A/HRC/45/CRP.4 57. Amidst these setbacks, a military court martial convicted and sentenced 10 military soldiers for the murder of a journalist and rape of aid workers at the Terrain Hotel in July 2016. The Terrain trial represents a significant step towards establishing a culture of accountability in a country where virtually no other measures have been put in place to address serious conflict-related crimes against civilians since December 2013. Yet, while marking an important milestone, the Terrain trial failed to consider command responsibility within the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), an issue that will be critical in future justice and accountability processes. The trial also witnessed a number of limitations related to the lack of independence of military courts, most clearly demonstrated through the President’s control in the creation of martial courts for high-ranking officers and power to confirm or reject their final decisions. 58. Questions have also emerged regarding whether the military court had legal jurisdiction under South Sudan law to prosecute soldiers for crimes committed against civilians in the Terrain case. The Terrain victims have also appealed the judgement in the case pertaining to reparations and compensation. To date, however, the appeal has not proceeded as the case file has reportedly gone missing since the trial concluded. 59. On 23 August 2019, the Chief Justice of South Sudan, Chan Reec Madut, told the media that plans were underway to establish a special court for gender-based violence and that the court would handle both domestic violence cases and cases involving serious human rights violations. The mandate of the specialised court however does not explicitly extend to 2013 conflict-related violations. The Government also recently announced the establishment of a special court to try national security operatives accused of committing crimes. While the establishment of this court five years after it was mandated by the NSS Act (2014) is welcome news, there remains concern about the potential jurisdictional conflict between this tribunal and the ordinary courts for cases involving crimes against civilians. The Minister of Justice also reported that more than 400 conflict-related cases involving SSPDF officers have been concluded in military courts, but have not been given the same media coverage as other high profile cases such as the Terrain Hotel case.45 There are, however, no public records available on the nature or outcome of these cases. 60. Given the very small prospect for justice before domestic courts, many people see the proposed Hybrid Court for South Sudan as the only viable option for ensuring justice and accountability. However, as noted, the establishment of the Hybrid Court has met resistance from elements within the Government who are wary of being prosecuted for the relevant crimes (see para. 33, above). Thus, despite the drafting of a Statute of the Court and a Memorandum of Understanding for its establishment between the African Union and the Government of South Sudan (see para. 32, above), the latter has failed to sign these agreements. 61. The Commission expresses serious concern that the Government continues to be ambiguous in its commitment to establishing the Hybrid Court with some officials publicly declaring their concern that its establishment will undermine the peace process. 46 62. Likewise, since the conflict began, the Commission has found no evidence or available public information of any genuine efforts by the SPLA/IO and other opposition groups to investigate and punish any forces within their ranks for gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law. 63. Now that the Revitalised-TGoNU has been established, the Commission considers that the time has come for the new partners in government to take an unequivocal stance in support of the establishment of all the transitional justice mechanisms they agreed upon in Chapter V of the R-ARCSS, including by immediately signing the Memorandum of Understanding with the African Union for the establishment of the Hybrid Court. Failure to pursue accountability for sexual and gender-based violence 64. The scale and severity of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and particularly conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) has remained significantly high since the outbreak 45 46 Statement by the Minister for Justice at the UN CHRSS Transitional Justice Stakeholders Workshop, Addis Ababa, 2019. See statement by Minister for Information, Michael Makuei – October 2018. 13