Amnesty says UN, South Sudan officials failed to prevent village massacre
Summary
Amnesty International said South Sudanese authorities and the UN peacekeeping mission had warnings of a likely attack on Abiemnom but did not take stronger preventive action before armed men killed more than 200 people on March 1. The report calls for an independent investigation into the killings and a separate review of the peacekeepers’ response, as South Sudan prepares for elections on December 22.Key Facts
- Amnesty said UNMISS knew an attack on Abiemnom was likely but did not reinforce its roughly three dozen peacekeepers there until after the assault.
- The rights group said 1,000 to 1,500 armed men from neighbouring Mayom County attacked the village, killing residents and security personnel, burning homes, and looting part of a hospital.
- Authorities reported more than 200 deaths: 130 town residents, 76 security personnel, and seven foreign nationals.
- Amnesty said satellite images showed more than 230 structures had burned and that most victims were buried in two mass graves.
- UNMISS spokesperson Priyanka Chowdhury said the mission focused its limited resources on protecting and treating about 2,500 people sheltering at its base.
- The UN Security Council cut UNMISS’s authorised troop ceiling from 17,000 to 12,000 when it renewed the mission’s mandate in April.
- South Sudan is scheduled to hold elections on December 22; an African Union envoy urged the Security Council to help ensure a peaceful vote.
- South Sudanese authorities did not respond to two letters from Amnesty seeking information and responses to the report’s preliminary findings.
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