YEI, South Sudan (AP): First, soldiers stole their belongings. Then they grabbed the food. On their third and final visit, the woman said, the soldiers raped her and her daughter-in-law until they could not walk.
What differentiates these assaults in South Sudan from many other rapes by soldiers in the troubled country is this: women took men to court and won.
Ten years after South Sudan gained its independence and two years after the end of its deadly civil war, large-scale fighting has subsided, but clashes between communities and between the government and groups that did not sign continue. the peace agreement and the use of rape as a weapon continues to spread. Justice is extremely rare, but the September conviction has raised hopes that these crimes will be prosecuted more and more.
“I was traumatized,” she told The Associated Press in Yei, a city in the southern state of Central Equatoria, where the 48-year-old mother, an 48-year-old mother, now lives. The AP does not usually identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they grant permission and the woman said she continues to fear for her safety and is too scared, for example, to return to her hometown, Adio.
He said he found some solace in seeing his two attackers convicted and sent to prison after denouncing the rape of the South Sudanese army chief when he visited his village. A new army chief of staff, who responded to growing frustration with these crimes, sent military judges from the capital, Juba, to oversee the case and those of 10 other women and girls who also showed up.
In the end, 26 soldiers were convicted, some for rape, but others for crimes such as looting. It was the first time soldiers had been convicted of rape since the 2016 disaster at the Terrain Hotel, where five international aid workers were raped in groups and murdered a local journalist.
The army expects the trial to be a warning to its troops.
“We apologize, we will not let it happen again and we will arrest the people who do it,” said Michael Machar Malual, head of the army’s civil-military relations in the state of Central Equatorial. A government spokesman did not respond to any requests for comment.
Woman hopes verdict encourages more survivors to speak in a country where sexual assault is a scourge.
About 65% of South Sudanese women and girls have experienced sexual or other violence, the United Nations Children’s Agency reported in 2019.
Between July and September, the United Nations reported an 88% increase in conflict-related sexual violence over the previous quarter, even when overall violence fell. He said there were more than 260 “violent incidents” in total during the period, but did not specify how many involved sexual violence.
The villages around Yei have been severely affected as fighting continues between government forces and the National Salvation Front, which did not sign the peace agreement.
Civilians 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 in charge of monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement. A woman was raped in a group while being held at gunpoint, according to the report.
When the AP visited Yei in December, civilians and soldiers said the situation was improving and there were fewer reports of sexual violence since the trial. The town village and nearby villages are slowly coming back to life after the war.
Still, some residents said they feel as insecure as ever. A group of women going from the market to their home said they hid food in the bushes, worried that hungry soldiers would steal them from their homes. An economic crisis in South Sudan fueled by falling oil prices and the falling COVID-19 pandemic has left soldiers unpaid in months – and experts warn of famine.
Human rights groups have hailed the recent case as important, but only a first step, and are pushing the government for more responsibilities.
“This should be a lesson for those in power, especially those in arms, 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 has pressured the government for accountability.
It is intended to establish a hybrid court as part of the peace agreement to try people accused of committing atrocities during the war, but implementation is slow. Human Rights Watch researcher Nyagoah Tut Pur noted that those convicted of these crimes are usually low-level officers and that senior leaders should be held accountable. He added that accountability should also include compensation and services for survivors.
Some women brutalized by soldiers have taken matters into their own hands.
In 2017, Mary Poni said she saw soldiers beheading her father and gang-raping three of her sisters until they died, before she herself was assaulted. He has written a book about his experience in the hope that it will be a small step towards reconciliation in his country.
“I want the civilian population to have confidence in the military and for the military to be able to protect our women and girls,” Poni said. “Women live in silent fear, they are not able to open up about things that have happened.”
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Associated Press writer Maura Ajak in Juba, South Sudan, contributed to this report