A/HRC/40/69 position of zero trust, which remains a major impediment to the timely implementation of the Revitalized Agreement and has the potential to derail the fragile peace. 20. Since the signing of the Revitalized Agreement, there has been a marked decline in fighting across the country, with the exception of Central Equatoria and Western Bahr elGhazal states. 21. While the signing of the peace agreement has brought hope to the South Sudanese people, it has not delivered immediate relief in terms of their humanitarian situation. Due in large part to the conflict, 60 per cent of the South Sudanese population is severely food insecure, and there remain 2.2 million refugees and 1.9 million internally displaced persons. 22. This situation continues to be exacerbated by the deliberate obstruction of the work of humanitarian actors. Indeed, for the third consecutive year, South Sudan has been ranked the most dangerous place in the world for humanitarian workers. In 2018, 14 humanitarian workers were killed in South Sudan while others were detained and humanitarian premises attacked and looted, resulting in the suspension of services. For example, youth protests in Maban county resulted in the looting and burning of humanitarian premises and the relocation of approximately 400 humanitarian workers in July 2018. 23. Civic space available to journalists, human rights activists and civil society to inform, debate and dissent has continued to shrink. Citizens face legal, administrative and security deterrents to political participation, resulting in growing censorship and selfcensorship at a time when more, not less, engagement is needed. In particular, the National Security Service has taken an increasingly active role in curtailing the freedom of the press and multiple journalists described to the Commission being detained by National Security Service agents because of their work. V. Securitization of the State: arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment 24. A characteristic of the conflict since 2016 has been the increasing securitization of the State with the intelligence arms of the security sector playing a pivotal role in the increasing repression, resulting in individuals being deprived of their fundamental freedoms and civic space shrinking. The Commission has documented at least 47 first-hand accounts of individuals who have been arbitrarily arrested, detained and/or subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by the National Security Service and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) Military Intelligence between December 2013 and late 2018. 2 25. Witnesses reported being held in various locations in and around Juba, including National Security Service facilities at Riverside, Blue House headquarters, Hai Jalaba, and Juba International Airport, Jubek state security facilities, police stations and unofficial detention facilities, as well as the SPLA military barracks at Bilpam, Giada, and Gorum. The Commission documented arbitrary arrests and transfers including between Malakal, Paloich, Wau, Yambio and Yei, demonstrating the widespread and systemic use of securityrelated detention throughout South Sudan. Indeed, in October 2018, the national South Sudan Human Rights Commission reported on arbitrary detention and torture by the National Security Service at its Luri training facility. 26. Most of the cases that the Commission documented involved adult males; however, it also documented cases of women being detained, including pregnant women. Members of the media, businesspersons, intellectuals, human rights defenders and political dissidents feature prominently among people targeted, signalling attempts to stifle participation in public and political discourse. Witnesses described being identified based on perceived political or ethnic affiliation. The subsequent arrest of those identified occurred reportedly because of surveillance undertaken across different sectors, including in hospitals, 2 4 In October 2018, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army was renamed as the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces.