July 22, 2015

"They Burned It All"

Nyanial, 22, nurses one of her three children in the UNMISS camp near Bentiu in June. Soldiers and militia attacked her town in Koch county in May 2015. “We thought that women and children would be safe but we were very wrong… They asked us, ‘where is your beer, your money, and show us any weapons.’ They started beating us. ... They burned the tukul. They took our 20 cows.” © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

An aerial image taken in June of a line of huts to the north of the town of Guit that had been burned down. Government forces had recently burned down buildings in the town of Guit prior to a UN visit in mid-June. — An aerial image taken in June of a line of huts to the north of the town of Guit that had been burned down. Government forces had recently burned down buildings in the town of Guit prior to a UN visit in mid-June, including the county commissioner’s office and the market. © 2015 Private

Roda, 20, fled to Bentiu from Mayendit county in late May 2015 when Bul fighters attacked her village, burning everything in sight. “I heard men shouting ‘come out of your tukuls… They took our property from inside my tukul, my mats, clothes, pans. Then they burned the tukul.” June 2015 at the UNMISS camp near Bentiu, South Sudan © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Remnants of a burnt hut in the village of Koch in May. Human Rights Watch heard how government aligned forces—including Bul militia— systematically burned homes and large parts or entire villages as they moved through Rubkona, Koch, and Guit counties in April and May 2015. © 2015 Private

Angelina, 20, from Koch, Unity State, was spared in May when members of government aligned militia abducted three women and a teenage girl that she was hiding with. “When I fled [my village], I felt very tired and I sometimes would fall and have to use my arms to pull myself forward on the ground,” said the 20-year-old who has a physical disability. “I arrived [at the UNMISS camp] three weeks after the attack. My whole body was swollen.” © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Nyacour and her daughter were forced to flee to the UNMISS camp near Bentiu after Bul fighters burned down her home and beat her, when they attacked Koch county in May 2015. Her husband is still hiding in the bush. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

An elderly woman from Rubkona country moved to the UNMISS camp in June 2015 after soldiers said they would kill her if she stayed in Bentiu town. “I was on the way to the market when the soldiers told me this. I was very scared so we came here.” © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

As thousands of people flee government attacks on their villages, the population at the UNMISS camp in Bentiu has exploded and living conditions have deteriorated. Problems with overcrowding and poor sanitation have intensified during the rainy season when sections of the camp flood. Conditions are expected to improve as people are relocated to new sections of the camp. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Already harsh living conditions at the overcrowded UNMISS camp near Bentiu became even more difficult in late June 2015 during the rainy season with several inhabitants facing health problems, including malaria. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Girls waiting in line for water in the UNMISS camp near Bentiu. As of the end of June, the camp had registered about 81,000 inhabitants, including at least 28,000 new arrivals in April and May who now reside in mostly cramped and unsanitary conditions. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

A woman at the front of a line for water in the UNMISS camp near Bentiu is directed to an enclosed water pumping area where demand is high and women must wait in long lines, sometimes for hours even before dawn. There, they are vulnerable to abuse from young men drinking at a nearby market. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

A girl carrying firewood in the UNMISS camp near Bentiu in June, 2015. Women told Human Rights Watch that often elderly women or pre-adolescent girls are sent to collect wood because they are perceived to face a lower risk of rape than older girls and younger women. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Women and girls often have to walk outside the UNMISS camp near Bentiu for as long as three or four hours to collect firewood and charcoal, sometimes close to government soldiers. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

A food vendor in the UNMISS camp near Bentiu with little to sell to customers who have little money to purchase. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

A math teacher in the UNMISS camp near Bentiu teaching boys and girls. The vast majority of camp inhabitants are children and women. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Schoolboys flipping through a notebook outside a classroom in the UNMISS camp near Bentiu in June. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

In early June, camp officials began relocating the majority of UNMISS camp residents to other sections with proper water drainage. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

Girls carrying water to their shelters in the UNMISS camp near Bentiu. In some areas of the camp, women and girls have stopped coming to collect water before 7 a.m. because of the risk of sexual violence. © 2015 Samer Muscati/Human Rights Watch

South Sudanese government forces and allied fighters carried out scores of killings, rapes, and widespread burning and pillage of civilian property in a military offensive in Unity State.

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