Two top officials overseeing South Sudan's military courts have resigned, saying high-level interference made it impossible to discipline soldiers accused of rape and murder amid the nation's civil war.

The resignations of Brigadier General Henry Oyay Nyago and Colonel Khalid Ono Loki, according to a letter seen by various media networks, follow the resignations of a general and the minister of labour earlier this week.

Oil-rich South Sudan has been mired in civil war since 2013 when President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer.

Since then, fighting has increasingly fractured the world's youngest country along ethnic lines, leading the UN to warn that the violence was setting the stage for genocide.

Nyago, advocate general and director of military justice, became the latest military official to pen a damning resignation letter, accusing the government of atrocities in the civil war.

"Your regime committed sundry war crimes... genocidal acts and ethnic cleansing," Nyago wrote, accusing Kiir of ordering the killing of civilians not belonging to the Dinka group, and overlooking crimes committed by the Dinka in various probes into violence.

"I cannot continue to be silent or taciturn when you are finishing and slaughtering the innocent people of South Sudan," Nyago said, while detailing specific events in which civilians were ordered killed, or atrocities were overlooked.

In another letter released on Saturday, Loki, the head of South Sudan's military court, accused the army chief of extrajudicial arrests of citizens based on their ethnicity.

Addressed to army chief Paul Malong Awan, the letter decried "unspecified and unstipulated arrests and detentions fluctuating from months to years without investigation and scrutiny ... on fabricated cases against individuals of non-Dinka ethnicity".

OPINION: Save South Sudan from destroying itself

Loki also accused Awan of dismissing rulings against members of his own tribe accused of murder, rape and theft.

Military spokesman Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang said Loki had resigned last year but that it had not been publicised. He did not comment on reports of human rights abuses by the military and was unavailable for comment on Nyago's resignation.

The government has previously said soldiers who commit abuses are prosecuted. Officials have not provided any figures or details on such cases.

Both Nyago and Loki said soldiers were committing crimes without fear of punishment, particularly officers who were Dinka, the same tribe as the president and chief of army staff.

"Rape cases committed and being committed by your army and organised forces have become a daily game ... you have recruited children compulsorily and ordered killing of war prisoners," Nyago's letter added.

Both Nyago and Loki said the president was protecting soldiers from his own tribe.

There are 15,000 UN peacekeepers in South Sudan, but they have been criticised for not intervening when human rights abuses are being committed.

The conflict has forced more than three million of the nation's 11 million citizens to leave their homes, creating pockets of severe malnutrition.

Last year inflation reached more than 800 percent.</s>NAIROBI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Two top officials overseeing South Sudan's military courts have resigned, saying high-level interference made it impossible to discipline soldiers accused of rape and murder amid the nation's civil war, according to letters seen by Reuters on Saturday.

The resignations of Brigadier General Henry Oyay Nyago and Colonel Khalid Ono Loki mean that five top officers and officials have resigned this week.

A highly respected general stood down a week ago, citing ethnic favouritism in the military and rampant rights abuses. The minister of labour defected to the rebels on Friday.

Oil-rich South Sudan has been mired in civil war since 2013, when President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer.

Since then, fighting has increasingly fractured the world's youngest country along ethnic lines, leading the U.N. to warn that the violence was setting the stage for genocide.

Both Nyago and Loki said soldiers were committing crimes without fear of punishment, particularly officers who were Dinka, the same tribe as the president and chief of army staff.

"Your regime committed sundry war crimes; crimes against humanity; genocidal acts and ethnic cleansing," wrote Nyago.

"Rape cases committed and being committed by your army and organised forces have become a daily game ... you have recruited children compulsorily and ordered killing of war prisoners."

Both Nyago and Loki said the president was protecting soldiers from his own tribe.

"In your relentless endeavours to protect your own ethnicity, and founded on no single law, you always freeze and/or abolish court issuance and rulings even of murder, rape and theft cases," Loki wrote.

"You have ordered arrests of civilians in military jails exterior (outside) of proper legal channels."

The resignations buttress allegations by international rights groups that the government permits soldiers to gang-rape and murder civilians with impunity. The U.N. has documented hundreds of accusations of rape involving soldiers in the capital alone.

