Forced cannibalism, gang rape, child slaves: All war is hell, but is this the world’s worst?

In what could become a landmark for African justice, an African Union report on South Sudan’s war has found evidence of gross human rights atrocities and recommended an African court be set up to prosecute those responsible.

The cruelty to civilians during South Sudan’s two-year war shocked the AU commission, which spared few details in describing the crimes: People were beaten and forced to jump into fires. Bodies were drained of blood and other victims were forced to drink the blood or eat human flesh. Women, old and young, were gang raped and left bleeding and unconscious. Children were forced to fight, or were enslaved by militias.

The report, released late Tuesday, also said mass graves of victims were found.

“The stories and reports of the human toll of the violence and brutality have been heart-wrenching,” the commission report said. “All these accounts evoke the memories of some of the worst episodes of earlier human rights violations on the continent, including in South Sudan itself.”

War broke out in December 2013 between different factions of the ruling party, one associated with President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and the other with former Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer. Tens of thousands were killed, although the AU report said it wasn’t possible to state accurately how many.

Under intense international pressure and a threat of UN sanctions, the two sides signed a peace deal in August designed to bring the war to an end, but violations and continued fighting have been reported.

The AU commission said it reached conclusions about who should face prosecution for crimes against humanity, but kept the names confidential. It also identified key problems in South Sudan, including the militarization of the government and society and too much power concentrated in the hands of the president.