Amnesty Accuses UN Peacekeepers of Failing to Prevent South Sudan Massacre
Amnesty International has accused United Nations peacekeepers and South Sudanese authorities of failing to prevent a deadly attack that killed at least 213 people in Abiemnom, despite receiving warnings weeks before the incident.
In a report released on Thursday, the human rights organisation said the UN Mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, had intelligence indicating that an attack on the remote town near the Sudanese border was likely but failed to reinforce its approximately 36 peacekeepers stationed there until after the massacre.
Amnesty said between 1,000 and 1,500 armed men from neighbouring Mayom County launched the attack on March first, shooting residents, setting homes ablaze and looting part of a hospital.
Authorities put the death toll at at least 213, including 130 residents, 76 security personnel and seven foreign nationals.
Amnesty’s regional director, Tigere Chagutah, said both the South Sudanese government and UNMISS had sufficient information and time to take preventive measures, warning that their failure to act more decisively had cost lives.
Furthermore, UNMISS spokesperson Priyanka Chowdhury said the mission made every effort to protect civilians and provide medical assistance to approximately 2,500 people who sought refuge at its base during the attack.
She attributed the mission’s limited response to budget cuts and reduced personnel, explaining that available resources were prioritised towards protecting civilians sheltering within the base.
The March attack occurred amid renewed clashes between government forces and various opposition groups, further threatening the 2018 peace agreement that ended five years of civil war.
Amnesty said the violence may have been triggered by unresolved killings involving young men from neighbouring Mayom County.
The organisation called for an independent investigation into the killings and a separate review of the peacekeepers’ response, urging authorities to make the findings public.
UNMISS is mandated to protect civilians in South Sudan. However, the UN Security Council renewed its mandate in April while reducing its authorised troop strength from 17,000 to 12,000.
