ANKARA
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International urged the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force to protect civilians in peril in South Sudan.
"The United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) peacekeepers must live up to their mandate to protect civilians, which they have not been able to do effectively in the past. Terrified civilians desperately need protection," said Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director Sarah Jackson.
The UN Security Council approved on Monday evening a request to boost its overall force to nearly 14,000 peacekeepers. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an additional 5,500 peacekeepers to join the 7,000 UNMISS troops already on the ground with a mandate to protect civilians.
Amnesty considered the request as reflecting " the urgent need to protect civilians at risk amid the escalating violence in South Sudan."
“The Secretary-General’s proposal shows that the UN is acutely aware of how dire and dangerous the situation is in South Sudan,” said Jackson.
The move came as the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in the country said the death toll from the past 10 days of violence had likely reached the thousands, rather than the hundreds the world body had previously estimated.
The increase in personnel aims to reinforce UN bases where civilians are seeking shelter. However Ban warned that "even with additional capabilities, we will not be able to protect every civilian in need in South Sudan."
Clashes between rival groups of soldiers erupted in the capital Juba on December 15 before spreading to other parts of the country, leaving more than 80,000 displaced with some 45,000 seeking shelter and protection at UNMISS bases in several cities.
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit stated on December 16 that a failed coup attempt took place in South Sudan and Riek Machar, removed from his office as vice president in July, was responsible for the attempt.
According to Amnesty, the violence, which includes inter-ethnic clashes between Nuer and Dinka communities, has resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths, including by rifle and artillery fire.
On Wednesday, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan refuted a report of a mass grave issued by the office of a UN Commissioner for Human Rights.
The report said a mass grave containing some 75 bodies had been found in South Sudan's Unity State and two other mass graves had been reported in capital Juba after ethnic violence. Later the office revised that figure to 34 bodies as 75 people were feared missing.
In his statement on Monday, Ban Ki-moon made clear that anyone responsible for grave violations of human rights and crimes against humanity would be held personally accountable and face consequences.
Amnesty International urged South Sudanese political and military leaders, in particular President Salva Kiir Mayardit, former Vice President Riek Machar and army defector General Peter Gatdet Yak, to issue what the watchdog called "clear, unambiguous orders to forces under their control and to armed civilians and militias loyal to them to immediately halt all attacks on civilians and civilian property."
The human rights watchdog also urged states to suspend international arms transfers to South Sudan as well as Sudan, saying that "there is a likelihood of them being diverted southward across the border for use by armed opposition groups."
Western powers and east African states are working to prevent more chaos in the region.
They are trying to mediate between President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and rebel leader Riek Machar, a Nuer, who was vice president until Kiir dismissed him in July.
"Whatever the differences, nothing can justify the violence that has engulfed their young nation," Ban told the council after the vote. "There is no military solution to this conflict. This is a political crisis which requires a peaceful, political solution."
Now large areas of South Sudan remain out of the government's control amid fears the young nation was sliding toward civil war, though Juba said its forces had recaptured the strategically important town of Bor from rebels on Tuesday.
By Hajer M'tiri - Anadolu Agency
englishnews@aa.com.tr
