A/HRC/45/CRP.4 Annex I Transitional justice workshop report85 I. Background and Context 1. In August 2015, the parties to the conflict in South Sudan signed the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS), committing to “national reconciliation, accountability, healing and combating impunity” among other priorities. Chapter V of the Agreement provided for the establishment of three transitional justice institutions: (i) the Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS), to investigate and prosecute individuals suspected of committing genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, serious human rights violations, and violations of international humanitarian law; (ii) the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing (CTRH), to address the legacy of past human rights abuses; and (iii) the Compensation and Reparation Authority (CRA), to administer the Compensation and Reparation Fund (CRF), to be established by the Transitional Government of National Unity. 2. Despite commitments made by the parties, the Agreement has never been fully implemented. On the contrary, renewed conflict between Government forces and the opposition heightened in July 2016, after fighting had broken out in Juba, resulting in the virtual collapse of the Agreement. The clashes further resulted in the departure of opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar from his position as Vice President, who was replaced by Taban Deng Gai, his chief negotiator. It also transformed the crisis from a conflict primarily between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the SPLA-in-Opposition (SPLA/IO) to one that spread into new areas in the Equatoria region which had hitherto remained untouched, with multiple defections and splinter groups. Since then, the political landscape in South Sudan has become contentious, with hardliners on all sides of the political divide openly expressing dissatisfaction with the terms of the Agreement. 3. Amidst increasing repression by the National Security Service (NSS) and other intelligence arms of the Government, civic space for debate and dissent has continued to shrink, which has given rise to myriad human rights violations including activists and journalists being deprived of their fundamental freedoms. Moreover, little effort has been made to establish any of the Chapter V mechanisms during this period. Amidst the increased insecurity and new conflicts, the Government launched a national dialogue process in December 2016, as a new forum to promote national unity, healing, and reconciliation, which many observers and South Sudanese saw as a means to deflect attention from the Chapter V mechanisms. The national dialogue also attracted deep scepticism among displaced persons and the refugee communities who continued to make the point that there could be no genuine national dialogue without Chapter V being implemented. Within this context, the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD) – the mediating body – launched a high-level forum to revitalise the 2015 Agreement. 4. In September 2018, the Government and the other parties to the conflict signed a Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS). The new Revitalised Agreement reaffirmed the commitment to the transitional justice framework adopted in the 2015 Agreement, and almost maintained in full the Chapter V provisions. It however set new timelines for the establishment of the transitional justice institutions. Under the R-ARCSS, the responsibility for initiating legislation for establishing the three transitional justice mechanisms, namely the Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing Commission, the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, and the Compensation and Reparation Authority now rested with a Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity, which was expected to be formed in May 2019. Another noteworthy provision introduced in the Revitalised 85 This report summarises the discussions and conclusions from the workshop on transitional justice and the promotion of peace in South Sudan from 16th - 18th December 2019. The workshop was organised by the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan. It took place Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 27