South Sudan: Adopt a strong resolution extending UN investigations for two years

To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council

The resolution should, among other elements, extend the man­date of the existing investigative me­cha­nism, the UN Com­mis­sion on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS), in full, for two years, and request the CHRSS to regularly report to the Council, including on the presence of risk factors for atrocity crimes.

At its 55th session, in April 2024, the Council adopted resolution 55/1,[1] which extended the mandate of the CHRSS with an increased margin of votes (21 in favor, 8 against) compared to April 2023 (when reso­lu­tion 52/1 was adopted by a 19-9 vote). This outcome was in line with the expectations civil society outlined in a joint letter.[2] In it, civil society emphasized that the CHRSS is “the only mechanism tasked with col­lec­ting and preserving evidence of vio­la­tions of [in­ter­­­na­tional law]” with a view to ensuring ac­coun­t­a­bility and “ad­dres­sing human rights issues in South Sudan from a holistic perspective.” The signa­tories empha­si­sed that “the conditions that prompted the HRC to establish the [CHRSS], in 2016, [had] not […] chan­ged” and that grave violations, violence and impunity remained pervasive in the country.

The letter was released as uncertainty surrounded preparations for South Sudan’s first-ever national elec­tions, which were due to take place in December 2024. Critical questions were unanswered, including on the type of election, political parties and voter registration issues, deli­nea­tion of constituencies, and mana­gement of electoral disputes. Foundational tasks necessary for citi­zens to head to the polls were incomplete. The absence of a critical mass of pre-requisites, as well as severe res­trictions on the civic and democratic space, led civil society to high­light risk factors of violence and violations asso­cia­ted with South Sudan’s inability to hold free, fair, secure, and credible elections.

One year on, and almost 14 years after South Sudan’s independence, in 2011, elections have not taken place. In September 2024, the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) announ­ced that South Sudan’s Transitional Constitution would be amended to extend the transitional governance arrange­ments (and therefore the transitional period) outlined in the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) by two years. As a result, national elections were postponed. They are now set to take place in December 2026, and the transitional period is now due to end in February 2027.[3] In a statement, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs said the extension was “in response to recommendations by both electoral institutions and the security sector.”[4] Analysts, how­ever, poin­­ted to the RTGoNU’s inability and unwillingness to create the necessary conditions for elec­tions.[5] The UN cal­led the postponement “inevitable but regrettable” and urged South Sudan’s leaders to urgently take decisive steps to achieve benchmarks set out in the R-ARCSS.[6]

This is the second consecutive extension of the transitional period. In August 2022, the transitional period and associated governance arrange­ments were already extended by two years and elections postponed from December 2022 to Decem­ber 2024. The new postponement reflects South Sudanese leaders’ failure to implement the R-AR­CSS and to deliver on their commitment to usher in a new era for the country. A statement by South Suda­nese civil society captured citizens’ frustrations: “Our people are being asked to make an impossible choice: to either rush ahead with a series of tran­sitional processes that have not been adequately prepared […] and have the potential to exa­cer­bate conflict, or to accept yet another extension of a transitional arran­ge­ment that keeps leaders in power who have failed to deliver sustainable peace to the country.”[7]

South Sudan is facing multiple crises. At the political and institutional level, despite a new extension of the transitional period, uncertainty remains high over the constitution-making and elec­toral pro­cess. A po­pulation census is long overdue; however, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the process will likely take 16 months once it has started.[8]Constituencies have not been delineated and voters are not registered. No mechanism is in place to resolve disputes over election results. Institutions that are due to manage or be involved in the elec­toral process, such as the National Elections Com­mission and the Political Par­ties Council, remain non-operational or ill-funded. Regarding the making of a permanent constitution, the Chair­­per­son of the National Cons­titution Re­view Commission (NCRC) said it may take 18 months to com­plete the pro­cess, on the condition that resources are made available on time.[9]

Read the Letter