Recent findings from the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan indicate a troubling continuation of gross human rights violations in South Sudan. The issues at stake include mass violence, persisting armed conflict, sexual and gender-based crimes, use of children in armed forces, and the curtailment of media and civil society, according to a report published by the Commission on Friday.
The report is the result of investigations carried out not only in South Sudan but also its neighboring states during the year 2023. Conducted via hundreds of interviews, expert forensic analysis, and interactions with state authorities, the Commission’s findings paint a grim picture of the country’s human rights climate.
The Chairperson of the Commission, Yasmin Sooka, remarked on the deeply concerning situation in South Sudan. Families and communities are being subjected to hideous human rights violations and abuses by armed forces, militias, and state institutions that are acting with impunity.
This recent report is not an anomaly. In fact, it follows a number of papers published in 2021, 2022 and 2023, detailing similar crimes including attacks against journalists and human rights activists, and media censorship in South Sudan.
The report’s release calls back to the terms of the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. According to this agreement, the government of South Sudan committed to end its internal conflicts and hold its first elections, scheduled for December 2024. Despite these promises, the Commission’s findings show that human rights violations remain rampant, largely due to the evasion of the underlying issues.
This article was originally published on JURIST – News.