UN: South Sudan Army Said to Have Sexually Abused, Burned Girls Alive

— -- South Sudanese armed forces and associated groups reportedly embarked on a “campaign of violence” against its own population, killing civilians, looting villages and, in some instances, sexually abusing women and girls and then burning them alive in their own homes.

The allegations are contained in a new report released today from the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan [UNMISS], which pulls from the testimony of more than 100 witnesses, the U.N. said.

“Revealing the truth of what happened offers the best hope for ensuring accountability for such terrible violence and ending the cycle of impunity that allows these abuses to continue,” Ellen Margrethe Loj, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative, said in a U.N. press report. “We call on the SPLA [Sudan People’s Liberation Army] to fulfill this commitment and allow our human rights officers unfettered access to the sites of these reported violations.”

The U.N. reported that the recent “campaign of violence” also has displaced over 100,000 people – adding to what the U.N. expects to be a total of 1.95 million internally displaced people in 2015.

CLICK HERE to read more about the conflict in South Sudan from the Small Arms Survey.