A rights group says it has evidence that South Sudan government forces deliberately suffocated more than 60 men and boys in a shipping container.<\/p>\n
They then dumped the bodies in a field in Leer Town, Unity State, Amnesty International said.<\/p>\n
Researchers said they had found the remains of skeletons from the killings, which are are said to have taken place last October.<\/p>\n
Thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced since 2013.<\/p>\n
“Dozens of people suffered a slow and agonising death at the hands of government forces that should have been protecting them. These unlawful killings must be investigated,” said Lama Fakih from Amnesty.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Amnesty researchers interviewed more than 42 witnesses, including 23 people who said they saw the men and boys being forced into a shipping container and later saw their bodies either being removed or at a mass burial site.<\/p>\n
Witnesses described hearing the detainees screaming and banging on the walls of the shipping container, which they said had no windows or other form of ventilation.<\/p>\n
One said she saw a commander order soldiers to open the container and take out four bodies before closing it again on the remaining detainees.<\/p>\n
Relatives of the victims told Amnesty that the victims were cattle keepers, traders and students, not fighters.<\/p>\n
Amnesty has called for the African Union (AU) to set up a Hybrid Court for South Sudan agreed under a peace agreement signed last August.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A rights group says it has evidence that South Sudan government forces deliberately suffocated more than 60 men and boys in a shipping container. They then dumped the bodies in a field in Leer Town, Unity State, Amnesty International said. Researchers said they had found the remains of skeletons from the killings, which are are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":198076,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n