Several non-governmental organisations are calling on the UN Human Rights Council to renew the mandate of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.

Amnesty International said in a statement on Saturday that the continuation of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS) mandate was the best means to safeguard future accountability in the absence of contemporary criminal prosecutions.

The HRC extended the mandate of the CHRSS in March 2021 for one year but said, “the Government of South Sudan has the responsibility to protect its population from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.”

The statement said the commission is the only mechanism tasked with collecting and preserving evidence of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law to ensure accountability and address human rights and transitional justice in South Sudan.

“Its work remains vital as the country prepares for elections in 2023, violence remains pervasive, and South Sudanese civil society faces intensifying repression.

‘‘We stress that any merger in 2022 should not happen at the expense of a strong investigative mandate. Victims should have the opportunity to get justice for international crimes committed. “

With resolution 46/23, on the human rights situation in South Sudan, the Council reaffirmed the importance of the mandate of the CHRSS and acknowledged that “demonstrable progress in key human rights issues of concern is critical to any future change to the mandate of the Commission.

“Unfortunately, progress on key human rights issues of concern has not been reported by the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), or other independent actors, including in the framework of the second track, resolution 46/29 on technical assistance and capacity building in South Sudan, “the statement said.

“The mandate of the CHRSS remains critical and should continue until such a point as demonstrable progress has been made against human rights benchmarks and accountability, and based on an assessment of risk factors of further violations. In this regard, the Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes, with its risk factors, is a key tool.

Areas of focus

The organisations have urged the Council to empower the Commission for it to continue its work under all its mandate pertaining to the investigation, collection and preservation of evidence, monitoring, reporting, technical cooperation, and advice on transitional justice.

The statement said until the Hybrid Court for South Sudan is fully operational and functional, the Council should ensure the renewal of the mandate of the CHRSS to secure the collection and preservation of evidence of serious crimes committed since 2013, on behalf of victims and to transfer such documentation to independent and competent judicial authorities in the future.

“In this context, we reiterate previous civil society recommendations and urge the Council to continue its meaningful action on South Sudan by extending the CHRSS’s mandate in full for a further year.

More than three years since the signing of the R-ARCSS, South Sudan continues to face issues around human rights concerns, humanitarian issues, insecurity, and economic issues.

Fighting continues in parts of the country, including with opposition groups who refuse to align with the R-ARCSS in Yei and other parts of the Equatoria region.

Violence have recently rocked Tombura, parts of Warrap, Jonglei, and Greater Pibor, where violence pitting community-based militias and youth groups threatens people’s safety, human rights, and livelihoods.

The violence is fuelled by disputes over land and livelihoods, grievances over past atrocities, arms trafficking, displacement, and governance-related issues, which constitute significant risk factors for human rights and humanitarian law violations.

In the Commission’s words, “considerable work remains to be done to ensure that South Sudan does not slide back into violent national conflict.”

 Last September, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also expressed her deep concern over “high levels of violence attributed to community-based militias.”

 The conflict has been accompanied by grave violations and abuses that continue to take place with impunity. These include sexual violence, which remains widespread despite the launch of an Action Plan for the Armed Forces on addressing conflict-related sexual violence, on  June 19, 2021.