SUMMARY

The Government of South Sudan was included in UCDP data on one-sided violence for the first time in 2012. During this year one part of the one-sided violence was related to a disarmament campaign in the volatile Jonglei region. In this process the army was very violent - particularly against the Murle ethnic group. This led to widespread torture and killing of more than two dozen civilians.

In 2013, the one-sided violence carried out by the Government of South Sudan increased. When an intrastate conflict flared up between the Government of South Sudan and the SPLM/A In Opposition, the South Sudanese government carried out multiple atrocities including killing people assumed to support the rebels (for further information see the Government of South Sudan - SPLM/A - IO).

The government continued to attack civilians during the following years in relation to the intrastate conflict. One-sided violence often followed when an area or town changed hands and the government sought after people they assumed supported the rebellion.

The Government of South Sudan first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2012, when the one-sided violence resulted in more than 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached on 4 December of that year when government troops shot dead 13 civilians in Lotho village.