Photo : https://twitter.com/UNCHRSS
NIAS Area Studies
AFRICA MONITOR
Photo : https://twitter.com/UNCHRSS
IN BRIEF
by Apoorva Sudhakar
South Sudan: County commissioner orchestrated gangrape, says UN panel
On 28 November, the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said it had reasons to believe that the Unity state’s county commissioner oversaw the gangrape of several women and girls at a military camp. A Commission member said sexual violence related to conflict resulted from impunity and that it had become systematic. The Commission quotes witnesses who said the commissioner had planned the sexual violence and his deputy carried it forward; patterns similar to the above offence were observed in other places. However, the South Sudan Information Minister dismissed these claims accusing the UN officials of falsely reporting the above to make money. (“UN panel accuses South Sudan officials of overseeing gang rapes,” Al Jazeera, 28 November 2022)
Somalia: Hotel siege by al Shabaab leaves eight dead
On 28 November, security forces ended a siege by al Shabaab of a hotel near the president’s residence in the capital Mogadishu. A police spokesperson said eight civilians and a policeman had been killed and 60 rescued. The spokesperson said one of the al Shabaab terrorist blew himself up and security forces killed five after the attack began on 27 November. The environment minister was residing in the hotel; he said the government would not give up the fight against al Shabaab. (“Abdiqani Hassan And Mukelwa Hlatshwayo, “Somali troops overpower militants to end hotel siege,” Reuters, 28 November 2022; “Eight civilians dead as Somalia hotel siege ends,” News24, 28 November 2022)