Impunity Endemic In S. Sudan Ahead of Planned Elections: UN Body

FILE - Military trainees parade during the visit of the defense minister to a military training center in Owiny Ki-Bul, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan on June 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Maura Ajak, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
FILE - Military trainees parade during the visit of the defense minister to a military training center in Owiny Ki-Bul, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan on June 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Maura Ajak, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Impunity Endemic In S. Sudan Ahead of Planned Elections: UN Body

FILE - Military trainees parade during the visit of the defense minister to a military training center in Owiny Ki-Bul, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan on June 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Maura Ajak, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
FILE - Military trainees parade during the visit of the defense minister to a military training center in Owiny Ki-Bul, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan on June 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Maura Ajak, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Armed conflict, violence and entrenched impunity persist in South Sudan as it prepares to hold its first elections, the UN commission investigating human rights in the country said Friday.

The world's newest nation has struggled to find its footing since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, battling violence, endemic poverty and natural disasters.

"As South Sudan prepares to end its fragile political transition and to hold its first elections in December 2024, armed conflict and gross human rights violations persist," the commission said in its annual report to the UN Human Rights Council.

"Millions of people have been displaced, deprived, traumatised, and continue to live in fear," said the report covering events in 2023, AFP reported.

As South Sudan's transition neared completion, the risk of further mass violence and accompanying gross human rights violations remained ever-present.

"Patterns of violence, violations and entrenched impunity continue to blight the lives of an extremely vulnerable population. The already-dire humanitarian situation will deteriorate further," the report concluded.

The commission, established by the Rights Council in 2016, is charged with gathering evidence on alleged gross rights violations and related crimes, with a view to ending impunity.

One of the poorest countries on the planet despite large oil reserves, South Sudan has spent almost half of its life as a nation at war, and has also endured persistent natural disasters, hunger, economic meltdown and communal conflict.

The commission saw a risk of further gross violations if the factors behind the conflict were not addressed.

Unchecked mass violence and ongoing repression threaten the prospects of durable peace, and must be urgently addressed, the report said.

"Our investigations again found an absolutely unacceptable situation in South Sudan, whereby families and communities are devastated by human rights violations and abuses by armed forces, militias and state institutions acting with impunity," said commission chair Yasmin Sooka.

"South Sudan's immediate and long-term future hinges on political leaders finally making good on their commitments to bring peace, and reverse cyclical human rights violations."

The report said the country's first elections face severe political and logistical challenges.

It warned that while the vote could be moment of great opportunity, it could also bring danger, as electoral grievances may trigger new violence, or compound existing conflicts.

South Sudan's Justice Minister Ruben Madol Arol told the council the report was "deplorable".

It contains "unverified and unrealistic alleged human rights violations which include discrimination against women, inequality, sexual slavery and displacement of millions", he said.

"This description of events does not match the current improvement of the security situation in the country."



Shooting in Detroit Suburb Injures 9, 8-year-old in Critical Condition

Oakland County Sheriff Evidence Technicians document the scene where a shooting took place at Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on June 15, 2024. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)
Oakland County Sheriff Evidence Technicians document the scene where a shooting took place at Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on June 15, 2024. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)
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Shooting in Detroit Suburb Injures 9, 8-year-old in Critical Condition

Oakland County Sheriff Evidence Technicians document the scene where a shooting took place at Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on June 15, 2024. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)
Oakland County Sheriff Evidence Technicians document the scene where a shooting took place at Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills, Michigan, on June 15, 2024. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)

Nine people were injured, including two young children and their mother, after a shooter opened fire at a splash pad in a Detroit suburb where families gathered to escape the summer heat Saturday. Law enforcement tracked a suspect to a home, where the man died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.
An 8-year-old boy was shot in the head and in critical condition Saturday night, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said during a news conference. The boy's mother also was in critical condition after being wounded in the abdomen and leg, and his 4-year-old brother was in stable condition with a leg wound, The Associated Press reported.
Authorities initially said they believed as many as 10 people had gunshot wounds from the shooting in Rochester Hills, but that number was revised after they checked with area hospitals.
The other six victims, all 30 or older, were in stable condition, Bouchard said. They included a husband-and-wife couple and a 78-year-old man.
The shooting happened just after 5 p.m. at a city park featuring a recreation area with a nonslip surface where people can turn on sprays and fountains of water to play in. Bouchard said the attack appeared to be random, with the shooter driving up to the park, walking to the splash pad and firing as many as 28 times, stopping multiple times to reload.
At least one witness reported that the shooter appeared to use two hand guns during the attack, but that has not yet been confirmed, the sheriff said.
Bouchard said the first deputies who arrived immediately began providing first aid including tourniquets. Officers also were able to quickly come up with a likely address, and a car matching the suspect’s vehicle was at the residence.
Deputies surrounded the home and tried to make contact with the suspect inside, to no avail, Bouchard said. They sent a drone inside the home and then entered to find the suspect was dead.
Another weapon was found inside. The quick containment of the suspect may have prevented a “second chapter” to the shooting, the sheriff said, displaying a photo of a semiautomatic rifle on a table inside the home.
The suspect did not live in Rochester Hills and investigators do not yet know why he went to the splash pad, according to Bouchard.
Officials did not release the man's name. Bouchard described him as a 42-year-old white man and said officials believe he lived with his mother. The man’s mother was notified, Bouchard said.