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house was attacked as Riek had already left Juba by then, and pro-Kiir PG had already
disarmed the approximately 30 Nuer PG stationed in the house as part of Riek’s bodyguard.
After the disarmament, which was peaceful according to witnesses who spoke to Human
Rights Watch, around 70 Dinka PG then were stationed at the front and rear of the former
vice-president’s house and remained there all night. The following morning a tank fired at
and mostly destroyed the front gate and Dinka PG then attacked the house. The Nuer PG
put up some armed resistance using guns kept in the house. Five Nuer PG were killed and
several others were injured. 29 After the fighting a group of NSS officials came to the house
and took the injured Nuer PG to Juba Teaching Hospital. 30 Other Nuer PG were arrested and
then detained in a NSS building in Juba town for seven days (conditions in this detention
site are described below). 31
Victims and witnesses consistently described attacking forces, mostly PG soldiers but also
in some cases police or other soldiers, as from the Dinka ethnic group who – after the Nuer
defection – formed most of the remaining PG in the town. Officials of different ethnicities
from the SPLA and police force have acknowledged that it was mostly Dinka security forces
loyal to Dinka commanders, rather than to official lines of command and control, who took
effective control of much of Juba. Officials within the army, the national security service
and police have consistently told Human Rights Watch that they could have done nothing
to stop the Dinka forces, bent on ensuring any possible threat to the president was
eradicated, from committing abuses. Instead of intervening militarily, several senior
officials from the army, national security and police conducted rescue missions, sending
cars and soldiers under their command to pick up frightened Nuer. 32 Unlike the army,
where official structures of command and control were at least partly replaced by ethnic
lines of command and control, although some Nuer NSS did defect the NSS continued to
function. NSS officers did not intervene during serious violence but in at least two cases
29 Several Nuer eyewitnesses, interviewed in January, told a Human Rights Watch that five Nuer PG were killed by Dinka PG in
the hospital while they were receiving treatment. This allegation has been repeatedly denied by staff at Juba Teaching
Hospital. Separately, Human Rights Watch spoke to three other Nuer civilians who were either threatened by Dinka security
forces present in the hospital or were told to leave the hospital by staff who told the injured Nuer civilians – all of whom had
suffered gunshot wounds during attacks on their homes –that they were in danger.
30 Ibid
31 This National Security Service building in Juba town is often referred to as the “riverside” building.
32 For example, James Hoth Mai, the then-chief of staff of the army and the Inspector General of Police Pieng were among
those who sent armed vehicles and security personnel for rescue missions. Police officers also provided safe haven for at
least some Nuer police in police stations.
25 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | AUGUST 2014