Attack on MSF hospital in South Sudan was deliberate, U.N rights commission says
MSF said on Saturday that at least seven people had been killed and 20 wounded in South Sudan's Fangak county when a bomb was dropped on the pharmacy, burning it to the ground and damaging the hospital, followed by another drone attack on Old Fangak, a town in the Greater Upper Nile region.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, which came on the heels of air strikes and heavy clashes in the region in recent months between national forces and an ethnic militia allegedly allied with First Vice President Riek Machar.
"This was not a tragic accident. It was a calculated, unlawful attack on a protected medical facility," Yasmin Sooka, chair of the commission, said in a statement.
"The aerial bombing of the MSF hospital in Old Fangak is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and could amount to a war crime ...
"Targeting medical facilities and services violates the Geneva Conventions and represents a direct assault on foundations of humanitarian action that are intended to protect civilians in conflict zones."
Information Minister Michael Makuei did not respond to requests for comment.
South Sudan has officially been at peace since a deal in 2018 ended a five-year civil war between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and fighters loyal to Machar.
But the house arrest of Machar in March on accusations of trying to start a rebellion has sparked international concern that conflict could reignite.
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The National
4 days ago
- The National
'Call it genocide': MSF paediatrician on UK's Gaza inaction
During an MSF event in Glasgow, titled Hope: An Evening of Storytelling, Dr Prudence Jarrett recounted her time working as a paediatrician on assignment in the Central African Republic (CAR). Dr Jarrett, who has worked in both CAR and Afghanistan with MSF, spoke of a case where she and her Central African colleagues treated a child with severe malaria with an emergency blood transfusion. Despite the severe lack of resources, she said watching the young girl wake up filled her with hope. READ MORE: John Swinney addresses Scottish absence at Israel 'collective action' conference Speaking exclusively with The National, Dr Jarrett discussed the mental toll of working as a paediatrician with MSF, what brings her hope as she works on the frontlines, and what the UK Government should be doing to stop the genocide in Gaza. 'I think the mental toll was harder in Central African Republic because in Afghanistan, you're working with people who are really skilled in a healthcare system that is at least semi-functional, even if it's not got what it should have', the paediatrician explained. 'In CAR, you're working with people who don't have the training they need, who work in a healthcare system which is absolutely not functioning to a level which is adequate for what patients require. 'Every tiny thing that you're trying to do is a struggle. Getting something stapled is a struggle. Getting something printed is a struggle, let alone getting medication at the right time to the right person.' With high temperatures, intermittent electricity and little time for recuperation, Dr Jarrett noted that the combination of factors made her work in CAR 'much harder' than in Afghanistan. The crisis in CAR is largely fuelled by a civil war which broke out in 2013, as well as the lasting effects of colonialism. Despite the baseline level of mortality being well above the emergency threshold for humanitarian response, the crisis often receives little to no media attention. 'There has to be a curiosity about places not in the spotlight or which are not of geopolitical significance to the country you're reporting from', Dr Jarrett said. The triage center at Bambari's hospital, Central African Republic (Image: Adrienne Surprenant/Collectif Item) On Gaza, where 12 MSF doctors have been killed amidst the genocide, she said there are 'different levels which [the UK Government] should and are not' responding. 'One is that you have to call this a genocide. MSF's calling it a genocide, and I think we all need to recognise that this is what is going on there and that means we have obligations legally to respond and prevent that from continuing', she explained. 'There was a court case recently in the UK which concluded that it was okay for the UK to sell parts of F-35s to Israel and I hope that is going to be overturned 'We should not be sending arms to a state that is committing genocide. Stopping arms sales is a basic way of demonstrating that you're not supporting what is happening.' 'From a healthcare oriented point of view, it's clear that there are breaches of international humanitarian law that are affecting the provision of healthcare in Gaza – the bombing of hospitals, targeted killing of healthcare workers, ambulances, and so on. 'This absolutely should not be allowed to continue.' Dr Jarrett said she wants to see the UK Government accepting more Gazan children for medical treatment. At present, only two cases have been allowed. Neither received care through the NHS, but rather through private healthcare facilities funded by charity organisations. MSF called on the UK to accept more Palestinians earlier this week as other European nations have increased the number of ill and injured admitted for treatment from the enclave. She said: 'We must put pressure on the UK Government to extend their benevolence which they offer to other people coming from other countries to children of Palestine who need proper treatment for their war related injuries or treatment for chronic disease or life threatening disease. 'They cannot get this in Gaza and they cannot get in Israel because they're not allowed to go there. 'I think we have an obligation to open this channel for people to come and receive healthcare in our country.' READ MORE: Israeli defence minister presents 'cheaper and quicker' Gaza concentration camp plan Despite having worked in conditions which seem bleak, Dr Jarrett said being surrounded by compassionate people who are willing to put the work in and help those living through dire humanitarian crises fills her with hope. The paediatrician, who said she originally went into the field because it's a 'joy' to work with 'unbelievably resilient' children, explained that seeing her patients returned to their families was a 'great privilege'. She continued: 'What I get hope from is the fact that not only in MSF, within MSF, but also outside in other spaces in the UK, there are a lot of people who care about people in other parts of the world. 'They're prepared to get organised, get active, and do things about it, and it might feel that that doesn't work a lot of the time, but the more that we connect with each other and work together on these things, the more we can do and the more hope and solidarity that we build between each other.'
