VI. Government Initiatives and International Support

The government of South Sudan is well aware that its criminal justice system is currently unable to foster security, provide accountability, guarantee due process rights of those facing criminal charges, and ensure that those in its custody live in conditions that respect human dignity.  Its post-independence three-year development plan envisions a transformation of security and rule of law agencies “into modern, professional, accountable, adequate, affordable” bodies that provide “appropriate services to the people of South Sudan.”[395] Despite significant goodwill in government to address key problems, concrete changes are too few, uncoordinated, and implementation is slow. Meanwhile prison populations continue to rise.

Government Initiatives

In the months leading up to and following independence, justice sector officials embarked on or planned for various initiatives aimed to improve the criminal justice system. These include a survey in 2011 of prison populations to determine the number of people on remand and why, and the establishment in mid-2011 of a review board in Juba to assess the legal status of juvenile remand warrants.[396] There is discussion of expanding this review board to other locations and to additional categories of prisoners.

At the end of 2011, the Ministry of Justice, with assistance from UNDP, completed a three-year strategy for the provision of legal aid.[397] The primary objectives of the strategy are to raise the level of awareness of the right to legal aid and to enhance the provision of legal aid services for people accused of serious offenses as well as for vulnerable populations through an effective and efficient legal aid system. It envisions a system of legal aid in which the services of private advocates are contracted by the Ministry of Justice’s Directorate of Human Rights and Legal Aid and paid for out of a legal aid fund. The target during the first year of implementation is for a minimum of 300 people to receive legal aid, but as of April 2012, the strategy lacked funding and implementation had not yet commenced.[398]

Justice officials told Human Rights Watch of hopes to set up mobile courts to review and process remand cases across the country,[399] but as of March 2012, the judiciary had not yet identified funding to implement this project. In January 2012, the judiciary commenced the recruitment of over 100 additional judges.[400]

In July 2011, President Kiir promised in his 100-day action plan to construct two new prisons in Warrap and Unity states.[401] The Prisons Service is hopeful that these structures, planned to house 1,500 inmates each, will alleviate overcrowding in prisons and improve conditions for prisoners in these states, where current facilities are inadequate, but Human Rights Watch observed that little progress had been made towards this promise, and that the source of funding remains unclear.[402] At the beginning of 2012, the Prisons Service was also actively working to secure land and plan for the construction of juvenile reformatory outside of Juba.

While these are progressive projects and proposals, the government should prioritize certain low-cost initiatives that would have an immediate impact on reducing the number of arbitrary detentions and the prison population as a whole. Such initiatives should include ensuring the legality of pre-trial detention, enforcing maximum limits for periods of remand, and developing law reforms that increase availability of bail. With approximately 8.7 percent of the prison population accused or convicted of adultery, the decriminalization of adult consensual sex, as required by human rights law, would have an immediate impact on the reduction of the prison population. The same can be said for concerted attention to the issue of imprisonment for debt. With legal reforms and the correct implementation of existing laws, many of the approximately 10.9 percent of people in prison for debt could be let free. The development of alternatives to incarceration should also be a priority. A reduced prison population would allow the justice sector to focus on providing accountability for serious crimes and ensuring the due process rights of those facing criminal charges.

Reducing the prison population would also immediately lessen the costs of incarceration. In light of the already insufficient funds available for prisoner food and health care, and the potential impact of budget reductions due to the loss of oil revenue,[403] the government should take all steps possible to ensure that incarcerations are legal under international and domestic law, and strictly necessary. At the same time, the government will need to commit more funding to provide minimum standards of care for people in prisons.

The government should ensure that all initiatives are well-coordinated across rule of law institutions, and that there is an active forum for discussion of criminal justice issues that concern multiple ministries. The Prisons Service, Police, Ministry of Justice, the judiciary, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare do not meet on a regular basis. Existing forums should be more effectively utilized, or new inter-ministerial working groups should be formed to address issues in the criminal justice system, particularly arbitrary detention.[404]

International Support

International donors have funded rule of law and security sector projects for several years, primarily through a multi-donor fund managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and increasingly through bilateral projects.[405] These projects have supported Police, the Prison Service, the Ministry of Justice, the judiciary, and the South Sudan Human Rights Commission, and have funded non-governmental organizations to promote access to justice over the past six years.

