Dozens of women and girls have reportedly been raped by South Sudanese government soldiers near a U.N. compound in the country's capital, Juba. According to witnesses, U.N. peacekeepers did nothing during the attack.
Reports say about 30,000 civilians have taken shelter in the U.N. base while the fight is going on South Sudan. According to a witness, at least one assault occurred as peacekeepers watched.
According to the wire service, almost all of the civilians housed at the camp are ethnic Nuer, along with South Sudan's main opposition leader, Vice President Riek Machar. The recent round of fighting places men loyal to him against President Salva Kiir and government forces, which are mostly ethnic Dinka.
According to witnesses, soldiers were allowing women from the compound to leave and search for food in a nearby area, and then "attacking them as they returned."
The U.N. mission says it has received reports from numerous parts of the country of "sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, by soldiers in uniform and men in plain clothes against a number of civilians, including minors."
According to Shantal Persaud, a spokesperson for the U.N. Mission in South Sudan, the U.N. mission has "stepped up its patrols in and around the sites, as well as in Juba City. She says that peacekeeping forces are also providing "protection at designated times to women when needing to go out of the 'Protection of Civilians' sites to collect firewood and procure other non-food items."
Reports concluded that the government forces use rape as "part of an international strategy to terrorize and punish civilians."
Source: NPR U.N.
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