UNITED NATIONS, August 7 (RIA Novosti) - After the United Nations Security Council was briefed on the attacks against humanitarian workers in South Sudan, the Council issued a statement expressing its outrage and underscoring that “attacks on civilians, and humanitarian personnel, may constitute war crimes.”
The Security Council specifically cited the “clashes between a community-based self-defense militia calling itself the Mabanese Defense Forces and deserting Sudan’s Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers, which commenced on 3 August in Maban County in Upper Nile State, and resulted in the death of at least six humanitarian aid workers and reported systematic targeting of civilians based on their ethnicity.”
While South Sudanese President Salva Kiir was in Washington, the Security Council members on Wednesday “renewed their call upon the Government of South Sudan to immediately take steps to ensure the safety of all civilians, to swiftly investigate these incidents, and to effectively bring the perpetrators of these heinous acts to justice, and to fully respect international human rights law and international humanitarian law.”
Earlier on Wednesday, UN Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Edmond Mulet told the Security Council that a UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS ) “Quick Reaction Force with four armored personnel carriers is about to reach the area and another platoon size force is being deployed by air. The extraction of non-essential UN and humanitarian personnel via airlift has begun.”
The Security Council members concluded by underscoring their “full support for UNMISS peacekeepers and welcomed UNMISS’ deployment to Maban County to serve as protection for UN and humanitarian personnel and the civilians now seeking safety and refuge at the compounds of UN agencies.”