BBC News
6 days ago
- BBC News
Ethiopian troops 'executed' aid workers in Tigray conflict, MSF official says
Ethiopian government forces "executed" three employees of medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) while they were on a humanitarian mission in Ethiopia's war-hit northern Tigray region four years ago, a senior MSF official has told the BBC. Raquel Ayora's comments came as MSF released its findings on what it called the "intentional and targeted" killing of the three - a Spanish national and two Ethiopians - at the height of the now-ended conflict in Tigray. "They were executed," said Ms Ayora, MSF Spain's general director. "They were facing their attackers [and] were shot at very close range… several times."The BBC has asked the Ethiopian government for a response to the allegation. MSF said it was releasing its findings as the government had failed to provide a "credible account" of the deaths despite 20 face-to-face meetings over the last four years. Thirty-five-year-old Spaniard María Hernández Matas, along with 32-year-old Yohannes Halefom Reda and 31-year-old Tedros Gebremariam, were killed on 24 June 2021 while travelling in central Tigray to assess medical needs. "They were very professional and passionate," Ms Ayora told the BBC. She added that the three were fully identifiable in MSF vests and their vehicle had the charity's flag and logos on either side when they were shot."So, they [Ethiopian troops] knew that they were killing humanitarian aid workers," she said, adding that the team's travel route had also been shared in advance with fighting Tigray conflict broke out in 2020 following a massive fall-out between the regional and federal governments, with neighbouring Eritrea entering the war on the side of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF).The conflict ended two years later following a peace deal brokered by the African Union (AU). Its envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, put the number of people who died in the conflict at around 600, said the deaths were caused by fighting, starvation and a lack of health killings took place at a time when the conflict was intensifying, and Ethiopian and Eritrean troops were becoming increasingly hostile towards aid workers in the region, MSF said in its report. Ms Matas had been working in Tigray since before the war and "was very much loved" by people in the region, Ms Ayora death has been particularly devastating for her mother as she was her only child, the MSF official added. Mr Tedros was killed soon after his wife had given birth to a baby girl. His widow named the baby Maria, after her father's killed Spanish colleague, Mr Ayora said. The bodies of Ms Matas and Mr Yohannes were found between 100m (300ft) and 400m from the wreckage of their vehicle. The body of Mr Tedros, the driver, was found by the vehicle."In line with MSF travel policy, the driver stays close to the vehicle", Ms Ayora vehicle was shot at multiple times and burned on the main road from the town of Abi Adi to Yech'illa, Ms Ayora Matas and Mr Yohannes were walking when they were shot, she said, adding: "We don't know if they were called for interrogation or they decided to engage with the soldiers."MSF said it had relied on satellite images, witnesses and publicly available information on the Ethiopian military's movements at the time of the killings to draw its investigation placed Ethiopian troops at the "precise location" where the killings occurred, the charity added. MSF's report quoted witnesses as saying they overhead an officer informing the local commander of an approaching white car and the commander giving an order to shoot. Moments later, the commander was allegedly informed that the soldiers had tried to shoot but that the car had turned towards Abi Adi and stopped, at which point the commander gave the order to "go and catch them" and "remove them", the report Ayora told the BBC that officials from Ethiopia's Ministry of Justice had verbally informed MSF in mid-2022 that their preliminary investigation showed that government troops were not at the scene of the killing. However, the officials refused to give this in writing, and the charity kept engaging with the government in order to end "impunity" at a time when an increasing number of aid workers were being killed in conflicts around the world, Ms Ayora said. More BBC stories on Tigray conflict: 'I lost my leg on the way home from school'How a massacre in the sacred city of Aksum unfoldedThe war is over but the rapes continue Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
The National
6 days ago
- The National
