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which reportedly killed almost 1,200 civilians between 2012 and 2015. 141 However, in addition, “non-state conflicts have plagued South Sudan since its independence. In particular […] Jonglei has experienced large-scale non-state conflicts with the Lou Nuer against the Murle being the worst with more than 1400 people killed in 2011”. 142 Early on, particularly serious violations occurred in Mayom County, Unity State in 2010 and 2011. In a June 2012 report, Amnesty International documented serious human rights violations committed by South Sudan’s Army (SPLA) and the armed opposition group, the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA). The briefing revealed use of recently supplied weapons, including mortar shells made in 2010, probably in Sudan, and used by armed opposition groups shelling civilian areas. The report also notes: “repeated incidents of civilians being killed or injured during fighting between the SPLA and the SSLA. Residents described a pattern of indiscriminate firing and shelling. […] In one episode on 29 October 2011, scores of civilians were killed and injured and several houses were destroyed during fighting between SPLA and SSLA forces in Mayom town. Ukrainian supplied T-72 main battle tanks have been used in such attacks by the SPLA. These battle tanks are entirely unsuitable for urban fighting as they cannot distinguish between military and civilian objects in urban areas.” 143 Scores of civilians were killed or injured by Chinese manufactured anti-vehicle mines laid by the SSLA. 144 CIVIL WAR AGAIN Less than two years after independence, an ‘elite power struggle’ precipitated the government break-up and subsequent civil war, which started in December 2013, initially between President Salva Kiir and former Vice-President Riek Machar (leading what is called SPLM-In Opposition or SPLM-IO), but gradually evolving into “a multi-faceted war that […] includes […] large-scale interethnic and intra-ethnic violence”. 145 The nearly two-year-long conflict has reversed development gains achieved since independence and worsened the humanitarian situation. Neighbouring countries such as Uganda and Sudan have been involved in the war directly and indirectly, reflecting long-standing rivalries and discrepant interests in the region. The UN Panel of Experts describes the role of Uganda in South Sudan since December 2013 as a “toxic political issue among the Nuer population in particular”. 146 (See also the ‘Spotlight’ section in the Uganda chapter) 141 In 2012, “one part of the one-sided violence relates to a disarmament campaign in the volatile Jonglei region. In this process the army was very violent – particularly against the Murle ethnic group. This led to widespread torture and killing of more than two dozen civilians”. In 2013, “elements of the national army killed hundreds of Nuer. In this process people were singled out because of their ethnic belonging and thereafter arrested, beaten and often killed. In the two last weeks of 2013 it is estimated that in Juba between 535 and 698 civilians were killed from such atrocities.” http://ucdp.uu.se/#/onesided/1175. 142 http://ucdp.uu.se/#country/626. 143 Amnesty International UK, ‘South Sudan: Arms supplies fuelling violations in forgotten conflict’, June 2012, https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/ south-sudan-arms-supplies-fuelling-violations-forgotten-conflict. 144 Ibid. 145 UNSC, ‘Interim report of the Panel of Experts on South Sudan established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2206 (2015)’, August 2015, p.8. 146 Ibid. 46 PAX ! Armed and insecure
“Hundreds of extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, gang rapes, sexual slavery, forced abortion, massive child soldier recruitment and indiscriminate attacks against civilians with entire villages burned down have been perpetrated by all sides in war-torn South Sudan,” the United Nations reported in January 2016. 147 “The constant attacks on women, the rape, enslavement and slaughter of innocents; the recruitment of thousands upon thousands of child soldiers; the deliberate displacement of vast numbers of people in such a harsh and poverty-stricken country – these are abhorrent practices that must be halted,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, whose office (OHCHR) compiled the report along with UNMISS. According to Navi Pillay, the previous OHCHR chief, “one of the main reasons we are seeing such extreme sexual violence in South Sudan is the country’s pervasive culture of impunity. The perpetrators - including members of the police, army and armed militias - know that there is no rigorous justice system and almost no risk of consequences.” 148 Similar conclusions were drawn by the African Union’s Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan (AUCISS), established to investigate human rights abuses committed during the armed conflict. It found that civilians had been murdered, tortured, subjected to cruel, inhumane and other degrading treatment, raped or were victims of other sexual and gender-based crimes. It also found that parties to the conflict had forcibly conscripted children, and looted and destroyed civilian property. The report emphasised that accountability is central to building sustainable peace in South Sudan and it recommended the establishment of a hybrid judicial mechanism to bring those responsible to account, among other transitional justice processes. 149 Examples of atrocities committed against civilians during the war were also detailed in UN investigations into SPLA-IO attacks in April 2014 on Bentiu Town and mob attacks on an UNMISS base in Bor Town two days later. Altogether at least 353 civilians were killed: 287 in a mosque, 19 in a hospital and 47 at the UN base. 150 In January 2014, government forces pursued civilians who had fled Leer into the forest; one witness told Amnesty: “Once they had destroyed everything and burned the town they started following the civilians. They were shooting randomly and using very heavy artillery.” 151 Regarding the violence, Nicholas Kristof recently wrote in the New York Times: “What has evolved is an ethnic cleansing that sometimes seems to be inching toward genocide, and those at greatest risk are not combatants but women and children suffering from hunger and disease. […] All this is unfolding in remote areas, without outside witnesses, without a global outcry. The victims are among the most voiceless on the planet, which is one reason the killing continues.” 