South Sudan: Murder rates at wartime levels in
Jonglei<http://www.newsudanvision.com/commentary-archive/2751-david-k-deng-the-new-sudan-vision-com-nsv-newsudanvision-com>
Published
on Saturday, 21 September 2013 02:43 Written by David K. Deng, The New
Sudan Vision (NSV), newsudanvision.com Hits: 699
(Juba, South Sudan) - In 2012, the South Sudan Law Society (SSLS) and
Pact-South Sudan conducted a household survey on access to justice in six
rural counties of South Sudan. Included in the survey were the counties of
Akobo and Pibor in Jonglei State.
Reports of mass killings periodically trickle out of these two counties,
but no one has yet attempted to place a figure on the numbers of people
killed in the course of inter-communal attacks, cattle raids, forced
disarmament programs, politically motivated rebellions and government
counter-insurgency campaigns. Some of the reports that have captured the
media headlines in recent years include the following:
- *- *In April 2011, attacks in Pibor and Pochalla counties resulted in
approximately 200 to 300 deaths, 91 child abductions and 4,400 displaced.
- *- *A June 2011 attack on Pibor resulted in an estimated 430 deaths
and 7,000 to 10,000 displaced.
- *- *In August 2011, Murle raids on the Lou resulted in the death of
640 people, kidnapping of 208 children, and displacement of 26,800 people,
in just a matter of days.
- *- *In late December 2011, a column of six to eight thousand Lou Nuer
youth from Akobo attacked Murle villages in Pibor. Early reports from local
government officials indicated that more than 3,000 people were killed.
Investigators from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)
verified that a minimum of 612 Murle had been killed.
- *- *A February 2013 attack by suspected Murle raiders killed 114
civilians and 14 soldiers from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in
Akobo.
- *- *In July 2013, thousands of Lou Nuer youth attacked Murle villages
in Pibor killing an untold number of civilians.
The SSLS survey gathered the perceptions and experiences that populations
in the six counties have had with various justice issues. Teams of
enumerators interviewed a total of 1520 households, including 527
households in Akobo and Pibor.
The findings are indicative of the fact that eight years after the end of
the civil war, death rates remain at conflict levels in parts of South
Sudan.
One-quarter of the households in Akobo and Pibor reported having one or
more household members killed within the past two years, and nearly
three-quarters of these incidents were reported as intentional (as opposed
to accidental) killings. Applying these percentages to the population data
for Akobo and Pibor provides an estimate of 6,930 households having one or
more household members killed in the past two years.
A 2012 study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on
murder rates offers some comparison. The study tracked murder rates in
various locations around the world, excluding countries in the midst of
war. The Honduran city of San Pedro Sula had the world’s highest murder
rate, with 159 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2011. The figures from
Akobo and Pibor correspond with a yearly murder rate of about 1,218 murders
per 100,000 inhabitants, more than seven times that of San Pedro Sula.
While the methodology used in the SSLS survey differs from that used in the
UNODC study, and it is difficult to compare the UNODC findings with results
drawn from a household survey in two of South Sudan’s most violent
counties, the numbers nonetheless illustrate the severity of the problem in
Jonglei and the urgent need for decisive action to bring these deadly
cycles of revenge attacks under control.
In order to address the problem of inter-communal and politically motivated
violence, the Government of South Sudan and its international partners
should streamline justice and accountability into all of their conflict
reduction activities. Until the justice system is able to secure some
minimum degree of accountability for these types of atrocities, victimized
populations will continue to take the law into their own hands through
revenge killings and the atrocities in Jonglei and other conflict-affected
areas of South Sudan will continue.
*The author is a director for the South Sudan Law Society. Email:< >';
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Soft copies of the SSLS/Pact report are available at:
http://www.pactworld.org/sites/default/files/Challenges%20of%20Accountability_FINAL%20May%2016.pdf
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