South Sudan: UN opens mobile court

A UN “mobile court” has begun legal proceedings that will see 27 suspects go on trial over a period of two weeks.

Some of the suspects to be tried at the makeshift court in Bentiu, in northern South Sudan have waited for a year without trial.

UN Mission in South Sudan helped refurbish the courthouse now operating at the directive of the country’s Chief Justice.

For the first time since 2013, justice will be done for several victims in the region.

“We are working on a judicial system so that accused persons can be tried quickly. They should either be charged or released if they have not committed a crime. They should only be in prison if they have done something wrong. No one should be sentenced without being tried or it will mean that justice has been postponed, but with lawyers who are here to defend according to the law, that is a good thing and it encourages me to move forward, because there are lawyers here for the accused. “, said Judge Peter Mazen, Senior Judge at the Bentiu Mobile Court.

The mobile court consists of two judges, two prosecutors, an investigator and two defense lawyers.

South Sudan’s civil war has killed almost 400,000 people since 2013, about half dying from violent injuries.

Fighters on all sides accused of gross human rights violations, including gang rape, abduction, sexual slavery of women and girls and child recruitment.