Ceasefire monitors have stated that South Sudan government troops killed some 50 people by stuffing them into a shipping container in extreme heat, thereby suffocating them in the process.
The report is the latest atrocities in two years of war. South Suadan gained independence on 9th July, 2011 following a 2005 agreement that ended Africa's longest civil war. However, that independence has not brought peace to one of the most diverse countries in Africa. The troubled country has over 60 different major ethnic groups. The 2013-2015 civil war is believed to have displaced over 2.2 million people.
Despite an August peace deal, fighting continues, and the conflict now involves multiple militia forces who pay little heed to paper peace deals, driven by local agendas or revenge attacks.
The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) submitted their report to the African Union (AU) summit and it was made public late Sunday.
The atrocity, titled “concerning the killing of civilians in Unity State”, was one of several listed as examples of ceasefire violations carried out by forces on both sides.
“About 50 people suffocated in a container on about 22 October. The investigation was protracted. Attribution of responsibility: Government Forces,” the report read.
In South Sudan, metal containers often serve as makeshift prison cells with emperatures in the northern battleground state of Unity regularly top 40 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).
The report also included crimes such as rape and murder, and the capture and looting of UN river barges.
There has been no immediate response from South Sudan’s army, but spokesmen have rejected a long list of previous reports detailing accusations of atrocities.
Both the government and rebel sides have been accused of carrying out ethnic massacres, recruiting and killing children. There have also been reports of widespread rape, torture and forced displacement of populations to “cleanse” areas of their opponents.
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