South Sudan’s authorities have yet to bring to justice those responsible for brutal and fatal attacks on civilians three years ago in southern Unity state, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
Between February and May 2022, county officials in Koch and Mayendit in Unity state, with the backing of government forces and local militia groups, carried out a series of systematic and coordinated attacks on civilians and civilian property in opposition-controlled territories, mainly in Leer and in parts of Koch and Mayendit. Human Rights Watch research bolsters the findings of the United Nations investigations and ceasefire monitors.
“The lack of meaningful justice for the most serious crimes in southern Unity is giving rise to impunity that drives new cycles of abuse,” said Nyagoah Tut Pur, South Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Survivors of the horrific violence in southern Unity have lived for years with the consequences and deserve justice.”
The government established a commission of inquiry in April 2022 to investigate the Leer violence, but its findings were never made public. The government dismissed officials implicated in the violence in 2024, but no one has been prosecuted.
“The government should build on recent efforts to enhance justice in southern Unity and ensure credible prosecutions of those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in 2022,” the statement reads in part.
In May and July 2022, Human Rights Watch interviewed 98 people in Leer County who had been displaced from villages in Leer, Koch, and Mayendit counties. Some were also survivors of previous cycles of violence in Unity state since 2013.
Human Rights Watch said it found that organized forces including police, army, and wildlife rangers, and local youth militias allied with Koch and Mayendit county officials killed, beat, and raped civilians, and looted livestock and essential goods in opposition-controlled areas in Leer, Koch, and Mayendit between February and April 2022.
“The violence was rooted in power struggles between county commissioners of Koch and Mayendit, who oversaw government and allied militia groups, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) commanders and allied militia groups,” the statement said. “The opposition also controlled key trade routes and markets, denying these county officials access to tax revenue, which compounded political tensions and fueled the violence.”
The violence took place 10 months before elections initially scheduled for December 2022, but postponed to December 2024 and then again to December 2026. Human Rights Watch found that the violence appeared to be designed to weaken the opposition and displace populations deemed to be their supporters.
Human Rights Watch researchers found widespread burning and destruction of civilian homes and property in multiple villages in Leer that appeared to be designed to force displacement and discourage returns. Government allied forces and militias also burned children, older people, and people with disabilities in their homes and targeted civilians, especially men and boys who were attempting to flee or hide.
A woman said she saw government-allied forces force four people, including a woman who was deaf and blind and a man with a psychosocial disability, into a home and then set it on fire. She said all four were burned to death. “They stood by the house with a gun and watched it burn to the ground.”
Government-aligned forces also abducted and subjected women and girls to sexual violence. One woman said she saw five men gang rape two teenage girls in Pillieny on April 9, 2022: “When they finished, they left the younger one, age 13, by the roadside because she was heavily bleeding.”
Under international law, governments are obligated to investigate and prosecute serious crimes such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, ensuring victims’ rights to truth, justice, and an effective remedy while combating impunity.
On April 13, 2022, President Salva Kiir established an ad-hoc investigation committee to look into the “incidents in Koch, Leer, and Mayendit,” but the investigation stalled. The committee did not visit Leer until nearly a year after the events. Committee members met with President Kiir in March 2024 to present their findings, however, the committee’s findings have not been made public.
President Kiir subsequently dismissed state and county officials, some of whom were implicated in the abuses documented by ceasefire monitors, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, and the Leer Investigation Committee, but did not specify the reason for their dismissal.
South Sudanese authorities have not initiated any criminal proceedings to bring to justice those responsible for the grave violations in Leer. On March 15, 2025, authorities with the support of UNMISS deployed a mobile court to Leer to address a decade-long backlog of criminal cases in southern Unity state. While the court can hear cases on charges of murder, rape, and other serious crimes, it does not have jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes or crimes against humanity, meaning that justice for the scope and severity of the crimes in Leer in 2022 would be lost.
South Sudan authorities should take concrete steps to ensure accountability and effective remedies for victims of these most serious crimes. South Sudan’s partners should press the authorities to publish and disseminate the Leer investigation findings and ensure there is a credible, independent process to prosecute those responsible for crimes, Human Rights Watch said.
South Sudan’s leaders agreed in 2018 to carry out a comprehensive transitional justice process to address past atrocities. In September 2024, South Sudan’s parliament passed laws to establish a Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing and a Compensation and Reparations Authority, but did not move forward with legislation to set up the hybrid AU-South Sudan court, which would try the most serious crimes.
The African Union (AU) and the South Sudanese government should take all necessary steps to ensure that the hybrid court is established and begins work to fulfill its important mandate, Human Rights Watch said.
International partners should continue to provide technical and financial support across these transitional justice mechanisms, while holding the South Sudanese government accountable for its commitments to establish the hybrid court.
Recent political tensions have led to a surge in violence in Upper Nile and Western Equatoria, including indiscriminate aerial bombardments on civilians and their forced displacement. On March 8, 2025, President Kiir pledged not to return the country to war. This pledge should come with practical steps to ensure attacks on civilians and other serious abuses stop, and that credible, independent justice processes move ahead with investigations and criminal prosecutions against those responsible for serious crimes, Human Rights Watch said.
“The unchecked violence in Leer was not an isolated event, but part of a recurring cycle of violence that is fueled by impunity,” Pur said. “South Sudan’s leaders need to provide a meaningful justice response to prevent further atrocities, prosecute those responsible, and ensure that survivors can receive adequate redress and start a process of healing.”