Amnesty says UN and South Sudan officials failed to act on warnings before village attack
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Amnesty International says the UN mission and South Sudanese authorities had enough warning of a likely attack on Abiemnom but did not act strongly enough. The UN mission says it prioritised protecting civilians sheltering at its base with limited resources.
Amnesty International said in a report published on Thursday that the UN mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, and South Sudanese authorities failed to act on warnings before armed men attacked a village in Abiemnom, near the Sudan border, on March 1. Authorities put the death toll at more than 200, including 130 town residents, 76 security personnel and seven foreign nationals.
Amnesty says UNMISS knew an attack was likely but did not reinforce its roughly three dozen peacekeepers there until after the assault. It reports that between 1,000 and 1,500 armed men from neighbouring Mayom County shot residents, burned homes and looted part of the hospital. Satellite images showed more than 230 structures burned, and most victims were buried in two mass graves. Amnesty said the attack may have been triggered by tensions over earlier killings of several young men from Mayom County.
UNMISS spokesperson Priyanka Chowdhury said the mission did its best with limited resources and, facing budget cuts, concentrated its capacity on protecting the roughly 2,500 people sheltering at its base. She said it had repeatedly asked the national army for more forces and sent 40 more police after the attack. South Sudanese authorities did not respond to two letters from Amnesty seeking information and responses to its preliminary findings.
Amnesty called for an independent investigation into the killings and a separate review of the peacekeepers' response. The report comes ahead of elections due on December 22, which some fear could unravel the 2018 peace agreement.
