South Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar has been charged with murder, terrorism, and crimes against humanity in connection with an attack on a military base that left 250 soldiers dead, according to the Ministry of Justice.
The charges are linked to an assault carried out in March by an armed group known as the White Army, which the government claims acted on Machar’s orders. Machar has been under house arrest for several months amid a power struggle with President Salva Kiir.
A statement from the Ministry of Justice quoted Minister Joseph Geng Akec as saying: “These crimes involved horrific violations of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law, including mutilation of corpses, targeting of civilians, and assaults on humanitarian workers.”
Geng told reporters in South Sudan that Machar, along with seven others—including former Oil Minister Bout Kang Chol—has been indicted in connection with attacks carried out by White Army militias in Upper Nile State in the country’s northeast.
Machar has been under house arrest since March. His opposition forces previously fought battles against troops loyal to President Salva Kiir during the civil war from 2013 to 2018, a conflict that killed an estimated 400,000 people.
