First of its kind investigation reveals use of starvation as a deliberate ‘method of warfare’ by South Sudan Government fuelling Africa’s largest refugee crisisTo read the full report, click here.
Findings:
- First of its kind investigation by Global Rights Compliance, involving extensive OSINT research, reveals starvation has been and is being used as a ‘method of warfare’ in South Sudan
- Report highlights the ‘clear link between the use of civilian starvation as a method of warfare, targeted attacks on humanitarian aid workers and the mass forcible displacement of civilians’
- Government forces ‘appear to bear principal responsibility’ for widespread attacks and atrocities
- Gross violations of international humanitarian law including deliberate starvation warfare, such as obstruction of humanitarian aid, continues to be practiced today in South Sudan’s bloody Civil War
- South Sudan is Africa’s largest refugee crisis, with over 4 million innocent victims of killing, starvation crimes, torture, sexual and gender violence forcibly displaced with no option but to flee their homes
- Risk to human life and famine ‘has never been higher’ in South Sudan, with United Nations estimating ‘nearly 8 million people will not have enough to eat from April 2023’
- South Sudan repeatedly declared the ‘deadliest place on earth for humanitarian workers’
- Report by Global Rights Compliance offers a ‘pathway to hope’ for innocent civilians, but international investigations concerning war crimes of starvation and other crimes against humanity are urgently required to hold senior responsible perpetrators to account, save lives and achieve sustainable peace
[London, 24 November 2022]: A landmark investigation report has today been published by international human rights law firm and foundation, Global Rights Compliance, urging the international community to help to end deliberate starvation crimes being committed principally by South Sudan Government forces against its own citizens in South Sudan, damningly judged to have become ‘Africa’s largest refugee crisis.’
The year-long investigation led by Global Rights Compliance has established ‘a clear link between the use of civilian starvation as a method of warfare, targeted attacks on humanitarian aid workers and the mass forcible displacement of civilians’ in South Sudan. This new report spotlights deliberate starvation tactics being used by Government forces and allied militia, and by opposition forces on innocent civilians in South Sudan, throughout the conflict until now.
According to the United Nations, the threat to human life and the risk of famine has ‘never been higher’ in South Sudan, with over 8 million innocent people said to be in ‘imminent danger’ of famine, and over 4 million innocent civilians already falling victim to killing, enforced starvation, sexual and gender-based violence and forced displacement from their homes.
The full report, entitled “NO CHOICE BUT TO FLEE – Starvation and Displacement in Central Equatoria, South Sudan,” has been supported by a forensic open-source intelligence investigation conducted by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR).
The report finds that all parties to the conflict have committed widespread human rights abuses and violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), including large-scale and systematic burning and destruction of homes and property, depriving civilians of objects indispensable to their survival (OIS), including through the destruction of food crops and markets, and impeding humanitarian access to the most vulnerable. These tactics have forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, mainly to refugee camps in northern Uganda.
South Sudan is now the most dangerous place on earth for humanitarian aid workers to operate, following a series of violent attacks on aid workers from international NGOs including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), forcing both organisations to temporarily stop the supply of food, healthcare and drinking water to innocent civilians in light of the risks to life.
A Bloody, Tragic Conflict
Almost ten years ago (December 2013), a tragic conflict which saw armed violence against civilians began in South Sudan. Killings, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and large-scale destruction saw the country ripped in two, as Government forces and rebels embarked on a bloody civil war. To date, more than 400,000 South Sudanese have died as a result of the conflict, with hundreds of thousands more injured, displaced and otherwise severely impacted.
Global Rights Compliance’s 65-page report calls for an immediate examination by the international community into the mass suffering inflicted upon innocent civilians, one of whom anonymously described the situation in her chilling testimony:
“We are really disturbed by soldiers, the very people who should protect civilians. We have seen an increase of cases of looting; even when people are raped, they are also robbed of money and food. We understand that the soldiers are looting because they have not been paid for months. What does the Government expect if they give their unpaid servants guns?”
Since 2017, Global Rights Compliance has become the leading legal organisation on prohibiting, preventing and seeking accountability for mass starvation and associated violations. Global Rights Compliance’s starvation portfolio is led by British barrister Catriona Murdoch, who has led previous investigations and legal submissions in relation to Yemen, Syria and Tigray. The law firm supported and worked closely with the Swiss Government in 2019 to secure a historic amendment to international law on starvation, when the International Criminal Court formally adopted a landmark amendment to the Rome Statute which, for the first time, enabled the international investigation and persecution of the war crime of starvation in a domestic armed conflict.
Now, Global Rights Compliance’s year-long investigation into South Sudan has concluded with the publication of this report, authored by Ken Scott, Senior Legal Advisor, and Rebecca Bakos Blumenthal, Legal Advisor.
Former UN Commissioner and Senior Legal Advisor at Global Rights Compliance and Author of the NO CHOICE BUT TO FLEE report, Ken Scott, states:
“This well-documented report offers a pathway to hope for the millions of innocent victims of the bloody conflict in South Sudan, but to achieve change, the international community including the International Criminal Court, the United Nations, the African Union and governments around the world must step in and do their duty to hold those most responsible for the heinous crimes in South Sudan accountable.