152 147 UN News Centre, ‘South Sudan: slaughter of civilians, gang rapes among ‘shocking’ crimes committed by all sides, says UN’, January 2016, http://www. un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=53061#.V1FcPGY439J. 148 Huffington Post, ‘AU Report Into Sexual Violence in South Sudan: Vital to Stop Women’s Bodies Being Used in War’, January 2015, http://www. huffingtonpost.com/navi-pillay/au-report-into-sexual-vio_b_6522772.html. 149 See HRW, ‘UN Human Rights Council: Joint NGO Letter on South Sudan’, March 2016, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/04/un-human-rights-counciljoint-ngo-letter-south-sudan and the AUCISS documents at http://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/final-report-african-union-commission-inquiry-south-sudan. 150 UNMISS, ‘Attacks on Civilians in Bentiu and Bor’, January 2015, http://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/attacks-civilians-bentiu-bor-april-2014. 151 Amnesty International, ‘Nowhere safe: Civilians under attack in South Sudan’, May 2014, p. 32, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/AFR65/003/2014/en/. 152 New York Times, ‘Ethnic Cleansing in South Sudan’, March 2016, http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/opinion/sunday/where-the-soldiers-are-scarierthan-the-crocodiles.html. PAX ! Armed and insecure 47
Page 1 and 2: Armed and insecure An overview of a
Page 3 and 4: Armed and insecure An overview of a
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Page 7 and 8: MSF NISAT-PRIO OCHA OHCHR RECSA RPG
Page 9 and 10: Weapon Use 68 Military Spending and
Page 11 and 12: Agents of Political Conflict in Afr
Page 13 and 14: Saudi Arabia Map 2 Horn of Africa S
Page 15 and 16: unacceptable humanitarian harm caus
Page 17 and 18: corruption, Somalia ranks last in t
Page 19 and 20: A few lessons learned can be mentio
Page 22 and 23: 1. Sudan Once the continent’s lar
Page 24 and 25: iggest perpetrator of this type of
Page 26 and 27: documented, a few of which will be
Page 28 and 29: The relentless bombing and constant
Page 30 and 31: 107mm mortars, as well as reportedl
Page 32 and 33: weapon systems are Russia, China, U
Page 34 and 35: small arms and light weapons (SALW)
Page 36 and 37: ocket launchers are also promoted.
Page 38 and 39: which they deemed ineffective. 124
Page 40 and 41: Spotlight: Children killed and maim
Page 42: © Enough / Amanda Hsiao South Suda
Page 45: !Abyei South Sudan Juba The Sudanes
Page 49 and 50: embargo on South Sudan. 161 In earl
Page 51 and 52: implement” the remainder of the c
Page 53 and 54: thought to have been considerable,
Page 55 and 56: Equatorian leaders complained to th
Page 57 and 58: Spotlight: An Armed Newborn—Pre-i
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Page 62 and 63: 3. Uganda With a population slightl
Page 64 and 65: civil disobedience”—led to anot
Page 66 and 67: against the arrest and beating of a
Page 68 and 69: nonetheless killed 725 civilians in
Page 70 and 71: Concerning major weapons systems, t
Page 72 and 73: SU-30s do not appear to meet any ob
Page 74 and 75: the aim of offsetting the North’s
Page 76 and 77: Spotlight—Uganda and South Sudan:
Page 78: © Pete Lewis / UK DFID Refugee she
Page 81 and 82: Kenya Nairobi largest city), which
Page 83 and 84: end of 2014; the remaining cases ar
Page 85 and 86: them. 355 A few days later, 36 work
Page 87 and 88: 2009, reaching USD 954 million in 2
Page 89 and 90: 380 381 FN PRODUCTION Kenya has a s
Page 91 and 92: of USD 16,305 in small arms ammunit
Page 93 and 94: One fascinating investigative repor
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5. Ethiopia Among the largest and m
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the secession and autonomy efforts
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Ethiopian security forces have kill
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while providing limited hardware, t
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with the transformation of S-75 sur
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had been binding since March 1999.
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© David Stanley Military equipment
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Eritrea Asmara severe drought and f
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Eritrea a ticking time-bomb? 491 Or
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Ethiopian economy and disrupted the
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Arms Transfers The imposition of th
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used, and was contaminated by, clus
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trying to run away” and “one of
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7. Somalia Somalia topped the ‘Fr
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In a 2015 global study of corruptio
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Particularly dramatic attacks occur
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Despite being dubbed “Al-Shabaab
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educed by almost half as incidents
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also been starkly criticised. 616 M
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and extended it until October 2015,
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SMALL ARMS Because of the embargo,
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supplying enemy lines, as it has be
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consignment” seized on the MV Sha
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© US DoD / Staff Sgt. Joseph Araiz
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Djibouti Djibouti nation’s mariti
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killed. 689 Regardless, the history
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the launching-pad for drone surveil
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use of major weapons in Djibouti—
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the UN Firearms Protocol on small a
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PAX ! Armed and insecure 157
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conflict situations or homicides. 7
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For example, SIPRI has been unable
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weapons have been acquired is often
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To the governments of Horn of Afric
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Godebaldkwartier 74 3511 DZ Utrecht
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