In August 2015 South Sudan’s warring parties finally agreed to the terms of a peace agreement. Despite the agreement, fighting continued in several parts of the country. This briefing paper describes in detail one particularly egregious incident of war crimes and other violations of human rights including arbitrary detention, torture and wilful killing of civilians by government forces in Leer town. Government forces also failed to treat the bodies of the men and boys they killed in a respectful manner or take measures to prevent their bodies from being despoiled, in violation of customary international humanitarian law.
