Last week hundreds of South Sudanese and foreigners were killed by the opposition forces in the country. As the town of Bentiu, the capital of the Unity state, fell into the hands of the rebels the past 15th of April, they began a massacre of both nationals and foreigners-a killing based chiefly on ethnicity and nationality. The white army militia, loyal to former vice president Riek Machar, was looking to get rid of government supporters.
The UN has reported that when the tragedy took place, men, women and children who hid in hospitals, a mosque and a Catholic church were all hunted down, with a total of approximately 200 casualties.
South Sudan, the latest country to become independent in 2011, has been in a civil war for approximately four bloody months, during which more than a million have been displaced and over 10,000 people have been killed. Initially, the conflict was of a political nature, with President Salva Kir'S Dinka tribe against the militia forces of the former vice-president Riek Machar's Nuer, but more factors have come into play since the conflict began. Last January the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) forces and the Government troops had vowed to respect the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, but since then the situation has seen scarce improvement.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, who has strongly condemned the killings, has reported that there has been an advent of hate speech throughout the country over the radio "“declaring that certain ethnic groups should not stay in Bentiu and even calling on men from one community to commit vengeful sexual violence against women from another community." Toby Lanzer, the United Nation's top humanitarian official believes that the recent slaughter that took place in Bentiu was fueled by these hate speeches made on the public radio.
During these speeches, the fighters actually encouraged men to rape women of specific ethnicities.
Meanwhile, a spokesman of the rebels, Lul Ruai Koang, has stated that the rebel groups were not to blame for the incident but rather, the culprit was the government forces.
Is this ringing any bells? This conflict seems to be an echo of the genocide in Rwanda which was caused, amongst other factors, by anti-Tutsi propaganda on the radio. Also, most cases of armed conflict in which troops were urged to rape women of a certain race, occurred during the process of ethnic cleansing. As the situation in South Sudan becomes increasingly urgent, the appearance of the ethnic conflict factor has definitely changed the circumstances.
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Video Wednesday: Massacre in South Sudan Brings in the Ethnic Factor
April 23, 2014
Last week hundreds of South Sudanese and foreigners were killed by the opposition forces in the country. As the town of Bentiu, the capital of the Unity state, fell into the hands of the rebels the past 15th of April, they began a massacre of both nationals and foreigners-a killing based chiefly on ethnicity and nationality. The white army militia, loyal to former vice president Riek Machar, was looking to get rid of government supporters.
The UN has reported that when the tragedy took place, men, women and children who hid in hospitals, a mosque and a Catholic church were all hunted down, with a total of approximately 200 casualties.
South Sudan, the latest country to become independent in 2011, has been in a civil war for approximately four bloody months, during which more than a million have been displaced and over 10,000 people have been killed. Initially, the conflict was of a political nature, with President Salva Kir'S Dinka tribe against the militia forces of the former vice-president Riek Machar's Nuer, but more factors have come into play since the conflict began. Last January the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) forces and the Government troops had vowed to respect the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, but since then the situation has seen scarce improvement.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, who has strongly condemned the killings, has reported that there has been an advent of hate speech throughout the country over the radio "“declaring that certain ethnic groups should not stay in Bentiu and even calling on men from one community to commit vengeful sexual violence against women from another community." Toby Lanzer, the United Nation's top humanitarian official believes that the recent slaughter that took place in Bentiu was fueled by these hate speeches made on the public radio.
During these speeches, the fighters actually encouraged men to rape women of specific ethnicities.
Meanwhile, a spokesman of the rebels, Lul Ruai Koang, has stated that the rebel groups were not to blame for the incident but rather, the culprit was the government forces.
Is this ringing any bells? This conflict seems to be an echo of the genocide in Rwanda which was caused, amongst other factors, by anti-Tutsi propaganda on the radio. Also, most cases of armed conflict in which troops were urged to rape women of a certain race, occurred during the process of ethnic cleansing. As the situation in South Sudan becomes increasingly urgent, the appearance of the ethnic conflict factor has definitely changed the circumstances.
