A/HRC/40/CRP.1 C. The Commission’s Work The Commissioners undertook two missions to South Sudan in August and December 2018. During these missions, they visited Juba, Wau and Yei in South Sudan and also visited Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Nairobi and Kakuma camp in Kenya, Khartoum, Nyala, El Daein, and El Fasher in Sudan, and Arua, Imvepi, Kampala and Kiryandongo in Uganda. The Commission also organised a workshop on sexual and gender-based violence in Addis Ababa in March 2019. From its base in Juba, the secretariat undertook investigative missions to Bentiu, Dablual, Goli, Kuruki, Leer, Mayendit, Nhialdiu, Panyume, Wau, and Yei within South Sudan, as well as to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Arua, Kampala, and Kiryandongo in Uganda, Nairobi and Kakuma in Kenya, and El Daein, El Fasher, Khartoum, and Nyala in Sudan. The Commission found, throughout its work, that victims and witnesses were willing to share their experiences. During the course of the current mandate, the Commission took 135 (99 male and 36 female) detailed individual witness statements from victims, witnesses, community leaders, civil society activists and international personnel. It also gathered over 3,100 documents covering incidents in South Sudan since December 2013, carried out 28 medical examinations victims and witnesses (24 male and 4 female), and participated in over 340 meetings with government officials and representatives of civil society and international organisations among others. All evidence collected is preserved in the Commission’s database and archives. In light of the mandate’s focus on accountability and identifying responsibility for gross violations of human rights and related crimes, the Commission has focussed not only on establishing the occurrence of violations but also on identifying those bearing responsibility for those violations and crimes. In investigating the linkage evidence between the crimes and those responsible, it has sought to identify command structures, patterns in conduct, and indicators of control and discipline. This is a complex task normally involving significant circumstantial evidence and the material collected provides an invaluable basis for future prosecutions and accountability. The Commission received information linking individual alleged perpetrators to specific violations or to patterns of violations. In some instances, there is sufficient information to warrant criminal investigations leading to indictments for individual alleged perpetrators under national and international law. The Commission has collected and preserved this evidence in conformity with its mandate of supporting accountability mechanisms. Individual names have not been included in this present report, and are retained on a strictly confidential basis by the Commission and eventually OHCHR. In certain instances, while there was insufficient information to identify individuals responsible, the Commission was able to identify the armed entities responsible. The Commission is grateful to the Government for granting the Commission access to the relevant parts of the country and for meeting with the Commission on multiple occasions. It also appreciates the cooperation it received from the Governments of Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda during its missions to those States. The Commission thanks UNMISS for their support for various aspects of its work. The Commission also appreciates the assistance and contributions of United Nations agencies, civil society organizations, and experts. III. Background A. Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (2015) The 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) between the Government and the opposition, established the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), a power-sharing government, tasked with leading 10

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents