Over a three-day period, a mobile court deployed to the town of Malakal in north-eastern South Sudan to process long-pending cases involving four individuals who had committed serious crimes, including two cases of sexual violence and one case of armed-robbery.
With the assistance of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan’s Rule of Law Unit, national judicial officers were flown in from the capital, Juba, to hear and pass sentences that ended a long spell of waiting for justice.
Once all is set, the suspects are brought in from the United Nations protection site, under heavy UN police security. And then one by one, the accused take their place in the dock, as the audience awaits the proceedings
On Day 1, the 16-year-old’s rape case comes up, followed by an armed robbery case. And on Day 2, the sexual assault case, involving a 4-year-old girl. The suspect is this 26-year-old man, a resident of the United Nations protection site in Malakal.
He allegedly waylaid the little girl as she walked home from her grandmother’s house in the UN protection area. After promising to give her candy, he took of her clothes and sexually assaulted her.
Little girl’s mother was relieved.
It is a verdict that both sides seem to be satisfied with. Santino Koch is the convicted offender’s lawyer.
It’s the second time justice has come to Malakal on the wings and on the wheels, the first mobile court having sat here from 16 to 20 October 2018. Then, the court tried four cases involving five persons accused of serious sexual-violence crimes committed in the Malakal UN protection site. All five persons were convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 18 months to 10 years.
It is all a part of efforts to complement UNMISS’s broader strategy to close the impunity gap for serious crimes, including sexual and gender-based violence, by promoting increased accountability in national courts~UNMISS