The support has focused largely on trainings and infrastructure projects. With support of UNDP and other bilateral donors, a police-training complex was opened in 2009 and graduated its first batch of over 5,000 police trainees in 2010, after a year-long training course.[406] Prosecutors and Ministry of Justice administrative staff have received training funded by the Belgian government and carried out by the organization RCN Justice & Démocratie.[407]  The International Development Law Organization (IDLO), with funding from the Netherlands, the European Union, and the United States Department of State Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), has conducted training for judges in procedural law, substantive law, and legal English.[408] There have been several rounds of trainings for prison service staff over the past years, supported by UNDP and bilateral donors, and a training center for Prison Service staff was completed outside of Juba at Lologo in early 2012. While a full review of such trainings is outside the scope of this report, Human Rights Watch encourages donors to continue such support and to ensure that trainings are of a sufficient duration and reach a substantial portion of the targeted institutions.[409] Donors should also ensure that training programs include strong human rights components and that they are targeted towards addressing existing human rights concerns.[410]

Infrastructure projects, though clearly important for improving conditions, do not necessarily lead to more humane prisons. In the context of its program for support to police and prisons, UNDP oversaw renovations in Bor, Aweil, Wau, Yambio, Juba, Rumbek, and Malakal prisons. Better monitoring of infrastructure projects and renovated buildings by donors and the Prison Service is needed to ensure that new facilities are constructed according to plans, properly equipped and well maintained.[411]

The donor community should also undertake activities that harness the good will of actors in the sector to improve criminal justice across the board. Donors should support initiatives to reduce arbitrary detentions and over-crowding, such as a prisoner census or case review panels, and the expansion of alternatives to incarceration. They have an important role in supporting the government’s development and implementation of a strategy and action plan for improving juvenile justice and for addressing concerns related to the incarceration of people with mental disabilities. While the justice system becomes more active, the importance of getting a legal aid scheme off the ground grows. Donors have supported the development of a three-year legal aid strategy; they should be more forthcoming with funds to ensure its implementation.

While working to create a more efficient criminal justice system or to improve prison infrastructure, donors and international organizations should also consider whether the most basic needs of those incarcerated are being met. They should work closely with the Prison Service to design programs that would ensure that adequate funds are allocated for food and health care. They should also consider supporting the Prison Service in the development of prison farms, as a sustainable way of improving prison food security.

As a first step, donors should improve coordination in the criminal justice sector through regular coordination meetings at the national and state levels, and ensure that the projects they fund are part of a coherent strategy. The Prisons Service convenes a weekly meeting, attended by its primary development partners, UNMISS, UNDP, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and INL, and other ministries do the same. According to South Sudan’s development plan, a central mechanism for aid coordination in South Sudan are sector working groups comprised of government agencies involved in a given sector and development partners.[412] The rule of law sector working group, however, which includes Police, Prisons, the Ministry of Justice, and the judiciary, does not currently meet on a regular basis. Human Rights Watch encourages donors to increase coordination on criminal justice issues among themselves, and between themselves and government institutions, and to ensure that they are aware and responsive to the major issues that give rise to arbitrary detention.

UNMISS

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), established on July 8, 2011, following South Sudan’s independence and the end of the predecessor peacekeeping mission in Sudan, is mandated, among other things, to help build South Sudan’s capacity “to provide security, to establish rule of law, and to strengthen the security and justice sectors.”[413]

The mission includes a group of approximately 900 police officers (UNPOL) whose role is to train, mentor, and advise the Police Service, and to support the development of systems and processes of crime prevention and accountability. They are collocated with the Police Service to provide on-the-job training.[414]

The mission’s Rule of Law and Security Institutions Support Office (ROLSISO) leads work on justice, corrections, and security sector reform. Among its stated goals is: “Strengthened capacity of South Sudan to end prolonged, arbitrary detention and establish a safe, secure and humane prison system.”[415] This office could play an important role in promoting criminal justice reform, particularly through advocating, at a national level, for necessary legal, policy, or operational changes, and supporting improved coordination across ministries.

ROLSISO includes a Justice Advisory Section, whose plans include the provision of technical assistance on criminal justice law reform and training workshops on the functioning, oversight and independence of the judiciary. It also plans to provide advice to the government on prolonged, arbitrary detention, to help address capacity gaps in the judiciary, prosecutorial or legal aid services, and to provide support for mobile courts.[416] Human Rights Watch urges this section to implement these listed activities as efficiently as possible.

ROLSISO also includes a Corrections Advisory Section, which provides advice and technical assistance to the Prisons Service and has more than 50 corrections advisors, largely drawn from prisons services in contributing African countries. The advisors are assigned to state and county prisons across South Sudan, and their activities are to include daily mentoring of prison service staff and capacity development of the Prison Service through targeted trainings. Staff in Juba have supported the Prisons Service in the development of strategic plans, in completing the Prisons Service Act and the standing orders, and in drafting regulations. The section’s goals include the provision of technical assistance for the establishment of an Inspectorate Unit to monitor prison operations and investigate prison incidents and for the development of a comprehensive plan for the management of prison medical services, including care for people with mental disabilities in prison.[417]

Human Rights Watch urges corrections advisors to routinely check warrants to ensure detentions are legal, press for the release of those whose detentions are not legal, monitor cases of concern, and build support among local justice actors for alternatives to imprisonment.[418] Juba-based staff should also help develop community service and rehabilitation options and policies that could be implemented nationally. They should continuously advocate for improvements to prison conditions, health care, and medical care, and community-based services for people with mental disabilities.