 has blamed the top military commanders in South Sudan){kind=link}
The United Nations Human Right Commission for South Sudan (CHRSS) has blamed the top military commanders for not doing enough to mitigate the sexual violence committed by soldiers in South Sudan.
Ms. Yasmin Sooka, Chairperson of the Commission who concluded their visit to South Sudan this week says senior ranking officers in the army should be prosecuted for promoting sexual gender-based violence.
She says prosecuting the foot soldiers from different organized forces is not enough, there’s a need to prosecute the top army commanders and also hold them accountable.
“We don’t only need to see the foot soldiers prosecuted, what we want to see is that the leadership of different armed forces hold commanders accountable,” said Sooka.
She appeals to the Unity government to cooperate and work together towards ending the human rights violations in the country and providing the necessary support to the survivors of sexual violence.
“It’s important to provide medical and trauma support for the survivors, when you listen to stories of the survivors, you will realize that the impact is not just felt by them alone, but also felt by their family and the community at large, she stressed.
Prof. Andrew Clapham, a member of the commission read out some of the recommendations including a Zero tolerance policy toward gender and sexual violence, raising women’s status in society, providing a better working environment for women, criminal accountability for both low- and high-ranking officers.
The CHRSS is the mechanism tasked with collecting and preserving evidence of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law with a view to ensuring accountability and addressing human rights and transitional justice issues in South Sudan.