Human Rights Watch on Wednesday urged the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on South Sudanese individuals in government and opposition forces who are responsible for grave abuses.
In a statement, the Rights Watch pushed the United Nations Security Council to react to horrific attacks on civilians in Bor and Bentiu by requesting an urgent fact-finding mission.
The Rights Watch recommended the Council to increase the ability of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS to protect civilians including expediting the deployment of additional troops it authorized on December 24, 2013.
Human Rights Watch Africa Director Daniel Bekele said, ‘The killing of more than 50 people in a UN base in Bor and the gruesome massacres of hundreds of civilians in Bentiu shows that ethnically motivated brutality against civilians is spiraling out of control’.
The director urged the Security Council to act decisively to impress the warring parties targeting civilians on paying the price for their crimes.
Mr Bekele said the warring parties should enforce respect for fundamental principles of international humanitarian law including an absolute prohibition on targeting civilians.
The director added that the council should prevent further attacks on civilians by identifying perpetrators and punishing them.