United Nations human rights experts have said there are continuous staggering levels of violence in South Sudan.
In their latest report to the UN Human Rights Council, the experts say the last few months have seen an intensification of violence, with hundreds of civilians killed or displaced.
South Sudan has a government of national unity but horrific violence at regional levels continues. Armed militias are divided along ethnic lines.
Villages are being burnt, women and girls abducted and raped, boys forcibly recruited as child soldiers.
The UN experts say many fighters have increasingly sophisticated weapons, suggesting the involvement of the state, or even of external forces.
Some 75% of the country is now affected by the violence.
The UN report calls on the national government to make a genuine effort to restore stability – this would include bringing those who have committed atrocities to justice.
After two years of delay, South Sudan’s government last month agreed to establish a hybrid court to prosecute human rights violations.
Today the UN investigators – who have compiled their own list of alleged perpetrators for possible prosecution – urged South Sudan to act swiftly to get the court up and running.
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