Soldiers rape women as a form of payment in South Sudan

UN rights chief says the strife-torn country is facing one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world

The U.N. human rights chief says a report describing children and the disabled being burned alive and fighters allowed to rape women as a form of payment shows South Sudan is facing “one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world.”

Rights chief Zeid Raad al-Hussein laments that the crisis has been “more or less off the international radar.” The nearly 5-year-old country fell into civil war two years ago.

The U.N report released Friday is the work of an assessment team deployed in South Sudan between October and January. It says “state actors” bear most responsibility for the crimes.