Special Report: Attack on Bentiu, Unity State 29 October 2014
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أﻷمم المتحدة UNITED NATIONS United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan ______________________________________________________________ Special Report: Attack on Bentiu, Unity State 29 October 2014 ________________________________________________ 19 December 2014 0 1 I. Introduction 1. After a long period of Government control, since May 2014, opposition forces attacked Bentiu, the capital of Unity State, on 29 October 2014. As has often been the case during the conflict in South Sudan, the attack was accompanied by reports that civilians were deliberately targeted by armed elements. Reports were also received that women were abducted by opposition forces and that conflict-related sexual violence took place. 2. This report offers preliminary findings concerning allegations of gross abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by opposition forces when they attacked Bentiu on 29 October 2014. It is based on investigations conducted by the Human Rights Division of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS). 3. Based on information available at the time of writing, there is reason to believe that at least 11 civilians were killed by opposition forces, apparently based on a perceived association with Government forces. As fighting began, civilians sought sanctuary in areas they thought would be safe. In one instance, 14 men were taken from a church and walked to a nearby cemetery, where at least eight of them were shot and killed, two were wounded, while four were not harmed. In another incident, two women and a baby were killed in their homes. 4. Reports of such gross human rights abuses are all too common in the current conflict and involve all sides. They form part of a now familiar and disturbing pattern in which civilians are targeted and killed during hostilities for perceived or actual affiliation with a group different to the armed element in control. While this targeting has often been on the basis of ethnicity, the abuses described in this report demonstrate that the animosity has reached deeper into communities, with a growing expectation that everyone must choose sides. II. HRD Investigations 5. Information included in the report was gathered in accordance with human rights monitoring and investigations methodology developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Information was reported only if informed consent was obtained from the source, and only if no protection risk was posed by its disclosure. As noted above, the conclusions included in this report are preliminary as Human Rights Division investigations are ongoing. 6. As of 27 November 2014, Human Rights Officers had conducted 21 interviews with victims, witnesses, and other sources including Government and opposition officials. Human Rights Officers visited the alleged incident sites and retraced the alleged sequence of events. GPS coordinates and photographs were taken. A list of civilians who were reportedly abducted was obtained from the South Sudan National Police Service and is on file with the Human Rights Division. 7. Investigations were hampered by the security situation which seriously impacted on the freedom of movement of Human Rights Officers. Other challenges included a lack of interpreters, which occasionally made interviewing difficult, as UNMISS interpreters could not leave the UNMISS compound to assist investigations without jeopardizing their safety. 2 III. Context 8. Unity State has been the subject of continuous fighting since the beginning of hostilities in South Sudan in December 2013. Although Government forces, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), supported by several other pro-Government armed groups,1 have been in control of the State capital, Bentiu, since 8 May 2014, its control has been tenuous. The Government has little control of the southern counties and skirmishes in areas outside Bentiu have been frequent. Rumors of an impending attack by opposition forces on Bentiu and Rubkona had circulated for months. 9. On 25 October 2014, clashes were reported to the north of Bentiu in Rubkona County. On 26 and 27 October 2014, UNMISS received reports of fighting in the Unity Oil Field and a location known as Kilo 30. On 27 and 28 October, with rumors of an impending attack on Bentiu and Rubkona, civilians started fleeing those areas for the UNMISS Bentiu protection of civilians (PoC) site, which is near Rubkona town. SPLA soldiers also transported members of their families to the gates of the PoC site, where they sought protection. On 27 October 2014, there were approximately 47,000 civilians seeking protection at the site. At least 100 additional civilians, mainly women who were related to SPLA soldiers, came to the PoC site by the evening of 28 October 2014. 