulted in significant civilian displacement and outbreaks of ethnic violence. In the early stages of the fighting the UN presence, mostly provided by Uganda, appears to have deterred what may have been far worse civilian casualties, but as fighting spread through the country these have proven difficult to prevent, such as the attack on the UN base in Bor, or with the Bentiu massacre carried out by the Nuer White Army. Some of these may not be directly related to the South Sudan Civil War itself, as there was significant background violence between ethnic groups in the country even before the current conflict, but their existence alongside the civil war is further complicating the role of humanitarian and aid agencies in country.
In 2016 a peace agreement was signed which bought Mr. Machar back into the government as a vice-president, however President Kiir took advantage of the peace to push through political reforms which were widely seen as supporting ethnic Dinka agendas, mostly at the expense of the Shilluk and Fertit who made up a significant portion of the rebel forces under Machar. Due to this, violence erupted again in July 2016 and Mr. Machar fled the capital.
The route which he took led to the town of Yei, where the alleged war-crimes took place, then through to the Democratic Republic of Congo and on to South Africa, where he is currently allegedly under house arrest.
Not an isolated incident
This would not be the first time that the SPLA has been accused of similar kinds of war crimes. In 2010, the UN accused SPLA soldiers of carrying out systematic rape and torture in the Shilluk Kingdom, as well as burning numerous villages and killing an untold number of civilians. The violence from this disarmament campaign led to 10,000 people being displaced, and almost certainly led to further deaths due to hunger and cold from the poor weather conditions.
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