Rebels have also been accused of human rights abuses, although fewer cases have been documented.

Military spokesman Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang said Loki had resigned last year but that it had not been publicised. He did not comment on reports of human rights abuses by the military and was unavailable for comment on Nyago's resignation.

The government has previously said soldiers who commit abuses are prosecuted. Officials have not provided any figures or details on such cases.

The rash of resignations will isolate Kiir's government further within the international community and strengthen calls for a regional protection force to patrol the capital and for the military to withdraw.

There are 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers in South Sudan, but they have been criticised for not intervening when human rights abuses are being committed.

The conflict has forced more than 3 million of the nation's 11 million citizens to leave their homes, creating pockets of severe malnutrition. Last year inflation reached over 800 percent. (Additional reporting by Denis Dumo in Juba; Reporting by Katharine Houreld; editing by Ed Osmond and Adrian Croft)</s>NAIROBI: The head of South Sudan's military courts has resigned, saying high-level interference made it impossible to discipline soldiers accused of rape and murder amid the nation's civil war, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Saturday.

The resignation of Col. Khalid Ono Loki is the third high-level departure in a week. A highly respected general stood down seven days ago, citing ethnic favouritism in the military and rampant human rights abuses. On Friday, the minister of labour defected to the rebels.

Oil-rich South Sudan has been mired in civil war since 2013, when President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer.

Since then, fighting has increasingly fractured the world's youngest country along ethnic lines, leading the U.N. to warn that the violence was setting the stage for genocide.

In a letter addressed to the chief of army staff, Loki said soldiers were committing crimes without fear of punishment, particularly officers who were Dinka, the same tribe as the president and chief of army staff.

"In your relentless endeavours to protect your own ethnicity, and founded on no single law, you always freeze and/or abolish court issuance and rulings even of murder, rape and theft cases," he wrote.

"You have ordered arrests of civilians in military jails exterior of proper legal channels ... I can no longer continue with such a corrupt, ethicised and unethical institution."

Loki's resignation buttresses allegations by international rights groups that the government permits soldiers to gang-rape and murder civilians with impunity. The U.N. has documented hundreds of accusations of rape involving soldiers in the capital alone.

Rebels have also been accused of human rights abuses, although fewer cases have been documented.

Military spokesman Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang said Loki had resigned last year but that it had not been publicised.

"Their defection won't have any negative bearing on the national army," he said. He did not comment on reports of human rights abuses by the military.

The government has previously said soldiers who commit abuses are prosecuted. Officials have not provided any figures or details on such cases.

The rash of resignations will isolate Kiir's government further within the international community and strengthen calls for a regional protection force to patrol the capital and for the military to withdraw.

There are 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers in South Sudan, but they have been criticised for not intervening when human rights abuses are being committed.

The conflict has forced more than 3 million of the nation's 11 million citizens to leave their homes, creating pockets of severe malnutrition. Last year inflation reached over 800 percent.</s>The head of South Sudan's military courts has resigned, saying high-level interference made it impossible to discipline soldiers accused of rape and murder amid the nation's civil war, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Saturday. The resignation of Col.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters.</s>Kampala - Two top South Sudanese military officials have resigned while accusing the government of ethnic bias and corruption, the latest sign that President Salva Kiir is struggling to retain his coalition of support as the country's civil war continues under warnings of genocide.

Four top officials in the past week have now left while criticizing Kiir's government.

Henry Oyay Nyago, the former judge advocate general of South Sudan's army, resigned in a letter dated Friday and obtained by The Associated Press. "Your regime committed sundry war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocidal acts and ethnic cleansing," he wrote.

Another resignation letter by Khalid Ono Loki, the former head of military courts, was also dated Friday and obtained by the AP. It describes a system of justice that is arbitrary, corrupt and discriminatory against those who are not part of the president's Dinka ethnic group.

Loki's letter also accuses the head of South Sudan's army, Paul Malong, of being engaged in "relentless endeavors" to protect his Dinka tribesmen and calls for his resignation.

'You have disgraced yourself'

"You have indeed brought shame and an unfamiliar ethos to South Sudan that will only lead the country to more calamities," Loki wrote.

