United Nations, February 25 (RHC)-- A United Nations panel is raising alarm over reports of ongoing mass atrocities in South Sudan. Experts say oil companies in the resource-rich region could be complicit in war crimes.

One of the leading members of the UN panel, Andrew Clapham, told reporters: “There are thousands of civilians who have been forcibly displaced following a scorched-earth policy, in which the parties to the conflict are attacking the villages, torching the homes, killing civilians and raping women and girls. … If you are involved in oil extraction in that area and you are asked to assist one side or the other, you could be accused of complicity in war crimes.”

Three foreign oil companies operate in the region: the Chinese National Petroleum Company, Petronas of Malaysia and the Indian Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. The companies own joint projects with state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation, known as Nilepet.