"The oppressed
love the oppressors and can't wait to be just like them..." - Joseph
Michael Linsner
South Sudanese government forces are guilty of burning
civilians alive, running them over with tanks, and carrying out rapes and
abductions, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Deliberate attacks on
civilians and civilian property during the offensive carried out between April
and June 2015 amount to war crimes, while the killings and rapes may also
constitute crimes against humanity.
HRW said that they had documented the burning of homes and
food stocks, and the theft of animals, food, clothes, and cooking utensils. The
organization also recorded at least 60 unlawful killings of civilian women,
men, and children, put to death by hanging, shooting, or being burned alive. At
least 63 counts of rape were documented, though researchers suspect that this
is a small fraction of the total number. Those that were reported included
brutal gang rapes, public rapes, and rapes that occurred alongside the threat
of murder.
Akshaya Kumar, South Sudan Policy Analyst for the Enough
Project, told VICE News that recently "there's been a real escalation in
the brutality and the nature of the killing and the targeting, with both sides
really adopting a scorched earth kind of attitude."
More than 2.25 million people have been displaced as a
result of the civil war.
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