The Commission said through its independent investigations in South Sudan throughout 2024, it found out that political and military elites continued to fuel violence and instability

By Lodu William

he United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan in its recent concluded report urged South Sudan’s political leaders to address impunity and corruption that fuels gross human rights violations, and risk jeopardizing the country’s political transition.

In a press release published last week, the Commission presented a 24-pages report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, accompanied by a 10-page summary of key findings.

“It is unconscionable that so many years after its independence and despite their peace commitments, political leaders continue their violent contestations across the country, and are abjectly failing the people of South Sudan,” said Yasmin Sooka, Chair of the Commission.

 “Our investigations in 2024 identified the same patterns of gross violations in the same places, often implicating the same public and military offices. Sexual violence persists both in and outside conflicts, even as senior officials continue to endorse extrajudicial killings, and the forced recruitment and abduction of boys and girls into combat or sexual slavery continue unchecked,” she said.

Ms. Sooka said that drawing primarily from the Commission’s independent investigations in South Sudan throughout 2024, alongside engagements with authorities, open-source and forensic information, the report revealed how political and military elites continued to fuel violence and instability.

She said the report described the situation in Tombura, where, in 2024, armed forces and militias inflicted extreme violence against civilians along ethnic lines, deepening the unhealed traumas and divisions stemming from the 2021 conflict.

“Our investigations revealed that conflict-related sexual violence remained systematic, brutal and widespread, with survivors reporting a lack of access to critical reproductive and psychological healthcare. The testimonies of children forced into combat or held as sexual slaves underscore a systemic failure to protect South Sudan’s future generation. These acts constitute grave violations of international law, yet the perpetrators continue to operate with impunity,” Sooka emphasized.

In his part, Commissioner Barney Afako stated that in September 2024, parties to the Revitalized Agreement agreed to a further two-year extension of its transitional political arrangements.

“The repetition of these human rights violations is deeply connected to pervasive impunity, the lack of accountability in governance, and the failures to properly direct the country’s national wealth toward establishing credible institutions and systems,” Afako said.

 “This is why in many of our recommendations, in addition to a focus on human rights law, we return to the institution-building commitments in the Revitalized Peace Agreement.”

“This extension must not be squandered or become just another excuse for avoiding political transition. Instead, it must be used to implement the core outstanding elements of the Revitalized Agreement, including the commitment to adopt a permanent constitution, which offers a blueprint for sustainable peace and stability,” Afako added.