Oil Continues To Fuel Conflict Despite Peace Deal, Says U.N. Report

South Sudan has witnessed an upsurge of rape, killings and torture despite the passage of a major peace deal last year, according to a U.N. report cited by Reuters.

Large-scale displacement, extrajudicial killings, fighting and mass rape have not ended since a peace agreement was signed in September, according to a U.N. Commission on Human Rights report that was released on Wednesday.

Revenues from oil sales, which form the backbone of the South Sudanese economy, have been channeled to government forces and militias linked to violations and have fueled conflict, says the study.

Laws that guarantee that communities receive a portion of local oil revenues have resulted in changes to provincial borders and ethnic conflict.

The report also condemned a recent outbreak of violence in Yei state, where government forces and the rebel National Salvation Front, which was not part of the peace deal, have fought for several weeks.

Up to 20,000 people could be displaced by fighting there, said a member of the commission.