JUBA – South Sudan government forces raped and killed civilians in Maiwut state during their recent offensives against SPLA-IO positions, the CTSAMVM said on Tuesday.
Fighting break out in July and early August after government forces and allied militia attacked SPLA-IO position in Maiwut state. The government however denied that it carried out the attack and that SPLA-IO was the first to provoke.
On 6 December, violent clashes also erupted between the SSPDF and armed civilians near Jikou after government attacked a boat carrying supplies to an SPLA-IO-controlled area from Nasir.
The new chairperson of the CTSAMVM, Maj-Gen. Teshome Gemechu said the actions by the government in Maiwut violated the cessation of hostilities and the ceasefire agreements.
“Our investigation into the fighting that took place in the late July and early August 2019 found that all involved failed to protect civilians and the woman had been raped in clear violation of the revitalized agreement,” Maj.-Gen Gemechu said during the 14th board meeting in Juba on Tuesday.
Asked why it took CTSAMVM this long to probe the reported violations, he said: “The investigation was hampered by repeated denial of access by the SSPDF in violation of the R-ARCSS.”
Following the clashes, President Salva Kiir and the main opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar, summoned their field commanders to Juba to explain why the clashes happened.
The revitalized peace agreement prohibits any form of hostility between forces during the interim period.
According to the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, several investigations concluded that the parties failed to protect civilians in Maiwut.
CTSAMVM Board constitutes of members of the Parties to the R-ARCSS, as well as the international community, and non-political stakeholders such as women’s groups, youth, civil society and academia.
When SPLA IO forces carried an offensive against the innocent civilians in Maiwut town on 31 July 2019, they had raped six women and other were abducted for four days in town. They displaced civil population out of the town for four days, however after four days in the bush the youth and the white army of the area fought back and recaptured Maiwut town from SPLA IO. SSPDF did not involve up to date since IO forces were advancing to retake Maiwut, thereafter, the leadership of Provisional Military and Political Council (PMPC) against SPLA IO declared their allegiance to the government on 22 September 2019 because Riek Machar’s loyal forces had killed their people and deliberately killed two women and one old person at the age of 96yrs old, so heinous crime.
Therefore, were no reason for government forces to rape women of Maiwut, the information is inaccurate.