Last weekend a top general, Thomas Cirillo Swaka, resigned while saying the military had become dominated by ethnic Dinka. On Friday the minister of labour, Gabriel Duop Lam, resigned and joined rebel leader Riek Machar, who is in exile in South Africa.

After Swaka's resignation letter told the president "you have disgraced yourself" by subjecting the country to ethnic bias, Kiir spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told the AP there were no tensions within the military.

But frustrations are growing. South Sudan is experiencing hyperinflation, and the army has cited the lack of pay as a root cause of indiscipline.

The country's civil war began in December 2013, and a 2015 peace deal has failed to stop the fighting that has killed tens of thousands and created more than 1.5 million refugees.

The United Nations has warned that South Sudan is witnessing ethnic cleansing. An effort led by the United States to have the UN Security Council impose an arms embargo on the country failed late last year.</s>FILE: Brigadier Henry Oyay Nyago, advocate general and director of military justice, was the latest military official to pen a damning resignation letter accusing the government of atrocities in the country's three-year civil war. Photo: eNCA

JUBA, S Sudan - A third top South Sudanese military official has resigned, accusing President Salva Kiir's regime of war crimes and ethnic cleansing, according to a letter seen by AFP Saturday.

Brigadier Henry Oyay Nyago, advocate general and director of military justice, was the latest military official to pen a damning resignation letter accusing the government of atrocities in the country's three-year civil war.

"Your regime committed sundry war crimes... genocidal acts and ethnic cleansing," he wrote, accusing Kiir of ordering the killing of civilians not belonging to his ethnic Dinka group, and overlooking crimes committed by the Dinka in various probes into violence.

"I cannot continue to be silent or taciturn when you are finishing and slaughtering the innocent people of South Sudan," Nyago wrote in the letter to Kiir, which detailed specific events in which civilians were ordered killed, or atrocities were overlooked.

In another letter released Saturday, the head of South Sudan's military court, Colonel Khalid Ono Loki resigned, accusing the army chief of extra-judicial arrests of citizens based on their ethnicity.

Addressed to army chief Paul Malong Awan, the letter decried "unspecified and unstipulated arrests and detentions fluctuating from months to years without investigation and scrutiny ... on fabricated cases against individuals of non-Dinka ethnicity."

Loki also accused Awan of dismissing rulings against members of his own tribe accused of murder, rape and theft.

"Mr. Chief, you have often avoided the current courts, tried officers on your own, whilst crafting and forming alien ones paradoxical to the existent established courts which are in conformity with the law," Loki wrote.

"Your unqualified clique of friends and relatives who dangerously arrest and sentence as you so wish and command have never attended any law school to carry such responsibility."

Lieutenant-General Thomas Cirillo Swaka, deputy chief of general staff for logistics, resigned last week accusing Kiir and his tribe of "ethnic cleansing".

While the army could not be reached for comment on the latest resignations, a statement last week said Swaka had quit as he was corrupt and had fled to evade arrest.

The country's labour minister also resigned on Friday, and declared allegiance to rebel leader Riek Machar.

The exodus comes amid mounting alarm over a civil war which has devastated the world's youngest nation over the past three years.

War broke out in oil-rich South Sudan in 2013, just two years after it achieved independence, after Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of plotting a coup.

An August 2015 peace deal was left in tatters when fighting broke out in Juba in July last year.

Violence -- initially between ethnic Dinka supporters of Kiir and ethnic Nuer supporters of Machar -- has since spread to other parts of the country, engulfing other ethnic groups and grievances.

The United Nations has warned of potential genocide and ethnic cleansing.

A confidential UN report obtained by AFP this week cites UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as saying the war had reached "catastrophic proportions for civilians".

Rights groups accuse both soldiers and rebels of horrific rights abuses including rape and extra-judicial killings.

The war has left tens of thousands dead and more than three million people displaced.

The humanitarian crisis has been exacerbated by a severe drought which has put thousands at risk of famine in the country.

The UN's humanitarian office OCHA said some 7.5 million people in the country were now in need of humanitarian assistance.</s>A senior officer in South Sudan's army has resigned alleging corruption and a military fractured along ethnic lines. It is the third top official in a week to leave while criticizing the government of President Salva Kiir as the East African nation's civil war continues amid warnings of genocide.

