‘Ethnic cleansing’ under way in South Sudan, UN charges

UN human rights experts say “ethnic cleansing” is under way in South Sudan after visiting the country where violence has soared since a peace deal collapsed in July.

“There is already a steady process of ethnic cleansing underway in several areas of South Sudan using starvation, gang rape and the burning of villages; everywhere we went across this country we heard villagers saying they are ready to shed blood to get their land back,” says Yasmin Sooka of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.

“Many told us it’s already reached a point of no return.”

Sooka was part of a three-member team which traveled to battleground towns including Bentiu, Malakal and Wau to gather facts about the situation in the world’s youngest country.

Jarring testimony gathered by the team during their 10-day visit shows a nation on the brink of “catastrophe,” says a statement issued by the commission.

— AFP