A/HRC/40/CRP.1 for it, the court may award customary blood compensation. 362 In practice, however, in light of the lack of access to statutory courts, customary law courts hear and decide a large number of criminal law cases. This is further discussed below. 363 The Supreme Court retains final jurisdiction over customary law364 and the Transitional Constitution (2011) provides that customary law remains “subject to this Constitution and the law.”365 VI. Thematic Human Rights Issues A. Securitization of the State: Arbitrary Detention, Forced Disappearance, Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment A culture of fear surrounding the National Security Services and the SPLA Military Intelligence is prevalent in Juba and around South Sudan as a whole, particularly among journalists, human rights defenders, civil society activists, opposition members, and those at risk of being perceived as supporting opposition groups, such as young men from minority ethnic groups. The security services have a pervasive presence in many sectors of society and the NSS’s headquarters, the “Blue House” was notorious long before its inmates staged a revolt in October 2018 protesting the conditions in which they were held. 366 As one commentator has noted: “the goings-on within the NSS were Juba’s worst kept secret”,367 which only serves to perpetuate this culture of fear. This climate represses open dialogue and civic participation at a time when the public’s engagement is important if peace is to prevail in South Sudan. The Commission has investigated cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment perpetrated by the NSS and the SPLA Military Intelligence Directorate. It has chosen to focus on cases in which individuals were subjected to security-related detention, rather than looking more generally at detention conditions in criminal prisons in South Sudan, as it considers the phenomena of securityrelated detentions a development of particular concern at this point in South Sudan’s history. If steps are not taken to curtail and control excesses by these institutions, South Sudan could risk slipping toward a police state. The Commission has documented at least 47 first-hand accounts of individuals who have been arrested, arbitrarily detained, and/or subjected to torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by the NSS and the SPLA Military Intelligence Directorate, since the start of the conflict in December 2013 through to late 2018.368 The Commission has 362 Penal Code Act (2008), section 206. See below “Women and Girls in South Sudan: Customary Law” section (Section VI(B)(3)) and “Domestic Criminal Justice Context” section (Section VIII(B)(1)). 364 Code of Criminal Procedure Act, section 10(a). 365 Transitional Constitution (2011), Article 166(3). 366 VoA, “Prison Standoff in South Sudan’s Blue House”, 7 October 2018. 367 Flora McCrone, “South Sudan’s National Security Service under the spotlight”, Pambazuka News, 6 November 2014. 368 The Commission documented 57 cases in total, including three cases involving female detainees. Witness 564, ERN 101271101275; Witness 576, ERN 101082-101087; Witness 578, ERN 101097-101107; Witness 594, ERN 101203-101208; Witness 596, ERN 101187-101196, ERN 101725-101736; Witness 597, ERN 101182-101186; Witness 605, ERN 101276-101304; Witness 607, ERN 101476-101482, 101216-101222; Witness 609, ERN 101257-101260; Witness 610, ERN 101311-101320; Witness 623, ERN 101351-101356; Witness 752, ERN 101483-101491; Witness 786, ERN 101492-101498; Witness 801, ERN 101530-101541; Witness 851, ERN 101542-101549; Witness 852, ERN 102054-102080; Witness 871, ERN 102342-102348; Witness 905, ERN 101667-101673; Witness 906, ERN 101769-101782; Witness 907, ERN 101980-101992; Witness 908; Witness 910, ERN 102126-102140; Witness 911, ERN 102349-102355; Witness 912, ERN 102126-102140; Witness 916, ERN 102112-102125; Witness 924; Witness 936, ERN 101737-101768; Witness 939; Witness 942, ERN 102356-102363; Witness 950, ERN 101955-101979; Witness 951, ERN D116738-D116746; Witness 959, ERN D116734-D116737; Witness 960, ERN 102089-102111; Witness 964, ERN 102148-102171; Witness 983, ERN 102329-102341; Witness 993, ERN 102014-102053; Witness 994, ERN 102172-102183; Witness 995, ERN 101998-102013; Witness 1000, ERN 102081-102088; Witness 1001; Witness 1002; Witness 1003; Witness 1031, ERN 102184-102210; Witness 1052; Witness 1054, ERN 102232-102238; Witness 1062, ERN 102275-102285; Witness 1064; Witness 1070, ERN 102270-102274; Witness 1073, ERN 102286-102290; Witness 1091, ERN 102239-102248; Confidential Document, ERN D112809-D112814; Confidential Document, ERN D112815D112824; Confidential Document, ERN D116262-D116270; Confidential Document, ERN D113765-D113785; Confidential 363 51