“If no action is taken to recognise and investigate these crimes internationally, it is likely that thousands more innocent men, women and children will die, either from famine or on perilous journeys to escape the conflict in South Sudan.”
An Urgent ‘Call to Action’
Global Rights Compliance has issued an urgent ‘Call to Action’ to the international community, to demand that starvation crimes in South Sudan are recognised as gross violations of international law, and that perpetrators of war crimes are brought to justice.
The report, among other actions, calls for:
- The United Nations Security Council to refer the situation in South Sudan to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to conduct a full investigation into alleged international crimes committed
- Alternatively, for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to immediately open a preliminary examination into the South Sudan situation in order to hold accountable the senior persons most responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and crimes under the Rome Statute committed in South Sudan
- Regional and domestic accountability and transitional justice mechanisms to be implemented in a transparent, inclusive, gender-aware and fair manner. In particular, for the transitional justice mechanisms envisaged under Chapter V of the R-ARCSS to be swiftly implemented, including the Hybrid Court, the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing, and the Compensation and Reparation Authority
- National Governments to examine suffering inflicted on the South Sudanese people and the extent to which various actors are responsible, with a view to extending sanctions to all parties responsible for starvation-related conduct in South Sudan
-Ends-
For further information, and interview opportunities, please contact:
Harriet Shearer / Gordon Cole-Schmidt / Rhiannon Green
The Communication Group plc
020 7630 1411
globalrightscompliance@thecommunicationgroup.co.uk
Issued on behalf of Global Rights Compliance
Notes to Editors
Global Rights Compliance
Global Rights Compliance, founded in 2013, is an international human rights law firm and foundation, specialising in international humanitarian law, international criminal law and business and human rights. Global Rights Compliance’s mission is to provide justice through the innovative application of international law.
Since 2017, Global Rights Compliance has become the leading legal organization on prohibiting, preventing and seeking accountability for mass starvation and associated violations. Global Rights Compliance has had a principle geographical focus on Syria, South Sudan and Yemen, in addition to Ukraine and Tigray, Ethiopia.
Background to the conflict in South Sudan
Despite gaining independence in 2011, hostilities in South Sudan continued to take place, marked by unresolved political, economic and social antagonism.[1] As a result of an ongoing political power struggle, a civil war took place commencing in December 2013 and continuing until today. This was defined by armed clashes between the Government’s national army, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), and opposition forces, including the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO). The civil war began in Juba, before spreading outwards to the Greater Upper Nile region. Further escalation in 2015-16 saw hostilities spread to Central Equatoria, despite attempts at a peace agreement.
Direct attacks on civilians continued throughout 2016, with Central Equatoria heavily affected. In 2018, the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) signified a further effort towards a unified government yet was ultimately unsuccessful, with five parties choosing not to sign the agreement, including the National Salvation Front (NAS). The Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) was eventually formed on 22 February 2020,[2] however, human rights violations and abuses continue to be committed on both sides.[3]
Starvation Crimes
The starvation of civilians is a common occurrence in places of conflict, often as an indirect result of military activity which reduces the accessibility of food. However, starvation has also been recognised as an intentional act of warfare in several instances.[4] The deliberate restriction of food and humanitarian aid in South Sudan has caused widespread and deep food insecurity, resulting in mass displacement of individuals and avoidable deaths.
In August 2019, an amendment to Article 8 of the Rome Statute was proposed by the Government of Switzerland, as supported by Global Rights Compliance.[5] Unanimously adopted in December 2019, the amendment meant that starvation is now recognised as a war crime in the context of non-international armed conflicts (NIAC), rather than solely international ones.[6] Whilst South Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute and is not a party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the armed conflict has involved a range of gross human rights abuses and international humanitarian law violations, as outlined in the Global Rights Compliance report.
Forcible Displacement
As a result of ongoing conflict in South Sudan, more than 2.5 million displaced individuals have sought refuge in neighbouring countries. Violence, theft, obstruction of humanitarian aid and attacks on objects indispensable to the survival of civilians have all resulted in the forcible displacement of South Sudanese. Hundreds of thousands have suffered or experienced starvation-related conduct while being displaced from their homes, resulting in a mass exodus of civilians fleeing southern Central Equatoria to refugee camps in northern Uganda. It is estimated that more than 4 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict in South Sudan, with more than 1 million fleeing to Uganda alone.[7]
[1] Chris Newton, ‘Not Never Again, but Next Time: Armed Conflict and Mass Starvation in South Sudan 2013-2019’ in Bridget Conley, Alex de Waal, Catriona Murdoch, and Wayne Jordash QC (eds), Accountability for Mass Starvation: Testing the Limits of the Law (OUP 2022).
[2] Accord, ‘The Formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity in South Sudan’ (20 August 2020).
[3] UNSC Panel of Experts on South Sudan, S/2020/342 (28 April 2020) p. 2; UNSC Panel of Experts on South Sudan, S/2021/365 (15 April 2021) p. 2.
[4] The war crime of starvation in non-international armed conflict, BSG-WP-2019-031.pdf (ox.ac.uk) (November 2019) p. 1.
[5] https://globalrightscompliance.org/project/mobilising-ratification-of-the-rome-statute-starvation-amendment/
[6] Ibid.