Ashley Judd brings spirit of #MeToo to South Sudan

In her first visit to civil war-town South Sudan, actress Ashley Judd had a message for survivors of sexual assault in a country where rape is a widespread weapon.

“I see you, I love you and I’m here for you,” she said in an interview.

Judd was among the first to come forward last year with allegations of sexual harassment against a Hollywood mogul. Eight months since speaking out she has become a prominent face of the #MeToo movement, helping women around the world combat sexual abuse and hold their perpetrators to account.

The #MeToo movement has gained global momentum, however, many women in conflict-affected countries like South Sudan still suffer in silence.

Sixty-five percent of females in South Sudan experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime, with violence against women twice the global average, according to a study released last year by the International Rescue Committee and the Global Women’s Institute.

Judd told the head of the U.N. mission to South Sudan that the “impunity of men abusing women and girls must end, whether that be among citizens within South Sudan, within the U.N. system or back home in the USA.”

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Warring Leaders of South Sudan Meet for Peace Talks

For the first time in almost two years, South Sudan’s warring leaders met face-to-face for peace talks amid efforts to end a brutal civil war.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar met in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. A statement from Mr. Machar’s opposition spokesman called the initial meeting “cordial” and said that “the two leaders discussed the prospects for peace in broad terms.”

South Sudan’s civil war has persisted for five years. The conflict plunged the world’s youngest nation into a humanitarian crisis, displacing millions and blocking parts of the country from emergency aid.

This year is expected to be the worst yet for food security, with millions potentially facing acute malnutrition. The deteriorating conditions have driven foreign governments and international agencies to press the leaders to return to the negotiating table.

Even if a peace agreement can be reached, there will be a long road to recovery in South Sudan. For now, aid groups are focusing on the immediate needs of civilians, a mission that will face fewer obstacles if the fighting can be stopped.

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South Sudan’s latest civil war atrocities kept out of sight

The accounts are horrific. A young girl strangled and gang-raped. Children burned alive as government soldiers blocked the door of their hut and set it aflame.

These are some of the atrocities revealed in 14 reports, seen by The Associated Press, that have not yet been released by the independent body charged with monitoring a failed cease-fire imposed in December in South Sudan, where civil war is now well into its fifth year.

The reports should have been released last month at a meeting led by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission but South Sudan’s government did not attend, preventing the accounts of abuses from being made public because there was not a quorum.

“The reports contain evidence that soldiers continue to kill, rape and destroy property. The decision to keep these ongoing atrocity crimes secret sends the wrong message,” Jehanne Henry, senior Africa researcher for Human Rights Watch, told the AP. Only five such reports have been released this year.

South Sudan’s government didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on why it didn’t attend last month’s meeting.

The unpublished reports describe violations by both government and opposition forces but most of the accounts blame government troops for instigating attacks and deliberately targeting civilians.

“Silence on the violations only encourages further violations,” said Edmund Yakani, executive director for the local advocacy group Community Empowerment for Progress Organization.

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In South Sudan, a Never-Ending Hunger Season Puts Millions in Danger

More than four years of civil war in South Sudan has chased millions from their homes, leaving countless farms abandoned. The economy has been obliterated. Fighting has overcome some of the nation’s most productive land. Food prices are ruinously high.

Even during harvest time, when food was most abundant, more than five million people — almost half the population — did not have enough to eat. Now, as food runs out over the next few months, that number is expected to grow considerably, with millions potentially facing acute malnutrition.

On top of that, peace talks have stalled and cease-fires have largely been ignored, which means the fighting has cut off some areas from emergency help. Aid workers have been targeted by government and rebel fighters alike, making food distribution increasingly difficult.

But delivering that aid is another matter entirely. The rainy season hits during these lean months, too, turning many roads into rivers of impassable mud.

Even within the protected camps set up around the country by the United Nations, there is not enough food to go around. Staying in the camps is dangerous enough. Attacks and sexual abuse by camp officers have been widely reported.

Tafisa Nyattie, 30, who has lived in a camp since 2013, has six children. Her food rations regularly run out, so she leaves the camp daily to gather firewood, hoping to earn enough money for milk and soap to wash her children’s clothes.

She walks up to three hours in each direction, braving threats from government forces before returning with a large bundle of wood on her head.
“They will rape you or beat you, and sometimes they kill you,” Mrs. Nyattie said. “Some government soldiers tried to rape me.”

On another day, she said, she was beaten and her leg was badly injured. But when she saw how hungry her children were, she decided she had no choice but to head back out again.

“You just go, and you don’t know if you will come back to your children,” Mrs. Nyattie said.

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More than 200 child soldiers released in South Sudan

The UN says 210 child soldiers have been released by armed groups in civil war-torn South Sudan.

It was the third such release this year, bringing the total number of underage fighters freed so far to 806.

UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the children were formally disarmed and given civilian clothes. Once reunited, the children and their families will be provided with three months’ worth of food, vocational training and education.

Haq added “additional releases are expected in the coming months that could result in more than 1,000 children being freed.”

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200 child soldiers freed in S. Sudan, but problem continues

More than 200 child soldiers were released by armed groups in war-torn South Sudan, part of a series of releases that will see almost 1,000 children freed in the coming months.

At the “laying down of the guns” ceremony, 112 boys and 95 girls were returned to their families in areas outside the town of Yambio. It was the first community release of child soldiers where children were directly reunited with their parents and siblings instead of first going to institutions.

“Many children who come to us are traumatized by what they have seen the regime soldiers do to their parents or relatives. Many witnessed their parents molested and killed,” said opposition spokesman, Lam Paul Gabriel.

The children released will get food assistance for three months, psychosocial support and vocational training, to help reintegrate them into their communities, said UNICEF. To date, the U.N. has released more than 2,000 child soldiers, yet despite progress and the government’s commitment to halt the recruitment of children, advocacy groups say it continues.

“Demobilization and disarmament rarely stick while war is still going on,” said Samantha Nutt, founder of War Child USA, an international humanitarian organization that provides support to children and families in war zones.

Without longer term help from the international community, Nutt said many children will be “back in the bush fighting again a year from now.”

An estimated 19,000 children are believed to be in armed forces amid the country’s 5-year civil war, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. South Sudan has one of the highest numbers of child soldiers in the world, according to the U.N.

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