10. On the early morning of 29 October 2014, opposition forces – advancing from the north, east, south, south-east, and south-west directions – engaged Government forces in Bentiu and Rubkona. By early afternoon, heavy fighting was occurring around Rubkona and the vicinity of the UNMISS compound. Mortar shells landed approximately 500 meters from the compound, and one landed in an unpopulated area of the PoC site.2 During the fighting, a nine-year-old boy in the PoC site was killed by a stray bullet to his chest, and six other internally displaced persons (IDPs) suffered gunshot wounds. It was not possible to determine the source of the bullets that struck the victims. 11. By approximately 1300hrs, Government forces began withdrawing from Bentiu. Before doing so, Government officials reportedly told civilians to seek protection at the Catholic Church in Dere, perhaps hoping the sanctity of the Church would be respected as no Government forces remained behind to provide protection. By approximately 1400hrs, opposition forces gained control of parts of Bentiu, moving into the Souq Sabi, Nywenpiew, Kalibalek, Ariap, and Dere areas. They held these positions for approximately five hours before being dislodged by Government forces. Many witnesses have reported that Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA/IO) forces targeted civilians, committing killings and conflict-related sexual violence during the period they fleetingly controlled Bentiu. 12. Although the conflict in South Sudan has largely been characterized as one pitting the Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups against each other, the reality is far more complicated. Unity State is dominated by the Nuer ethnic group, which has been divided by the hostilities. Alliances and affiliations of various Nuer groups are complex and based on multiple factors, including deep-rooted inter-clan differences dating from far before December 2013. 1 See UNMISS, Conflict in South Sudan: A Human Rights Report, 8 May 2014. 2 It is unclear which party launched the shells. MONBATT forces reported that the mortar shells which landed nearby and inside the UNMISS compound were fired from an SPLA position at the airstrip. 3 13. The chain of command of Government forces in Unity State is mainly composed of persons of Nuer ethnicity and a high proportion of the rank and file soldiers are also of Nuer ethnicity. Nuer civilians residing outside of the UNMISS PoC site are therefore often perceived to be in support of the Government. On several occasions during the attacks described herein, alleged perpetrators reportedly referred to Nuer victims as Dinka, apparently to denote their perceived support for the Government. IV. Reports of Attacks on Civilians Bentiu Catholic Church 14. Witness testimony and observations by Human Rights Officers indicate that approximately 150 people, mainly women and children, had taken refuge in the Catholic Church in Dere, an area where Government forces had been stationed, when the fighting started on 29 October 2014. Between 1430 and 1700hrs, at least four groups of SPLA/IO forces came to the Church. The forces were identified as SPLA/IO by witnesses in light of the direction of their arrival, the withdrawal of Government forces and their advice to civilians to seek protection at the Church, and the fact that one group of fighters was accompanied by an opposition official who identified himself as such. 15. The first group arrived from the north-west (see Fig. 1, E1). These SPLA/IO fighters appeared to have swum across the River Nam from Jezira Island, as some fighters were in wet underwear and/or had trousers around their necks.3 Upon their arrival, they entered the Church, greeted the civilians, assured them not to worry, and left. 16. A second group approached the Church from the west and south-west directions (see Fig. 1, E2 and E3). They also greeted the civilians. The fighters asked if Government forces were around and if anyone in the Church was an SPLA soldier. When told that there were only civilians in the Church, they left. 17. A third group, of at least two dozen fighters, then arrived from the west (see Fig. 1, E2). Witnesses reported that they looked angry and agitated. One witness reported that the fighters asked if the people in the Church were Nuer or Dinka – the latter term denoting, in this context, Nuer who support the Government – and were told that everyone inside was Nuer. 18. The fighters started beating the civilians in the Church with sticks, telling everyone to stand up. They apparently recognized some of the civilians. According to one witness, they asked some men why they had left the UNMISS PoC site to come and stay with “Dinka” (again, referring to the mainly Nuer Government forces). An SPLA/IO fighter who apparently commanded the group of fighters accused the civilians of supporting the “Dinka”. 19. Between 1600 and 1630hrs, the fighters selected at least 15 male civilians and told them to sit on one side of the Church, near a stack of seats (see Fig. 1, P1). The group of men were taken out of the Church, although one man managed to hide under the seats.