A/HRC/40/CRP.1 families and lawyers, and to the public at large. States shall not conduct executions in public, nor use methods that cause unnecessary physical or mental suffering. After an execution, the body should be treated with respect, and, where requested, be returned to the family for burial or other funeral rites, or information about the burial or cremation should be provided. 1573 The Commission is deeply concerned about the reports that the death penalty has been imposed in several cases, and that some executions may have been carried out. In particular, the Commission draws the attention of the international community to the prospect of the death penalty being used for those who were under the age of 18 at the time of the offence. Any such execution would be a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which South Sudan is a party.1574 In addition, any execution of someone under the age of 18, over the age of 70, or of a lactating mother would constitute a violation of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan (2011).1575 The Commission encourages the Government of South Sudan to declare a moratorium on all executions, with a view to the abolition of the death penalty. The Commission draws attention to the fact that South Sudan voted in favour of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty in 2012 and 2014 which called among other things for States “(e) To reduce the number of offences for which the death penalty may be imposed; and (f) To establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty”.1576 The Commission is not aware of any explanation as to why South Sudan reversed its position in 2016 when it voted against a similar Resolution at the United Nations General Assembly. The Commission encourages the Government of South Sudan to re-confirm its former commitment to a moratorium on executions at this particularly delicate moment in the history of this nation. The Commission considers that a moratorium would contribute to peace and nation-building, while the prospect and indeed the use of the death penalty is not only likely a source of injustice but also a factor which feeds tension and instability. 8. The Terrain Trial On 6 September 2018, the SPLA General Court Martial issued its judgement against 11 low-ranking SPLA soldiers affiliated with the Presidential Guard for the incident on 11 July 2016 at the Terrain hotel in Juba which resulted in the murder of John Gatluak a South Sudanese journalist, the rape and sexual harassment of five female international humanitarian workers, and the armed robbery, theft, looting of the premises and its residents. Ten of the 11 accused were convicted and sentenced to between seven years and life imprisonment and expelled from the SPLA. 1577 They were convicted variously of murder, criminal trespass, theft after preparation made for causing death, hurt or restraint in order to facilitate committing theft, house breaking, sexual harassment, rape, voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon or means, acts committed by several persons in in furtherance of a common intention under the Penal Code (2008),1578 and of offences relating to operations and violation of standing orders under the SPLA Act (2009).1579 The eleventh accused was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. The Court further awarded compensation to be paid by the Government of South Sudan in the amount of USD $2,258,590.48 to the Terrain Hotel for looting and damages, USD $4,000 USD to each of the five rape victims, USD $1,000 to a victim who was assaulted General Comment No. 3 on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights: The Right to Life (Article 4), Adopted during the 57th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights held from 4 to 18 November 2015 in Banjul, The Gambia, paras. 24-26. 1574 Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 37(a). 1575 Article 21 reads: “(1) No death penalty shall be imposed, save as punishment for extremely serious offences in accordance with the law; (2) No death penalty shall be imposed on a person under the age of eighteen or a person who has attained the age of seventy; (3) No death penalty shall be executed upon a pregnant or lactating woman, save after two years of lactation.” 1576 A/RES/69/186, para. 5, 18 December 2014. 1577 Two accused were sentenced to life, two to 14 years, five to 10 years, and one to 7 years imprisonment, to be served in the civil prison. SPLA General Court Martial, Government of South Sudan/Sudan People’s Liberation Army v. S/M Abraham Agany Tiah Dhuor et al., Case No. 135/2017, 6 September 2018. 1578 Penal Code (2008), sections 206, 328, 296, 333, 395, 247(1), 233, 48. 1579 SPLA Act (2009), sections 57(1)(e), 69. 1573 200