A/HRC/40/CRP.1 E. Confidential Dossier The Commission was mandated by the Human Rights Council to “collect and preserve evidence of, and clarify responsibility for alleged gross violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes”.1583 The Commission has determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a number of individuals bear responsibility for the related crimes identified by the Commission. The names of the individuals and links to the evidence related to the crimes referred to in this report have been placed in a confidential sealed dossier and this has been handed over to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has been asked by the Commission to consider providing access, in accordance with the relevant protocols, to the information in this confidential dossier at the appropriate time to relevant institutions, including the Hybrid Court for South Sudan and other relevant courts of law, following strict witness protection requirements, to ensure there is justice for the people of South Sudan. Particular attention has been paid in compiling the sealed dossier to the jurisdiction of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan to be established by the African Union. IX. Conclusions and Recommendations A. Conclusions The Commission has identified a number of individuals, units and groups who bear responsibility for the violations and related crimes, and the individuals concerned should face prosecution. Their names have been communicated on a strictly confidential basis to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Access to that information is determined according to protocols established between the Commission and the Office of the High Commissioner. Sustainable peace in South Sudan requires meaningful progress towards accountability for past crimes. The stasis in the establishment of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, and the minimal steps taken at the national level to prosecute war crimes including crimes of sexual violence, are leading to multiple frustrations and anger, doing nothing to reduce the chances of further violence. The lawless activities of the National Security Services and Military Intelligence, often linked to protecting economic interests particularly with regard to the oil sector, risk turning South Sudan into a police state built on fear and corruption. The protracted conflict in South Sudan has had the most profound impact on women and girls, who, on a daily basis, have to confront a horrific variety of acts of sexual violence committed by government forces and armed actors belonging to the opposition. Such acts include: the savagery of gang rapes, sexual violence, sexual exploitation, rape, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, as well as mutilation of sexual organs. Sexual and gender-based violence remains at crisis levels and needs to be urgently addressed, with the rate for females as high as 65 percent in some areas1584 and as high as 36 percent for males, though underreporting makes accurate figures difficult to ascertain.1585 These brutal acts are committed in front of children, humiliating the victims, their families and their communities, destroying the social fabric of South Sudanese society leaving behind hatred and trauma and sowing the seeds for future violence. There has been almost total impunity for those responsible for these crimes. Shortcomings within both the formal and customary justice systems prevent the resolution of gender violence, which is deeply anchored in tradition and cultural beliefs. 1583 A/HRC/RES/37/31. What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls consortium, “No Safe Place: A lifetime of violence for conflictaffected women and girls in South Sudan”, 2017. 1585 African Development Bank, “The Political Economy of South Sudan”, August 2018. 1584 202

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