YEI, South Sudan (AP) – First, the soldiers stole their belongings. Then they take their food. During their third and final visit, the woman raped the soldiers and her daughter-in-law until they could not walk.
What distinguishes these assaults in South Sudan from many other rapes by soldiers in the country who are in trouble is: the women brought the men to court and won.
Ten years after South Sudan gained its independence and two years after its own deadly civil war ended, large-scale fighting has subsided, but clashes continue between communities and between the government and groups that have not signed the peace agreement – and the use of rape as a weapon remains unbridled. Justice is extremely scarce, but the conviction in September raised hopes that such crimes would be increasingly prosecuted.
“I was traumatized,” the elderly woman, a 48-year-old mother of eight, told The Associated Press in Yei, a city in the southern state of Central Equatoria, where she now lives. The AP usually does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they give permission, and the woman said she still fears for her safety and is too scared to return to her hometown of Adio, for example.
She said she found some consolation when she found two attackers guilty and sent to jail after reporting the rape to the South Sudanese army chief in May when he visited her town. A new chief of staff of the army, responding to growing frustration over such crimes, has sent military judges from the capital Juba to oversee the case and those of ten other women and girls who have also come forward.
Eventually, 26 soldiers were convicted, some for rape, but others for crimes, including looting. It was the first time soldiers have been convicted of rape since the 2016 riot at the Terrain Hotel, where five international aid workers gang raped and a local journalist killed.
The military hopes the trial will be a warning to its troops.
“We apologize, we will not let this happen again, and we will arrest people who do it,” said Michael Machar Malual, head of civilian and military relations for the military in the state of Equatoria. A government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
The woman hopes the verdict will encourage more survivors to speak out in a country where sexual assault is a scourge.
About 65% of women and girls in South Sudan have experienced sexual or other physical violence, the United Nations Children’s Agency said in 2019.
Between July and September, the UN reported an 88% increase in conflict-related sexual violence from the previous quarter, even though overall violence had declined. It is said that there were more than 260 “violent incidents” during the period, but it did not specify how much sexual violence was involved.
The towns around Yei were hit hard, while fighting continued between government forces and the National Salvation Front, which did not sign the peace agreement.
Citizens say they are trapped in the middle, with women often accused by soldiers of supporting the rebels – and assaulted – especially if their husbands are not there.
In February, three women and a 14-year-old girl were raped by soldiers about 40 kilometers from Yei, according to a report by the independent body overseeing the implementation of the peace agreement. One report was raped in the gang while she was being held with a gun, the report said.
When the AP visited Yei in December, civilians and soldiers said the situation was improving and that there had been fewer reports of sexual violence since the trial. The once bustling city and nearby towns slowly come back to life after the war.
Yet some residents said they feel as unsafe as ever. A group of women walking home from the market said they were hiding their food in the bushes, worried that hungry soldiers would steal it from their homes. An economic crisis in South Sudan fueled by falling oil prices and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic means soldiers have not been paid for months – and experts warn of famine.
Law groups have seen the recent case as important – but only a first step – and are urging the government to be more accountable.
“It should be a lesson for those in power, especially those with guns, to know that they are not above the law,” said Riya William Yuyada, executive director of Crown the Woman South Sudan, an advocacy group that government insisted, said. liability.
The intention is to set up a hybrid court as part of the peace deal to try people accused of committing war crimes, but implementation is slow. Nyagoah Tut Pur, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, noted that those convicted of such crimes are often lower-level officers, and that senior leaders should be held accountable. She added that liability should also include compensation and services for survivors.
Some women who had been violated by soldiers took matters into their own hands.
In 2017, Mary Poni said she watched soldiers decapitate her father and rape three of her sisters gang, until they died before she herself was assaulted. She has written a book about her experience in the hope that it will be a small step towards reconciliation in her country.
“I want the civilian population to have confidence in the military, and for the military to protect our women and girls,” Poni said. “Women live in silent fear and cannot open up about things they have been through.”
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Associated Press author Maura Ajak in Juba, South Sudan, contributed to this report