US President Joe Biden and South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit. Photos via Getty Images

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s United States Administration on Monday accused South Sudan government of perpetrating ethnic-based killings and for using food as a weapon of war, days after the country marked ten years of independence.

The report which also cites Ethiopia and Eritrea, among other countries, also said non-state actors in the world’s youngest countries have also perpetrated unlawful killings warning of further sanctions.

“The government has perpetrated extrajudicial killings including ethnic-based killings of civilians, widespread sexual violence, and use of food as a weapon of war,” the United States Department of State said in an annual Congress on genocide.

“Non-government armed groups also perpetrated unlawful killings, rape, sexual slavery, and forced recruitment of children,” the report seen by Sudans Post which also accused China of ethnic cleansing, said.

The report also referred to a February 2021 comment attributed to the State Secretary Anthony Blinken in which he stated that “those responsible for human rights violations in South Sudan must be held to account.”

It added that the department “continues to support civil society documentation to further truth, justice, and accountability and advocate for a robust mandate for the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan to collect and preserve evidence.” - Sudans Post