[JURIST] A panel of United Nations (UN) [official website] experts told the Security Council [report, PDF; press release] Tuesday that there has been increased hostility and violence in South Sudan since the adoption of a resolution imposing sanctions on the country [resolution 2206 (2015) backgrounder]. According to the panel, “Scores of civilians have been killed, maimed, tortured, burned alive inside their homes, displaced, raped and abducted, and children have been recruited and used as part of the war effort.” The humanitarian and human rights situation not only threatens the country’s citizens, the panel said, but also “the peace and security of the entire region.” It also said that all parties to the conflict have been diverting humanitarian assistance, and extorting money for safe passage through checkpoints. It estimates that the total number of internally displaced persons within the country has exceeded 1.6 million.

The South Sudanese Civil War [JURIST backgrounder; BBC backgrounder] has persisted since December 2013 when President Salva Kiir Mayardit accused his ex-vice-president, Riek Machar, of plotting to overthrow him. In July, the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs urged [JURIST report] those involved on all sides of the South Sudan conflict to end their fighting and make peace in the interest of protecting innocent civilians. In May, Amnesty International reported [JURIST report] that South Sudan government troops were committing human rights abuses, such as abusing civilians and lighting villages on fire amid ongoing fighting in the region. In March, South Sudan’s National Legislative Assembly [official website] voted to extend Kiir’s term by three years following the cancellation of elections that were to be held in June, and the dissolution of negotiations to end the country’s internal conflict. Earlier in March UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] urged [JURIST report] Kiir and Machar to end the hostilities and comply with international law to avoid sanctions.