SAF and SAF-supported Militia Attacks on Civilians and other Breaches of International Law in AbyeiKilling of CiviliansEyewitnesses reported to Human Rights Watch the killing of at least 18 civilians between May 14 and 21, at least 15 of whom were reported to have been killed deliberately by SAF or government-supported militia. One eyewitness, a woman who had fled the fighting on May 14, told Human Rights Watch:
A man who fled the fighting in the market on May 14 said:
A man who remained in Abyei for several days after the first fighting told Human Rights Watch that his wife had seen a teacher from Abyei captured by SAF soldiers and his hands tied. Days later, the teacher’s body was found by the river, along with the bodies of eight other civilians.23
Darfuri traders who had fled the fighting in Abyei market told Human Rights Watch that while many Arab traders fled to the north or took refuge in the SAF barracks, most of the Darfuris chose to flee south into Twic County with assistance from SPLA troops. One Darfuri trader told Human Rights Watch how SAF soldiers came to the Abyei market on May 17 and rounded up the Darfuri traders demanding their money and later setting fire to their shops. He said he witnessed the soldiers taking a group of six Darfuris to the barracks where he has been told by other traders they were killed.24 This cannot be confirmed as no independent party has had access to the SAF barracks. Because SAF restricted access to the town in the weeks following the fighting, no independent body had been able to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the total number of civilians killed nor the circumstances of their deaths. On the few occasions SAF allowed international diplomats and UN agencies to visit the town, it restricted their movements to certain areas.25 It was not until mid-June – a month after the fighting – that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was able to begin clearing bodies from the town. Civilians who were also able to access Abyei at the same time told Human Rights Watch that they found the bodies of at least 18 civilians. Given the lack of access to Abyei in the first days after the fighting, this may be only a fraction of the total. According to leaders of three of the nine Ngok Dinka sub-tribes from Abyei, more than 100 civilians remained unaccounted for a month after the fighting26. International Humanitarian Law (the laws of war) applicable to internal armed conflict27 prohibits direct or indiscriminate attacks on civilians.28 The parties, in this case the SAF, SAF-supported militia, and SPLA forces, must also take precautionary measures to minimize incidental loss of civilian life. International humanitarian law also prohibits summary executions.29 Human rights law prohibits the arbitrary deprivation of life.30 Looting, burning and destruction of propertyEyewitnesses told Human Rights Watch that in the days following the initial clashes on May 14, the SAF and SAF-supported Misseriya militia, wrought havoc in Abyei, torching the market and at least half the houses, and systematically looting property from civilian homes and NGO premises. A woman who spent the night of May 14 in her house in Abyei told Human Rights Watch how SAF soldiers came to her house the next morning:
A trader from Abyei market told Human Rights Watch how he had witnessed his home being destroyed:
Eyewitnesses who were in the market when the looting began on May 14 reported to Human Rights Watch that merchants who refused to give their money to the looters – SAF soldiers and militia were threatened with being shot:
One elderly woman who was unable to flee Abyei at the start of the fighting as she was ill remained in her tukul [hut] for the next two weeks. She was repeatedly robbed and threatened:
Several eye-witnesses who stayed in Abyei after May 14 told Human Rights Watch they saw soldiers and government supported militia set fire to houses. An eye-witness saw SAF soldiers moving through the town with AK47s burning and destroying tukuls and property. He told Human Rights Watch that while walking from the SAF barracks toward the UNMIS compound:
By May 17, he said, the whole of the market and more than half the homes in Abyei had been razed to the ground36. SAF and allied militia also looted and severely damaged the premises of UN agencies and NGOs, taking furniture, air-conditioners, and even removed electrical wiring from the walls37. The looting continued for at least six weeks after the first fighting.38 Under international humanitarian law ‘civilian objects,’ which include homes and property (including that of humanitarian agencies), are protected, and direct or indiscriminate destruction or looting of civilian objects is prohibited. The parties must take precautions to minimize damage to civilian objects.39 Pillage, according to the Statute of the International Criminal Court, is a war crime in non-international armed conflicts.40 The destruction of homes is also a breach of human rights, violating the basic rights to housing and to the protection of one’s property.41 DisplacementA woman who ran with her family from her home in Abyei town to Abatok told Human Rights Watch:
