A/HRC/43/56 Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan in September 2018, and December 2019. 9. In the light of the mandate’s emphasis on accountability, the Commission also focused on establishing responsibility for violations and identifying individuals bearing responsibility for those violations and crimes. To clarify responsibility for international crimes, in particular command or superior responsibility under international law, the Commission sought to identify command structures, patterns of conduct and indicators of control and discipline. 10. Factual determinations on specific incidents and patterns of conduct provided the basis for the legal qualification of human rights violations, crimes under the law of South Sudan and, where appropriate, international crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. 11. The Commission adopted a “reasonable grounds to believe” evidentiary standard. Its work was informed by the requirement to collect and preserve evidence to a standard that would support future accountability mechanisms, including criminal accountability. 12. Where the Commission found information linking alleged perpetrators to specific violations or to patterns of violations that was sufficient to warrant future criminal investigations or prosecutions, such information was retained on a strictly confidential basis. In some instances, there was insufficient information to identify individuals responsible for violations; in such cases, the armed forces or armed groups to which these individuals belong have been identified as responsible. 13. The Commission employed best practices of fact-finding aimed at assuring the safety, security, confidentiality and well-being of witnesses. Accordingly, information has been included only where sources granted informed consent and where disclosure would not lead to the identification of sources or result in harm. The Commission thanks the victims and witnesses who shared their experiences, and at all times remained guided by the principle of “do no harm”. III. Political and security developments A. Implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan 14. Pursuant to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan of September 2018, President Salva Kiir and Vice-President designate Riek Machar agreed to form a Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity by May 2019; failure to implement key provisions, including security arrangements and state boundaries (see paras. 17–19 below), however, led to a six-month extension on 3 May, facilitated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Following an invitation by President Kiir, the two leaders met in Juba on 9 and 11 September 2019 to discuss outstanding issues. They were unable, however, to reach a compromise. 15. President Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) convened a tripartite summit on 7 November, attended by Sovereign Council Chair General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (Sudan) and envoy Kalonzo Musyoka (Kenya), as well as by both President Kiir and Vice-President designate Machar, to avert a crisis threatening the ceasefire and to hold up the formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity. The summit resulted in the extension of the pre-transitional period for 100 days, effective from 12 November 2019 to 22 February 2020, thereby offering more time to, inter alia, address the incomplete critical tasks relating to security arrangements, including the formation of the Transitional Government. 2 2 Overall, 63 activities during the pre-transitional Period were to be finalized by 12 November 2019. In early November, only 31 had been completed, 22 others were still ongoing and 10 not yet started. See the report on the status of implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan for the period 1st July to 30th September 2019 (available 5