Situation of Human Rights in South Sudan

A/HRC/RES/40/19No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 4Human rights situations that require the Council's attention, published in 2019.

What other versions does this mandate have?

7 versions · 2016–2021

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/46/23

2021A/HRC/RES/46/23Situation of human rights in South SudanLatestCompare with previous version
2020A/HRC/RES/43/27Situation of human rights in South SudanCompare with previous version
2019A/HRC/RES/40/19Situation of human rights in South SudanCompare with previous version
2018A/HRC/RES/37/31Situation of human rights in South SudanCompare with previous version
2017A/HRC/RES/34/25Situation of human rights in South SudanCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

10 topics

Accountability Commissions of Inquiry Gender-Based Violence Human Rights Human Rights Violations Internal Security Peace Agreements South Sudan Technical Cooperation Transitional Justice

What does this mandate say?

27 operative paragraphs

Condemns in the strongest possible terms the ongoing violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law in South Sudan, including those involving the targeted killing of civilians and widespread sexual and gender-based violence, including rape and gang rape, which continue to be used as a weapon of war, the recurring unlawful recruitment and use of children by armed groups, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, the arbitrary denial of humanitarian access and attacks on schools, places of worship, hospitals and United Nations and associated peacekeeping personnel by all parties, and the impunity for such violence by all armed groups, and condemns the harassment and violence directed at civil society, human rights defenders, humanitarian personnel and journalists;

Stresses that those responsible for violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including any that amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity, should be held accountable with a view to ending impunity and ensuring redress while affording fair trial protections to the accused and supporting victims and protecting potential witnesses before, during and after legal proceedings;

Demands that all parties to the conflict put a halt to all violations and abuses of human rights and all violations of international humanitarian law, and strongly calls upon the Government of South Sudan to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Notes with appreciation the report of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan,1 and the recommendations contained therein;

Recognizes the important role and efforts of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in bringing parties together to work towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict, supporting the inclusion of civil society, women and youth in the negotiations and securing the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan;

Also recognizes the important role of the reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission and the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism in supporting the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement and its ceasefire provisions, and urges all parties and international partners to engage constructively with all the bodies created pursuant to the Revitalized Agreement;

Further recognizes the importance of an inclusive process for national dialogue and the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement, and urges all parties and international partners to engage constructively with the African Union Commission, the African Union High Representative for South Sudan and the bodies created pursuant to the Revitalized Agreement;

Urges the Government of South Sudan to strengthen efforts to protect and promote the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association in accordance with its international human rights obligations and, inter alia, to ensure that members of civil society organizations and the media can operate freely and without intimidation;

Strongly urges all parties to end and prevent violations and abuses of human rights committed against children, and calls upon all parties to end immediately the unlawful recruitment and use of children by armed groups and to release all children that have been unlawfully recruited to date;

Recognizes the important role that women play in building peace, and calls for the protection and promotion of the rights of women and their empowerment and participation in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, post-conflict processes and humanitarian responses, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) of 31 October 2000 and subsequent resolutions on women, peace and security, including Council resolution 2242 (2015) of 13 October 2015;

Emphasizes the need for the Government of South Sudan to ensure the effective and meaningful participation of women during all stages and in all structures envisaged in the Revitalized Agreement, and for all parties to the Agreement to meet their commitments regarding women’s representation and to have regard to the need to ensure balance in the representation of youth, gender and national and regional diversity in their appointments;

Supports the establishment of transitional justice institutions, and calls upon all parties to cooperate fully in the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement, including the establishment of the commission for truth, reconciliation and healing, the hybrid court for South Sudan and the compensation and reparation authority, as outlined in its chapter V;

Notes with appreciation that the Government of South Sudan has cooperated with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan in the fulfilment of its mandate, including by authorizing travel to and within the country and providing meetings and relevant information, and calls upon the Government to cooperate fully and constructively with and to provide unhindered access to them, as well as to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, and regional, subregional and international mechanisms on the ground;

Recognizes that continued cooperation and engagement by the Government of South Sudan with the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan and an improved human rights and security situation should inform future consideration of South Sudan by the Human Rights Council, including the appropriate agenda item pertaining thereto;

Reaffirms the importance of the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, with continued emphasis on the need to establish the facts and circumstances of alleged violations and abuses of human rights with a view to ensuring that those responsible are held to account, and welcomes the recommendations made by the Commission on ending impunity and ensuring accountability;

Decides to extend the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, composed of three members, for a period of one year, renewable as authorized by the Human Rights Council, with the following mandate:

To monitor and report on the situation of human rights in South Sudan, and to make recommendations to prevent deterioration of the situation with a view to its improvement;

To determine and report the facts and circumstances of, to collect and preserve evidence of, and to clarify responsibility for alleged violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes, including sexual and gender-based violence and ethnic violence, with a view to ending impunity and providing accountability, and to make such information available also to all transitional justice mechanisms, including those to be established pursuant to chapter V of the Revitalized Agreement, including the hybrid court for South Sudan, once established in cooperation with the African Union;

To report on the factual basis for transitional justice and reconciliation;

To provide guidance on transitional justice, including accountability, reconciliation and healing, as appropriate, and to make recommendations on technical assistance to the Government of South Sudan to support accountability, reconciliation and healing;

To engage with the Government of South Sudan, international and regional mechanisms, including the United Nations, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and the African Union, including by building upon the work of the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan and African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, including the Partners Forum, the Chair of the reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission and civil society, with a view to promoting accountability for human rights violations and abuses committed by all parties;

To make recommendations on technical assistance and capacity-building, including to law enforcement institutions, on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including on addressing sexual and gender-based violence;

Urges the Government of South Sudan, through its Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, to intensify efforts to halt violations and abuses, particularly against women and children, including sexual and gender-based violence, and to provide for all forms of assistance for and protection and reintegration of survivors;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to provide the full administrative, technical and logistical support necessary to enable the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan to carry out its mandate, including computer software to support the Commission’s evidence collection function, and resources for strengthening the Commission’s resources in relation to communications- and media-related tasks;

Requests the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its forty-second session in an interactive dialogue, and to present a comprehensive written report to the Council at its forty-third session in an interactive dialogue;

Also requests the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan to submit its report and recommendations to the Human Rights Council and then to share them with the African Union and all relevant organs of the United Nations, including the United Nations Mission in South Sudan;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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