Government troops accused of atrocities by Amnesty

SOUTH Sudanese government troops were responsible for a brutal campaign of rape and murder in opposition areas earlier this year, an Amnesty International report said on Wednesday.

Amnesty got testimony from about 100 witnesses who described how civilians were “shot dead, burnt alive, hanged in trees and run over with armoured vehicles in oppositionheld areas”. Women and girls were brutally assaulted, the Amnesty said of the recent wave of violence in Unity State’s Mayendit and Leer counties, between April and July.

“One interviewee said a girl as young as 8 was gang-raped and another woman witnessed the rape of a 15-year-old boy,” the report said.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar signed a peace deal in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last week. The deal allows for the creation of a transitional government, with Machar to be reinstated as vice-president. Despite the breakthrough, many international observers remain sceptical. Previous agreements have collapsed after warring parties failed to respect them.

South Sudan descended into civil war in 2013 after Kiir accused Machar, his then-deputy, of plotting a coup.