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| Political Fight in South Sudan Targets Civilians | Political Fight in South Sudan Targets Civilians |
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| JUBA, South Sudan — The security forces went house to house, rounding up civilians by the dozens and binding the wrists of some with wire, survivors said. Some were summarily shot in the street, they said, while others were hauled off to crowded cells. Bodies of the executed were tossed into shallow graves, one recalled. Another jail where civilians had been taken reeked of death, a witness said. | JUBA, South Sudan — The security forces went house to house, rounding up civilians by the dozens and binding the wrists of some with wire, survivors said. Some were summarily shot in the street, they said, while others were hauled off to crowded cells. Bodies of the executed were tossed into shallow graves, one recalled. Another jail where civilians had been taken reeked of death, a witness said. |
| “We thought that the war was fought between the soldiers,” said Peter Nhial, 30, one of many in a crowd of desperate people to describe attacks on civilians. | “We thought that the war was fought between the soldiers,” said Peter Nhial, 30, one of many in a crowd of desperate people to describe attacks on civilians. |
| Little more than a week after political tensions between South Sudan’s leaders erupted into clashes in the streets of the capital, Juba, the crisis has broadened into a societal conflict in which longstanding ethnic divisions are fueling the violence and civilians are often the targets, not accidental victims, of the fighting. | |
| On Tuesday, the top United Nations human rights official, Navi Pillay, expressed deep concern about “the serious and growing human rights violations” taking place in Juba and elsewhere in the country. | |
| “Mass extrajudicial killings, the targeting of individuals on the basis of their ethnicity and arbitrary detentions have been documented in recent days,” she said in a statement. | “Mass extrajudicial killings, the targeting of individuals on the basis of their ethnicity and arbitrary detentions have been documented in recent days,” she said in a statement. |
| The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to nearly double its peacekeeping force in South Sudan, hoping that a rapid influx of international forces will help quell the violence threatening to tear the young nation apart. | |
| But even as it moved to add nearly 6,000 international troops and police officers to the more than 7,600 peacekeeping forces already in South Sudan, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, soberly warned that they might not be enough. | But even as it moved to add nearly 6,000 international troops and police officers to the more than 7,600 peacekeeping forces already in South Sudan, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, soberly warned that they might not be enough. |
| “Even with additional capabilities, we will not be able to protect every civilian in need in South Sudan,” Mr. Ban said. | “Even with additional capabilities, we will not be able to protect every civilian in need in South Sudan,” Mr. Ban said. |
| “We have reports of horrific attacks,” he said, asserting that the attacks on civilians could constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. “Innocent civilians are being targeted because of their ethnicity. This is a grave violation of human rights, which could fuel a spiral of civil unrest across the country.” | “We have reports of horrific attacks,” he said, asserting that the attacks on civilians could constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. “Innocent civilians are being targeted because of their ethnicity. This is a grave violation of human rights, which could fuel a spiral of civil unrest across the country.” |
| South Sudan was born in 2011 after years of international diplomacy as a way of ending decades of conflict with Sudan. Donor nations like the United States have spent billions of dollars trying to turn one of the poorest nations in the world into a viable state, but the country has long been strained by deep internal divisions. | South Sudan was born in 2011 after years of international diplomacy as a way of ending decades of conflict with Sudan. Donor nations like the United States have spent billions of dollars trying to turn one of the poorest nations in the world into a viable state, but the country has long been strained by deep internal divisions. |
| The latest conflict began last week after President Salva Kiir accused his former vice president, Riek Machar, of trying to stage a coup. Skirmishes rooted in politics then spiraled with shocking speed into attacks based on ethnicity, victims said. Mr. Kiir is a member of the Dinka ethnic group, the country’s largest. Mr. Machar is a Nuer. | The latest conflict began last week after President Salva Kiir accused his former vice president, Riek Machar, of trying to stage a coup. Skirmishes rooted in politics then spiraled with shocking speed into attacks based on ethnicity, victims said. Mr. Kiir is a member of the Dinka ethnic group, the country’s largest. Mr. Machar is a Nuer. |
