Reuters: Activists Accuse South Sudan of Using Oil Cash to Fund Conflict

Activists accused South Sudan’s government on Monday of funneling cash from the state oil company to militias responsible for atrocities and attacks on civilians.

South Sudan dismissed the report by The Sentry, a group co-founded by actor George Clooney. “The oil money did not even … buy a knife. It is being used for paying the salaries of the civil servants,” said presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny.

The Sentry said it had found documents, including payment logs from state oil operator Nilepet, suggesting that cash from the company had been used to fund fighters caught up in the country’s civil war. Nilepet was not immediately available for comment.

“The documents appear to describe how top officials used Nilepet funds to support a group of (ethnic) Padang Dinka militias active in northeastern Upper Nile state and implicated in widespread attacks against civilians and other atrocities,” the Washington D.C.-based group said in a statement…

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