An international rights group has accused South Sudanese government forces and allied fighters of civilian killings, rapes, and destruction of property during a military operation in Unity State.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement Wednesday that the alleged attacks on civilians between April and June of 2015 amount to war crimes, and the killings and rapes may also constitute crimes against humanity.

In a report issued Wednesday, Human Rights Watch details the findings of more than 170 interviews in May and June with survivors of the attacks. It says more than 125 of the interviewees were displaced by the fighting or attacks on their villages.

The rights group says it has documented about 60 unlawful killings of men, women, and children, including the elderly. It says some victims were hanged, others shot, and others burned alive.

Daniel Bekele, Africa director for Human Rights Watch, called the attacks a “devastating offensive” characterized by “shocking disregard for civilian life.”

The report says fighters from the Bul Nuer ethnic group operated alongside government fighters, shooting at civilians as they fled into forests and swamps. It also says the government forces and aligned militia deliberately burned villages to the ground and destroyed food stores and seeds intended for cultivation.

It says the rights group documented 63 cases of rape, including gang rapes, yet only one woman reported getting medical or other services for sexual violence. It said government soldiers and Bul Nuer fighters also beat women, threatened them with death, and abducted them.

Human Rights Watch is calling on the United Nations Security Council to expand targeted sanctions on commanders and others responsible for the events of the Unity State offensive, and to set up a court made up of South Sudanese and international legal officials to investigate and prosecute the worst crimes.

HRW is calling on President Barack Obama to make a public commitment to advance an arms embargo when he visits the African Union in late July.  And it calls on the African Union, regional governments, and key partners of South Sudan to support those steps.
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