| The mistrust between the two groups has laid bare how much of the fledging nation’s cohesion was defined by opposition to the Sudanese government in Khartoum, rather than a broad sense of unity and national identity. | The mistrust between the two groups has laid bare how much of the fledging nation’s cohesion was defined by opposition to the Sudanese government in Khartoum, rather than a broad sense of unity and national identity. |
| Survivors at a displaced-persons camp in a United Nations compound in Juba spoke of mass arrests and impromptu language tests being given by security forces to determine which ethnic group people came from — an exchange they said could determine life or death. | Survivors at a displaced-persons camp in a United Nations compound in Juba spoke of mass arrests and impromptu language tests being given by security forces to determine which ethnic group people came from — an exchange they said could determine life or death. |
| Stephen Bol, part of an organizing committee at the camp, said that boys who had left the compound looking for food had disappeared, and that at least 2,000 people, including relatives of the people huddled here, were unaccounted for. | Stephen Bol, part of an organizing committee at the camp, said that boys who had left the compound looking for food had disappeared, and that at least 2,000 people, including relatives of the people huddled here, were unaccounted for. |
| “We don’t know whether they are alive or they have been killed,” he said. | “We don’t know whether they are alive or they have been killed,” he said. |
| Majang Riek, 49, showing the deep gashes slashed into his wrists and forearms where, he said, he was bound with wire, described being hauled off to jail with more than 70 others. There, he said, he was beaten with rifle butts. | Majang Riek, 49, showing the deep gashes slashed into his wrists and forearms where, he said, he was bound with wire, described being hauled off to jail with more than 70 others. There, he said, he was beaten with rifle butts. |
| Deng Wang, 34, had a white bandage on top of his head where, he said, he was struck with a machete, and a deep gouge in his forehead that he said had come from the tip of a rifle. Soldiers came to his home last week and arrested him, tying his hands and taking him with about 200 other members of his ethnic group, the Nuer. His house was set on fire, he said, killing one of his small children. | Deng Wang, 34, had a white bandage on top of his head where, he said, he was struck with a machete, and a deep gouge in his forehead that he said had come from the tip of a rifle. Soldiers came to his home last week and arrested him, tying his hands and taking him with about 200 other members of his ethnic group, the Nuer. His house was set on fire, he said, killing one of his small children. |
| Of the 200 people he was held with, fewer than 10 survived, he said. Small groups were led away, followed by gunshots. Mr. Wang said he had seen several graves with “dead bodies, yes, so many.” He credited his survival to the fact that he speaks Dinka and did not have any of the markings on his face associated with the Nuer ethnic group. | Of the 200 people he was held with, fewer than 10 survived, he said. Small groups were led away, followed by gunshots. Mr. Wang said he had seen several graves with “dead bodies, yes, so many.” He credited his survival to the fact that he speaks Dinka and did not have any of the markings on his face associated with the Nuer ethnic group. |
| Outside the capital, members of Mr. Kiir’s Dinka ethnic group have sought United Nations protection from attacks. In the town of Akobo, armed Nuer youths overran a United Nations base, killing Dinka civilians who were taking shelter there along with two of the peacekeepers trying to protect them. United Nations officials have said Dinka workers have been killed at oil facilities. | Outside the capital, members of Mr. Kiir’s Dinka ethnic group have sought United Nations protection from attacks. In the town of Akobo, armed Nuer youths overran a United Nations base, killing Dinka civilians who were taking shelter there along with two of the peacekeepers trying to protect them. United Nations officials have said Dinka workers have been killed at oil facilities. |
| Ms. Pillay alluded to the ethnic animosities in her statement on Tuesday, including the discovery of a mass grave in Bentiu, the capital of Unity State, that her aides said contained corpses of possible soldiers who were Dinka. | |
| In a sign of the confusion surrounding the conflict, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan said in a statement on Wednesday it was not yet in a position to confirm the existence of the mass grave in Bentiu. But the mission said it was “deeply concerned over reports of extrajudicial killings in Juba and other locations in South Sudan and is investigating reports of such atrocities.” | |
