Men appear before military court in Juba over alleged involvement in hotel attack in which five aid workers were raped and one man murdered

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

South Sudanese soldiers accused of raping five foreign aid workers and killing their local colleague have appeared before a military court in Juba, in a case seen as a test of the government’s ability to try war crimes.

The attack, one of the worst on aid workers since civil war erupted in South Sudan three and a half years ago, occurred on 11 July 2016, as President Salva Kiir’s troops won a three-day battle in the country’s capital against opposition forces loyal to Riek Machar, the former vice-president.

Seven dead in worst attack on aid workers since South Sudan war began Read more

Witnesses said armed men attacked the Terrain hotel in Juba for several hours. Victims phoned UN peacekeepers stationed a mile away and begged for help, but none came, the witnesses said. The military head of the peacekeeping mission was fired and the political head resigned over the incident.

Since civil war began in 2013, UN investigators and rights groups have frequently accused both the army and rebels in South Sudan of murder, torture and rape, crimes which they claim almost always go unpunished.

Describing the incident, the manager of the Terrain hotel, Mike Woodward, told the court that “between 50 and 100” soldiers entered the building on the afternoon of 11 July and began looting an hour later.

“Five women working with humanitarian organisations were then raped. John Gatluak was shot at 6.15pm,” Woodward said.

An American was also shot in the leg, he added.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest South Sudanese soldiers, left, at their trial in Juba. Photograph: Bullen Chol/AP

Peter Malual Deng, the defendants’ lawyer, dismissed the charges, saying the evidence cited by Woodward was insufficient to prove the allegations. “What I know [is that] the area was under operation at the time and rebels were controlling the area,” Deng said.

He said photographs provided by the hotel were inadequate evidence and called for more witnesses to come forward.

Chief prosecutor Abukuk Mohammed Ramadan said they were expecting some of the survivors of the attack to return to the country and testify.

“Some of the victims left South Sudan, especially the ones who were raped,” he said. “They went back to their countries and we are expecting them back.”

The case was adjourned until 6 June.

The three-year conflict has fractured South Sudan along ethnic lines – Kiir is an ethnic Dinka, Machar is a Nuer – and displaced a quarter of the country’s 12 million people.