Mission by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to Improve Human Rights, Accountability, Reconciliation and Capacity in South Sudan

A/HRC/RES/29/13View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 2 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, published in 2015.

What subjects does this mandate have?

17 subjects

Accountability Capacity Building Child Soldiers Civil Society Criminal Justice Human Rights Human Rights Monitoring Human Rights Violations Internal Security International Humanitarian Law Reconciliation Refugee Assistance Report Preparation Sex Crimes South Sudan Technical Cooperation Transitional Justice

What’s in this document?

26 operative paragraphs

Expresses grave concern at the ongoing human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law in South Sudan, including those involving alleged targeted killings, ethnically targeted violence, rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, the recruitment and use of children, arbitrary arrests and detention, alleged torture, arbitrary denial of humanitarian access, violence aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population, and attacks on schools, places of worship, hospitals and United Nations and associated peacekeeping personnel, by all parties, as well as the incitement to commit such abuses and violations condemns the harassment and violence directed at civil society, humanitarian personnel and journalists, and emphasizes that those responsible for violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law must be held accountable;

Demands that all actors put a halt to all human rights violations and abuses 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, especially for women and children;

Stresses the importance of accountability, reconciliation and healing as prominent elements of a transitional justice mechanism, and also stresses that perpetrators of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations and abuses, alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes should be held accountable and brought to justice;

Calls upon the Government of South Sudan to investigate and report on atrocities, including human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, and to hold those responsible to account, while affording fair-trial protections and supporting victims;

Welcomes the communiqué of 13 June 2015 by the African Union Peace and Security Commission, and its plans to consider the report of the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan at a meeting in July 2015, anticipates with interest the findings and recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry, and encourages the public release of its final report as soon as possible;

Recognizes the importance of independent and public human rights monitoring, investigation and reporting mechanisms, including by South Sudan, for their usefulness in laying the groundwork for justice, accountability, reconciliation and healing among members of all South Sudanese communities;

Notes the continued positive engagement of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and its Plus mechanism, and welcomes the appointment of the former President of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konaré, as the African Union High Representative for South Sudan, to bring about peace and stability in South Sudan;

Urges all parties to respect and implement the agreements mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and to commit to inclusive dialogue, reconciliation and peacebuilding; notes with concern that, since the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in January 2014, breaches have continued from both sides of the conflict; calls for the Agreement to be respected and for all fighting to cease; and urges the parties to reach a peace agreement to end the conflict;

Expresses its appreciation for the support of neighbouring countries to refugees, and calls upon the international community to help neighbouring countries hosting refugees, especially women, children and persons with disabilities;

Urges the Government of South Sudan to take immediate steps to protect the human rights to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association by, among other things, ensuring that civil society organizations and the media can operate freely and without discrimination, in accordance with international human rights obligations;

Strongly urges all parties to end and prevent violations committed against children, and calls upon the armed forces of all parties to end immediately all forced or unlawful recruitment of children and to release all children that have been recruited to date;

Recognizes the important role that women play in building peace, calls for the protection and promotion of the rights of women, their empowerment and participation in peacebuilding, conflict resolution and post-conflict processes, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), and the need to honour commitments made by all parties and to take action to tackle sexual violence, and in this regard calls upon South Sudan to meet the commitments made in the joint communiqué on sexual violence signed with the United Nations on 11 October 2014;

Reiterates the importance of an objective assessment of the situation of human rights in South Sudan;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:

Urgently to undertake a mission to engage with the Government of South Sudan, to monitor and report on the situation of human rights, and to undertake a comprehensive assessment of allegations of violations and abuses of human rights with a view to ensuring accountability and complementarity with the African Union Commission of Inquiry;

To make recommendations for technical assistance and capacity-building and ways to improve the situation of human rights in the country with a view to providing support to the country in fulfilling its human rights obligations;

To recommend on the basis of the above-mentioned assessments and the benchmarks ‎outlined in paragraph 15 below the follow-up action that would be appropriate for the Human Rights Council to consider, including the possibility of a mechanism, as appropriate;

To engage with the Government of South Sudan and other relevant stakeholders to incorporate a gender perspective, and to consider a full range of information, including from relevant human rights mechanisms, in particular the Human Rights Division of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and civil society entities in the fulfilment of the present mandate with a view to help the country to fulfil its human rights obligations;

To support domestic, regional and international efforts towards accountability, reconciliation and other transitional justice measures, including through recommendations concerning appropriate technical assistance, while taking into consideration the findings and recommendations made by the African Union Commission of Inquiry in its report;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner, in carrying out the above mandate, to assess the effectiveness of steps taken by the Government of South Sudan to ensure accountability for human rights violations and abuses, which could include work to establish appropriate criminal justice mechanisms; to decrease and prevent violence against children and the recruitment of child soldiers; to investigate, arrest and prosecute perpetrators of any human rights violations and abuses, and of rape and sexual violence, including those in armed groups and the military; to investigate, arrest and prosecute perpetrators of targeted killings; to increase democratic space, especially for the media and civil society; and to prevent arbitrary detention;

Calls upon the Government of South Sudan to cooperate fully with the Office of the High Commissioner in the implementation of the present resolution, including by facilitating visits and access to the country and by providing relevant information;

Encourages the Office of the High Commissioner and relevant special procedures mandate holders to provide, in consultation with the Government of South Sudan, advice and technical assistance on implementing the above-mentioned steps;

Calls upon the Government of South Sudan to cooperate constructively with the United Nations, including the United Nations Mission in South Sudan;

Requests the High Commissioner to present a preliminary oral report to the Human Rights Council at its thirtieth session, and to present a full report in an interactive dialogue, including on the issue of sexual violence, to the Council at is thirty-first session;

Requests that the Office of the High Commissioner be provided with all necessary and appropriate resources to fulfil the present mandate;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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