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UN bases in South Sudan clear of weapons, peacekeeping mission confirms

23 January 2014 – United Nations peacekeepers in South Sudan completed weapons searches in their eight main bases, where some 76,000 civilians continue to seek refuge, the UN Mission in the country confirmed.

"The Mission is also seeking to work with national authorities to ensure that areas immediately surrounding its bases are free of weapons," UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists in New York, quoting the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

The weapons searches come just days after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced alarm at the attempt on Sunday by senior members of South Sudan's Government and military to forcibly enter into the UNMISS compound in Bor, Jonglei state.

In the past 24 hours, the Mission carried out 186 military patrols and 62 police patrols in the capital Juba, and in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states.

There are reports of fighting continuing to occur "in multiple locations in the country," the spokesperson said.

In Bor, the Mission reported hearing gunfire yesterday evening from the north of its compound.

The base there is making improvements to strengthen its perimeter walls at its protection site where some 10,000 civilians have been sheltering since fighting broke out about a month ago.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 468,000 people are estimated to have been displaced within South Sudan since 15 December. An additional 83,900 have crossed into neighbouring countries, over half to Uganda, according to UN figures.

In Malakal, in the north-eastern part of the country, UNMISS reports that its human rights division continues efforts to verify the accuracy of reported serious human rights violations, to collect evidence and document rights abuses and the violations of international humanitarian law that might have taken place.

Reports and allegations relate to violations by both the so-called 'White Army' when it controlled the town, and by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) after it regained the control of the town after 20 January.

The Mission stresses that verification by its human rights team, at this stage, has been extremely difficult because of fighting and subsequent lack of access.

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonovic, is due to brief the Security Council today on his recent visit to eth country. Hilde Johnson, the head of UNMISS, is expected to weigh in via video conference from Juba.