Amnesty International has called on South Sudan to launch an investigation into “shocking human rights violations” against civilians by its security forces.

The London-based group said in a statement on Tuesday that Juba must “take immediate action to end human rights violations including torture, shootings and sexual violence by security forces carrying out a civilian disarmament campaign in Jonglei State.”

Following a wave of ethnic violence that broke out late December 2011, South Sudan’s security forces started a disarmament campaign in the volatile eastern state. However, the army’s reaction has been harshly criticized due to its brutal treatment of civilians.

In August, Human Rights Watch also reported that South Sudanese soldiers fired at civilians, tied them up with rope and submerged their heads in water in the disarmament scheme.

Also in August, the United Nations expressed concern about a rise in “serious human rights violations allegedly committed by some undisciplined elements within the South Sudanese Army.”

Jonglei was one of the hardest hit areas in Sudan’s 1983-2005 north-south conflict.

South Sudan became independent on July 9, 2011 after decades of conflict with the north. The new oil-rich nation is one of the least-developed countries in the world where one in every seven children dies before the age of five.

Press TV