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JUBA, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN has called on the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) leaders, who are due to meet in Ethiopia on Friday, to urge South Sudan to take action to address sexual violence crimes.
The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, also called for an investigation into the alleged sexual violence crimes recently committed in Juba.
"I urge the Heads of State and Government, during their deliberations, to acknowledge the gravity of sexual violence; to request the South Sudanese authorities to take immediate measures to prevent their troops and associated militias from committing these crimes; and to take action against those responsible," Bangura said in a statement received in Juba Wednesday.
IGAD is an eight-country bloc in Africa comprising Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. The leaders of its member countries are due to meet in Addis Ababa for an extra-ordinary summit on the situation in South Sudan on Friday.
While commending IGAD in seeking a political solution to the crisis in Juba, and its condemnation of the egregious sexual violence crimes being committed, Bangura said sexual violence crimes have been a brutal feature of the conflict in South Sudan, which began in December 2013.
She called on parties to the conflict in South Sudan to issue immediate command orders to their respective troops to refrain from committing such crimes.
"I call on the Government of South Sudan to launch an investigation into these allegations and to prosecute those found responsible," said the UN Special Representative.
"Amidst the politics, we must not forget the survivors. The international community stands in solidarity with them and will spare no effort to ensure that they receive adequate care, assistance and livelihood support while ensuring that the perpetrators, irrespective of their ranks, are held accountable," she reiterated.
Bangura said the East Africa bloc should ensure that the military and political leadership of South Sudan move beyond rhetoric, and implement the commitments they have made in their 2013 communiques on preventing and responding to sexual violence crimes.
"IGAD must use its leverage over the parties to this conflict to ensure that they immediately cease, prevent and decisively respond to serious crimes, including sexual violence," Bangura said.
