OHCHR voices concerns at rising extrajudicial executions in South Sudan 

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 1st August. UN human rights office said on Wednesday that it is extremely concerned about the rise in extrajudicial executions in South Sudan.

OHCHR stated that people are being put to death by army and security force firing squads for a range of alleged offences, including murder, rape, cattle raiding, domestic disputes and inter communal violence.

The spokesperson for the office Thameen Al-Kheetan said that between January 2023 and June 2024, a total of 76 people, including two children, were executed by firing squad and with no trial.

“It is all the more distressing that 39 people, including a child, were executed this way in the first six months of 2024, nearly double the number of victims in the same period last year,” he added.

OHCHR urged the government to immediately stop extrajudicial executions, conduct prompt and impartial investigations and hold perpetrators accountable.

UN rights office remains concerned about the continued application of the death penalty in South Sudan, Mr. Al-Kheetan said it is vital that the authorities impose a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.