Patients dying in Gaza amid evacuation delays, MSF warns
More than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed and around 125,000 wounded since the October 7 attacks. Despite most of the country's healthcare infrastructure being destroyed by military strikes amidst the genocide, MSF says that Israel has 'reduced medical evacuations to a minimum'. In May, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that Gaza's health systems were stretched beyond breaking point as a result of continued ground offensives and evacuation orders. READ MORE: Six children among 10 people killed by Israel at water collection point The number of patients requiring medical evacuations is between 12,000 and 15,000, according to the United Nations (UN) and Red Cross, though a study in the BMJ released last week shows only 5383 have occurred. Doctor Hani Isleem, MSF project coordinator for medical evacuations from Gaza, has urged Israeli authorities to allow for more evacuations and called for support from other nations to assist Gazan patients. In a statement, Dr Isleem said: "We are looking for countries, we really want them to open their doors, to accept more and more cases because those patients are dying inside Gaza. 'According to the WHO, at least 12,000 patients need to be evacuated outside Gaza to access vital medical care. The medical evacuation process is very complex and it is changing according to the [military] stages in Gaza. We can divide the phases into four. 'Before the closure of the Rafah border on May 7 [2024], it was directly from Gaza to Egypt and from Egypt to a third country. 'Then during the closure of the Rafah border, it was happening through Kerem Shalom [crossing point] directly from Gaza to Israel and from Israel with two options, either to EU countries or to Jordan, and then transiting to other countries. 'During the ceasefire, those stages changed again and [medical evacuations] went through the Rafah border. And after the collapse of the ceasefire, it went again through Kerem Shalom with very limited options.' Medical evacuation requires clearance from COGAT – the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories – a coordination body in Israel that manages governmental activities in occupied Palestinian territory. READ MORE: Labour council takes no action against councillor who grabbed Gaza protester by neck Dr Isleem said decisions made by the body are 'often arbitrary and opaque', with many cases denied or delayed regardless of severity. Palestinians suffering from chronic illnesses and diseases like cancer and cardiovascular issues are amongst those requiring urgent evacuations, alongside those injured in Israeli strikes. According to MSF, medical evacuations from Gaza remain severely limited due to overwhelming health needs, administrative barriers, and a lack of willing host countries. Even when patients are approved to leave, accompanying family members are often denied, resulting in painful separations, Dr Isleem said in his statement, noting that these restrictions have discouraged countries that initially tried to help, with many eventually abandoning their efforts. He continued to say that Gaza's healthcare system is overstretched, and medical evacuations are subject to strict medical and administrative criteria imposed by receiving countries. Only a few nations accept patients, and some fear being seen as supporting forced migration or taking on long-term care responsibilities. MSF managed to evacuate just 22 patients to countries like the UAE, France, and Canada – far fewer than the thousands initially identified by the organisation. 'A clear and predictable medical evacuation system, with safe corridors and without family separations, must be urgently established while ensuring Palestinians' right to return to the Gaza Strip after treatment', Dr Isleem continued. READ MORE: BBC breached editorial guidelines in axed Gaza documentary, review finds 'We are calling on the Israeli authorities to allow patients to leave Gaza and to be more flexible in the approval of [medical] cases. 'We are asking all the countries to be on the side of the Gazan people by allowing more and more cases to have access to their health care systems, participating in the medical evacuations and saving the lives of people." Dr Mohammed (Abu Abed) Abu Mughaisib – the deputy medical coordinator for MSF's operations in Palestine – told The National that evacuations are moving "very slowly". "Once every two weeks you have a medical evacuation", he said. "Since the ceasefire was broken in March, it's been moving very slowly. The waiting list [has] thousands of people waiting to be medically evacuated."
