U.N. report on South Sudan paints grim picture

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 26 2014 (IPS) - An interim human rights report released by the beleaguered U.N. peacekeeping mission in South Sudan is being tentatively hailed by rights groups and observers who have pressured the mission to be more transparent with its findings.

The report, delivered to the Security Council Friday and tweeted by the mission, UNMISS, on Sunday, is an overview of evidence collected by its roughly 80 human rights officers dating from the outbreak of violence on Dec. 15 through the end of January.

Jehanne Henry, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, who returned last week from Bentiu and Rubkona, said she welcomed the report but stressed that in a country beset by impunity, regular reporting from the mission would serve as a powerful deterrent against atrocities.

“This is definitely a good step, but it is also clear that this is an interim report,” Henry told IPS, adding that the mission didn’t provide “any recommendations, fact-finding or legal analysis.”

“We would have wanted to see more regular public reporting that might have prevented some of this,” said Henry.