Statement by Barney Afako, Member of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, to the Human Rights Council

DELIVERED BY Barney Afako on behalf of Yasmin Sooka

Good morning, Mr. President, and distinguished delegates. We are honoured to present the eighth report of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, with my colleague Carlos Castresana Fernández.

First, we thank the Government of South Sudan for its cooperation with our Commission, including during our recent visit in February.

South Sudan is coming to the end of a political transition; a new constitution and elections are due by December 2024. But much remains to be done. Entrenched impunity is fuelling armed conflict, repression, corruption and human rights violations, including sexual violence.

Last April, we named senior officials responsible for serious crimes, including extrajudicial killings, torture, rape and sexual violence. All of them retain their positions, including the Governor of Unity State (Joseph Monytuil) and Koch County Commissioner (Gordon Koang). These two individuals enjoy impunity and have continued to instigate serious violence and violations.

Mr President, political conflict persists. In the Equatorias, groups outside the peace agreement committed abuses. In Unity State, the ruling party has instigated defections from opposition forces and carried out forced recruitments. Elsewhere, political and military elites are stoking communal violence.

Armed cattle keepers encroach upon and grab the land of farmers. They inflict sexual violence and mass abductions on women and children. At the end of 2022, militias from Jonglei attacked Pibor, systematically killing men and older boys, stealing cattle, and destroying homes. They set bushes ablaze to force out civilians. The men were shot; women, girls, young boys, and even babies were abducted.

We spoke with traumatised survivors last month. A young mother told us that her family was attacked, her husband was killed. Then, at gun point, the killers marched her, with her children, into captivity. For many months, this young girl was held as a sexual slave, regularly beaten, continuously raped, and threatened with death. Through forensic mapping, we traced this family’s footsteps. We found they had been marched 400 kilometres.

Several parents were in distress after being forcibly separated from their children. A mother who had tried to escape with her baby girl was beaten unconscious. The abductors took away her child who is still missing.

The scale, severity and violence associated with abductions is worsening. These attacks are well-planned. Although authorities were often aware of attacks, they claimed to be powerless to stop them. Instead, authorities have negotiated ransoms and encouraged families to pay off abductors. This can incentivise further abductions.

Impunity and lack of justice, accountability and protection institutions are root causes of violations, including targeted killings, repression, torture, and sexual violence against women and girls. Corruption and the plunder of national resources compound violations.

Mr President, almost one third of South Sudanese are refugees or internally displaced. These refugees (Africa’s largest population) feel excluded from national political processes, but without safety, sustainable peace, and justice, they cannot return. One woman, who had returned, was subjected to forced labour by opposition forces. A rape survivor said he cannot return home after a soldier shattered his dignity.

The media and civil society are repressed and intimidated. Journalists and activists, including those who are outside the country, are threatened with kidnappings. The National Security Services operates without oversight, targeting individuals, including online.

Pervasive censorship, arbitrary bureaucratic restrictions, and threats of violence, induce self-censorship and undermine free expression, association, debate and democratic processes. Fearful journalists now say: “My children are still little; I don’t want to leave behind orphans.”

Mr President, our recommendations focus on the root causes of violence, including impunity. Although the 2018 Revitalized Agreement addresses these challenges, transitional justice, rule of law, and other structural measures remain unimplemented.

South Sudanese are exhausted and desperate for peace. A refugee implored us: “I want to send a message, asking the government and armed groups to stop killing each other and the population, and to give peace a chance. We yearn to return and to be able to live in unity as South Sudanese.”