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimate that some 60,000 civilians fled the fighting in Abyei. They estimate that 50,000 are still living in temporary shacks or crowded into homes with other families in Twic County, south of Abyei, with the remainder having fled north.43 Civilians in Agok, Turalei and Abatok, told Human Rights Watch they were unwilling to return until the Khartoum government fully withdraws SAF military forces, and new joint military and police forces replace them. A woman who had fled Abyei and spent the next two weeks in Twic County sharing one tukul [hut] with seven other adults and nine children, told Human Rights Watch that despite having to live in such conditions, they would not consider returning to Abyei until Brigade 31 withdrew: “we want to go back, we will go back, but until the 31st goes it won’t be possible.”44 Following a conflict displaced civilians have the right to return to their homes of origin in safety and voluntarily, on the basis of informed consent.45 The SAF and SPLA should ensure that civilians are able to access Abyei to assess the current situation before consenting to return, and that they are not subject to any pressure to return unless they freely consent to do so. 21 Interview with displaced woman, Turalei, Twic County, June 17, 2008 22 Interview with displaced man, Abathok, June 20, 2008 23 Interview with displaced man, Agok, June 21, 2008; the finding of the bodies was independently confirmed by two staff of the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) interviewed in Agok, June 21, 2008. 24 Interview with Darfuri traders displaced from Abyei, Turalei, June 18, 2008. 25 Interviews with Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Committee staff and Dinka Ngok leaders who visited the town subject to restrictions imposed by SAF, Agok, June 22, 2008 26 Ibid 27 Under international law, the conflict in Abyei would be considered a non-international (internal) armed conflict, in which the applicable law derives primarily from article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Second Additional Protocol of1977 to the Geneva Conventions (Protocol II) and customary international law. 28 Protocol Addition to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of Non- International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 1125 U.N.T.S. 609, entered into force December 7, 1978. Article 13. Acceded to by Sudan July 13, 2006, with the Protocol coming into force for Sudan on January 13, 2007. 29 Protocol II Article 4 30 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No.16) at 52, U.N. Doc A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171 entered into force March 23, 1976, acceded to by Sudan 18 March 1986 , art. 6; African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), adopted June 27, 1981, OAU Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982), entered into force October 21, 1986, acceded to by Sudan 3 September 1982, art 4. 31 Interview with displaced woman from Abyei, Turalei, June 16, 2008 32 Interview with displaced trader from Abyei, Turalei, June 16, 2008 33 Interview with displaced trader from Abyei, Turalei June 18, 2008 34 Interview with displaced woman from Abyei, Agok, June 22, 2008 35 Interview with displaced man from Abyei, Agok, June 21, 2008 36 ibid 37 Interview with SSRRC representative who visited Abyei on June; photos of the destruction seen by Human Rights Watch 38 Telephone interview with UNMIS Military Observer in Abyei, June 29, 2008 39 Protocol II Article 4 40Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute), U.N. Doc. A/CONF.183/9, July 17, 1998, entered into force July 1, 2002, art. 8(2)(e)(v) 41 ACHPR , art 14; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), adopted December 16, 1966, G.A. Res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 49, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 993 U.N.T.S. 3, entered into force January 3, 1976, acceded to by Sudan March 18, 1986, art. 11 42 Interview with displaced woman from Abyei, Abathok, June 21, 2008 43 ‘South Sudan – Abyei Displacement,’ OCHA situation report No 20 for reporting period 28 June to 4 July 2008 - http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/KKAA-7GB7HR?OpenDocument&rc=1&emid=ACOS-635PJQ (accessed July 16, 2008) 44 Interview with displaced woman from Abyei, Turalei, June 16, 2008 45 UN Commission on Human Rights, Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, UN Doc. E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2 (1998), noted in Resolution 1998/50, Principle 28. |