| On Tuesday, the South Sudanese government said it had retaken Bor, a city where an estimated 17,000 people have sought refuge at a United Nations compound. Col. Philip Aguer, a spokesman for the South Sudanese military, said government forces were now “in full control” of the city, adding that there were casualties, but that he did not yet know the full extent of them. His assertions could not be confirmed. | On Tuesday, the South Sudanese government said it had retaken Bor, a city where an estimated 17,000 people have sought refuge at a United Nations compound. Col. Philip Aguer, a spokesman for the South Sudanese military, said government forces were now “in full control” of the city, adding that there were casualties, but that he did not yet know the full extent of them. His assertions could not be confirmed. |
| In a dispatch from Bor on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported that parts of the city had been looted and pillaged, with some bodies still lying on the streets and occasional bursts of gunfire heard, but that hundreds of jubilant civilians were heading back to their homes, celebrating what appeared to be the return of government authority. | In a dispatch from Bor on Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported that parts of the city had been looted and pillaged, with some bodies still lying on the streets and occasional bursts of gunfire heard, but that hundreds of jubilant civilians were heading back to their homes, celebrating what appeared to be the return of government authority. |
| Hilde F. Johnson, the head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, told reporters in Juba on Tuesday that the situation remained a struggle for political power, with ethnic violence an outgrowth rather than the root cause. But that did not lessen the danger that it could degenerate further. | Hilde F. Johnson, the head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, told reporters in Juba on Tuesday that the situation remained a struggle for political power, with ethnic violence an outgrowth rather than the root cause. But that did not lessen the danger that it could degenerate further. |
| “We have seen the signs of this already and we do not want to see any development of this nature taking hold in this country, and we have the historical analogies fresh in our minds,” Ms. Johnson said, in a seeming reference to conflicts in Bosnia or Rwanda. | “We have seen the signs of this already and we do not want to see any development of this nature taking hold in this country, and we have the historical analogies fresh in our minds,” Ms. Johnson said, in a seeming reference to conflicts in Bosnia or Rwanda. |
| In the displaced-persons camp in Juba, where hungry people crowded under the meager shade offered by tiny shrubs, small tents and slapdash shelters, Mr. Wang said he had searched in vain among thousands for his wife and four other children. | In the displaced-persons camp in Juba, where hungry people crowded under the meager shade offered by tiny shrubs, small tents and slapdash shelters, Mr. Wang said he had searched in vain among thousands for his wife and four other children. |
| “I don’t know if they’re still alive,” he said. | “I don’t know if they’re still alive,” he said. |
| United States forces, which have been evacuating Americans from South Sudan and have positioned aircraft and other equipment at a military base in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, took further precautionary steps Tuesday night. A Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steven H. Warren of the Army, said a platoon of Marines and a KC-130J refueling aircraft had been sent to Entebbe, Uganda, much closer to South Sudan, to give American commanders “additional options and the ability to more quickly respond, if required, to help protect U.S. personnel and facilities.” | United States forces, which have been evacuating Americans from South Sudan and have positioned aircraft and other equipment at a military base in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, took further precautionary steps Tuesday night. A Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steven H. Warren of the Army, said a platoon of Marines and a KC-130J refueling aircraft had been sent to Entebbe, Uganda, much closer to South Sudan, to give American commanders “additional options and the ability to more quickly respond, if required, to help protect U.S. personnel and facilities.” |
| In a statement, Colonel Warren said, “These movements were made with the full knowledge and cooperation of Ugandan authorities.” | In a statement, Colonel Warren said, “These movements were made with the full knowledge and cooperation of Ugandan authorities.” |
Reporting was contributed by Isma’il Kushkush from Khartoum, Sudan, Somini Sengupta from Los Angeles, Eric Schmitt from Washington and Rick Gladstone from New York. | Reporting was contributed by Isma’il Kushkush from Khartoum, Sudan, Somini Sengupta from Los Angeles, Eric Schmitt from Washington and Rick Gladstone from New York. |