The United Nations Human Rights chief has warned against the “alarming rise in hate speech and incitement to violence against certain ethnic groups” in South Sudan.
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein’s spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the rights chief is calling the the “hateful rhetoric between Dinkas and Equatorians highly dangerous” and could lead to “mass atrocities if not reined in.”
Shamdasani said that letters with warnings against ethnic Equatorians had been found outside the offices of several groups in Bahr el Ghazal in the country’s northwest.
She also added that Dinka groups had also warned Equatorians that they will be “eliminated.”
The spokesperson said the threats came following the killings of an unknown number of Dinkas who were travelling by bus to the capital, Juba, on October 8.
