South Sudan still rife with sexual violence, civilian deaths despite peace deal, UN says

UN investigators have identified perpetrators of pervasive rape, killings and torture in secret safe houses in South Sudan, and they believe oil revenues have driven much of the violence in its civil war, a report said on Wednesday.

The UN Commission on Human Rights report recommended a UN investigation of evidence that money from South Sudan's oil-based economy has been channeled to government forces and militias linked to reported war crimes.

Although South Sudan's main warring parties signed a peace deal in September, widespread violence, especially rape, has continued, according to the 212-page report presented in Geneva.

Andrew Clapham, a member of the three-person commission, said it was outraged by reports of further fighting between government forces and the rebel National Salvation Front, which wasn't part of the peace agreement, in the Yei River area.

"There are thousands of civilians who have been forcibly displaced following a scorched-earth policy in which the parties to the conflict are attacking the villages, torching the homes, killing civilians and raping women and girls," Clapham said.

More than 5,000 refugees had reached neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and up to 20,000 people were expected to be displaced by the latest fighting, he said.

Oil revenues not being spent for citizens

The United States, Britain and Norway jointly expressed their alarm at the report.

"[It] represents a flagrant breach of the December 2017 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and the September 2018 revitalized peace agreement. These military actions, and the trading of blame, must stop," they said in a statement.

The report cited a close connection between oil earnings and the conflict. A law ensuring that South Sudan's oil-producing regions and communities received two and three per cent of its oil revenue respectively had triggered a redrawing of provincial boundaries and ethnic conflict.

"One of the findings … that come through strongly in the report is we feel the national security services are very much involved in the siphoning off of oil money," said Clapham.

The Human Rights Council should get to the bottom of the sums involved and where the money has been going, he told reporters, noting that health and education spending was "minuscule."

"If you are involved in oil extraction in that area, and you are asked to assist one side or the other, you could be accused of complicity in war crimes. There are council members that we think have a responsibility to look more carefully at this …."

South Sudan is one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. This year the United Nations needs $1.5 billion US for life-saving aid for its population and $2.7 billion for its refugees.