A/HRC/40/CRP.1 I. Introduction In its resolution 31/20 of 23 March 2016, the Human Rights Council established the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan for a period of one year, and requested the Commission to, inter alia, monitor and report on the situation of human rights in South Sudan to make recommendations for its improvement, and to assess past reports on the situation of human rights since December 2013, in order to establish a factual basis for transitional justice and reconciliation. On 14 June 2016, the President of the Human Rights Council appointed Yasmin Sooka, Kenneth R. Scott and Godfrey M. Musila to serve as the three members of the Commission, with Ms. Sooka as its Chair. Mr. Scott was replaced by Professor Andrew Clapham as Commissioner on 21 September 2017. Mr. Musila was replaced by Barney Afako on 14 June 2018. On 14 December 2016, the Human Rights Council convened a special session on South Sudan to discuss the deteriorating situation of human rights, which was attended by the Chair of the Commission. The Commission submitted its first report on 6 March 2017.1 The Council has extended the mandate of the Commission twice. At its 34th Session on 24 March 2017, the Council extended the Commission’s mandate in Resolution 34/25 for a period of one year, and the Commission submitted its second report on 13 March 2018.2 At its 37th Session on 23 March 2018, the Human Rights Council again extended the Commission’s mandate in Resolution 37/31 for another year. The Commission provided an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its 39th Session on 17 September 2018. The Commission was supported by a secretariat of 13 professional staff based in Juba and Addis Ababa, consisting of human rights investigators, legal, gender, and transitional justice advisors, military and forensic experts, a coordinator, a case manager, and security and administrative officers as well as three national language assistants. The first member of the secretariat was deployed on 16 June 2018 and the secretariat was fully deployed as of 3 September 2018. In light of the Revitalized Agreement for the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) signed on 12 September 2018, the Commission has chosen to focus on human rights issues which will likely remain of concern as the country moves forward in implementing the agreement and establishing peace such as the rights of women and children. Although the conflict may be drawing to an end, many of its effects will continue to be felt for years to come. In this regard, the Commission has also chosen to explore a number of patterns and trends at play in the South Sudan conflict which if left unaddressed and unresolved, might continue to trigger conflict and the commission of human rights violations in South Sudan. Such potential triggers include the administrative restructuring of governance institutions, the control of economic resources, and the increasing securitization of the state repressing public discourse. The Commission has investigated a number of incidents that are emblematic of crimes and violations committed primarily in 2018, covering the period since its last report. This report examines recent incidents in the states of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Central Equatoria, and Unity and seeks to clarify responsibility, to the extent possible, for alleged gross violations and abuses of human rights and related crimes. II. Mandate/Methodology A. Mandate When the Human Rights Council extended the Commission’s mandate in Resolution 34/25 on 24 March 2017, it expanded the scope of the Commission’s mandate, reaffirming it when the Council extended the Commission’s mandate on 23 March 2018 in Resolution 37/31. 1 2 6 Report of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, A/HRC/34/63, 6 March 2017. Report of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, A/HRC/37/71, 13 March 2018.