Human Rights Watch welcomes the High Commissioners report on South Sudan. We believe the grave situation described in the report more than warrants a UN special rapporteur, not just to monitor the ongoing abuses, but also to contribute to justice and accountability.
As you know, the warring parties signed a peace deal in August 2015, yet conflict and abuses against civilians have continued and spread.
The High Commissioner’s report adds to the mounting evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity particularly in Unity, Upper Nile, Western and Central Equatoria states. Focusing in great detail on events in 2015, the report documents killings, illegal detention, widespread sexual violence, use of child soldiers, forced displacement, and the destruction and looting of civilian property.
Since the research was completed on that report, more violence has been perpetrated against civilians On February 17, 2016, government forces attacked civilians living in a UN camp in Malakal. At least 25 people were killed, more than 100 were injured, and much of the camp was destroyed. In recent months, conflict and abuses have spread to regions such as Western Equatoria, previously unaffected by the fighting. Soldiers have fought rebels, but also attacked civilians, burned homes, displaced communities, and targeted people for arbitrary detention and other abuses.
As the High Commissioner notes, “failure to address the deeply engrained disregard for human life will only lead to such violations re-occurring.” We agree, and for this reason believe strongly that the Council should authorize a mechanism to both monitor the abuses and promote accountability.
The August peace agreement envisions a range of steps to hold violators accountable, including a hybrid court to be established by the African Union Commission to try the most serious crimes. Hybrid courts, which include both international and domestic judges and other staff, have been used in other countries to deliver justice where national courts lack the expertise or the will to try these crimes.
There has been limited progress toward creating such a court, however, and a UN special rapporteur could engage with relevant international and regional entities to support the process.
Seven months after the peace agreement, civilians are still targeted for killings, rape, and other crimes. The Human Rights Council should not turn its back on South Sudan.
