9 SSPDF soldiers sentenced to jail, stripped of ranks

JUBA — The South Sudan People’s Defense Force (SSPDF) General Court Martial in Western Equatoria State on Monday sentenced 9 servicemen to various jail terms over murder and rape.

Two soldiers were sentenced to 7 and 10 years in jail over cases related to sexual and gender-based violence involving underage victims.

All of them were stripped of their ranks and dismissed from military service.

The highest-ranking member of the SSPDF convicted was a lieutenant colonel over the loss of a weapon.

Two civilians were released from military custody since they do not fall within the jurisdiction of a military court.

A civilian was served a two-year jail term for killing two SSPDF soldiers and ordered to pay 62 heads of cattle or a monetary equivalent as blood compensation to the victims’ families.

Priyanka Chowdhury, spokesperson of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), said the soldiers were sentenced to jail on 5 July.

“The military court adjudicated 20 criminal cases, convicting nine members of the SSPDF, stripping them of their ranks, and dismissing them from military service,” Priyanka said in a statement issued on Monday.

Priyanka said the court also heard six cases involving conflict-related crimes committed during clashes in February 2025 in Kwajiena village, Jur River County.

She said the establishment of a military court was followed by a civil-military dialogue in Wau with a focus on joint efforts to combat sexual violence.

She said civil-military dialogue aimed at strengthening the relationship between the two groups.

“The aim of the dialogue was to strengthen trust between uniformed personnel and communities, as well as obtain real-time feedback on the impact of such military justice interventions on host populations.”

She said the mission has provided funding for victims and witnesses to receive psychosocial support before, during, and after trial.

The Wau General Court Martial was funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Juba.

Since 2020, the Military Justice Directorate, with support from UNMISS, has deployed 14 General Court Martial courts to nine locations across South Sudan and addressed a total of 136 criminal cases involving uniformed personnel, including murder, assault, and sexual and gender-based violence.