Militias allied to the South Sudanese army have been allowed to rape women in lieu of wages while fighting rebels, a UN report says.
Investigators found that 1,300 women had been raped last year in oil-rich Unity State alone, it said.
The army operated a “scorched earth” policy to deliberately target civilians for killing and rape, which amounted to war crimes, the UN said.
The government denies its army targeted civilians but says it is investigating.
According to the UN report, militias operated under a “do what you can and take what you can” agreement that allowed them to rape and abduct women and girls as a form of payment.
They also raided cattle and stole personal property, it added.
The scale and type of sexual violence committed in South Sudan constitute some of the most horrendous human rights abuses in the world, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said
- One woman said she had watched her 15-year-old daughter being raped by 10 soldiers after her husband was killed
- Another said she had been stripped naked and raped by five soldiers in front of her children on the roadside
- Witnesses told investigators that several women had been abducted and held in sexual slavery as “wives” for soldiers in the barracks
- Young-looking women were specifically targeted and raped by about ten men, one witness said. In some cases, those who tried to resist or even looked at their rapists were killed, she added
The UN said government forces and allied militias had gang-raped girls and cut civilians to pieces. It also accused opposition fighters of committing human rights abuses.