Denver Attorney Reports To United Nations On Atrocities In South Sudan
By Nell London, 3/13/17 published with
Ken Scott is also a lecturer with the CU 麻豆影院 International Affairs Program
A Denver attorney who has traveled to South Sudan and interviewed victims of the violence there has heard tales of rampant rape, ethnic cleansing, and famine. Ken Scott is one of three members of the听. The commissioners have spent a year investigating abuses听in the civil war-torn听African nation and will deliver听听in Geneva on March 14. Scott is no stranger to the atrocities of war: 听he听prosecuted war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. 听But that experience doesn't reduce the shock听of the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, Scott told Colorado Matters' host Andrea Dukakis. 听More than 70 percent of women have been raped. 听Famine has been declared by the United Nations听as people have started to starve to death. 听Nearly 1.5 million people have fled the country as refugees, and another 2 million are displaced within its borders. Scott听also serves on the board of the Denver nonprofit听Project Education South Sudan听(PESS), which promotes education and builds schools. 听Scott says that the work of PESS is able to continue because their schools are in听regions that are, for now, relatively violence-free. 听However, children make up a large portion of the South Sudanese听refugees,听and as many as 36,000 children are unaccompanied or separated from their parents, creating a fear of a new "lost generation," as the children orphaned by the Sudanese war that began in the 1980s were called.听
On what Scott听saw in his visits:
"You drive听through towns and village in parts of Wau听up in the western Bahr el-Ghazal, and parts of town are completely empty because people have been moved out. 听Other places you see refugees that are trying to get by on a day to day basis. 听At the same time听you run into people who are amazingly friendly and optimistic, it's not clear why. 听Just a real mixture of human experiences. 听But it's a very听tragic, very difficult place in every way."
听On how children become soldiers:
"Some of them are forcibly taken. 听And you have to realize, because of everything we've been听talking听about,听the economic, the food,听the situation in South Sudan is so dire that sometimes people听join the military even听as children just听because you get some food. 听And it may not be that听great but it's something. 听So that's a huge factor."
听On what it's like for the "lost boys" generation to see more children orphaned in war:
"It's very disheartening because that generation of so-called "lost boys" really hoped that this pattern would not be repeated. 听Many of these people听who did come to the United States and other places, who've returned, had high hopes as many people did as South Sudan became fully independent in 2011. 听So to see this happening now to another generation of young people is very discouraging. 听But they're still in there fighting the battle." 听听
On why it's hard to get food relief to people who are starving:
"Number one, it's a very difficult country to get around in, there are very few roads, especially in the rainy season. 听Most of those roads become virtually impassible. So one is just the sheer transportation and logistic issues in the country. 听However, in addition to that, the government very often blocks access."听