The statement dated Friday by Khalid Ono Loki, the former head of military courts, was obtained by The Associated Press. It describes a system of justice that is arbitrary, corrupt and discriminatory against those who are not part of the president's Dinka ethnic group.

Loki's statement accuses the head of South Sudan's army, Paul Malong, of being engaged in "relentless endeavors" to protect his Dinka tribesmen and calls for his resignation.

"You have indeed brought shame and an unfamiliar ethos to South Sudan that will only lead the country to more calamities," Loki wrote.

Last weekend a top general, Thomas Cirillo Swaka, resigned while saying the military had become dominated by ethnic Dinka. On Friday the minister of labor, Gabriel Duop Lam, resigned and joined rebel leader Riek Machar, who is in exile in South Africa.

The resignations are a sign that Kiir is struggling to retain his coalition of support. South Sudan is experiencing hyperinflation, and the army has cited the lack of pay as a root cause of indiscipline.

Last weekend after Swaka resigned with a letter telling the president "you have disgraced yourself" by subjecting the country to ethnic bias, Kiir spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told the AP there were no tensions within the military.

South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013, and a 2015 peace deal has failed to stop the fighting that has killed tens of thousands and created more than 1.5 million refugees.

The United Nations has warned that South Sudan is witnessing ethnic cleansing. An effort led by the United States to have the U.N. Security Council impose an arms embargo on the country failed late last year.</s>Two top South Sudanese military officials have resigned while accusing the government of ethnic bias and corruption, the latest sign that President Salva Kiir is struggling to retain his coalition of support as the country's civil war continues under warnings of genocide. Henry Oyay Nyago, the former judge advocate general of South Sudan's army, resigned in a letter dated Friday and obtained by The Associated Press.

Start the conversation, or Read more at WZVN-TV Fort Myers.</s>KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A senior officer in South Sudan’s army has resigned alleging corruption and a military fractured along ethnic lines. It is the third top official to leave in a week’s time while criticizing the government of President Salva Kiir as civil war continues.

The statement Friday by Khalid Ono Loki, the former head of military courts, was obtained by The Associated Press. It describes a system of justice that is arbitrary, corrupt and discriminatory against those who are not part of the president’s Dinka ethnic group.

Last weekend a top general, Thomas Cirilo, resigned while saying the military had become dominated by ethnic Dinka. On Friday the minister of labor, Gabriel Duop Lam, resigned and joined rebel leader Riek Machar.</s>Lt-Gen Lam cited inconsistency in President Salva Kiir's leadership as the reason for his resignation.

He is a member of the opposition faction headed by First Vice President Taban Deng Gai.

Lt-Gen Lam said he was unhappy with the direction President Kiir was leading the country.

He described the Unity Government as partial transitional government of national unity.

“Without wasting much of your time, ladies and gentlemen of the press, I Lt. General Gabriel Duop Lam, the National Minister of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development in the Republic of South Sudan, with sound mind and excellent rule of reasoning, do hereby officially resign from the position of being the minister in the so called Government of National Unity with effect from February 17,” he said in letter circulated to the media in Juba.

Lt-Gen Duop also declared allegiance to the rebel leader, Dr Riek Machar, who is leading an armed struggle against President Kiir.

Last week, a top army commander, Gen Thomas Cirilo, also cut ties with President Kiir and quit military service.

South Sudan peace remains at stake despite pledges from the president to enforce stability across the country.

ALSO READ: Top UN official says President Kiir not committed to peace

Over a million South Sudanese have become refugees since the conflict erupted in 2013. Thousands more have lost their lives.

The security situation remains tense in Eastern and Central Equatoria and in Upper Nile’s Malakal and Unity areas.
Two top level officials overseeing South Sudan's military courts resign from their posts, accusing the government of interfering in the court's moves to discipline soldiers accused of rape and murder. The resignations come less than a week after a military general and the Minister of Labour resigned in protest of President Salva Kiir Mayardit's alleged approval of atrocities against civilians not belonging to the Dinka group.