A/HRC/28/53 I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to its resolution 26/31, the Human Rights Council held a panel discussion on the human rights situation in South Sudan, during its twenty-seventh session, on 24 September 2014. The discussion focused on identifying effective measures to improve the human rights situation in South Sudan and to strengthen United Nations support for the work of the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan and for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development–led peace process. 2. The panel discussion was moderated by the Permanent Representative of Djibouti to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mohamed Said Doualeh, and was opened by the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Flavia Pansieri. The panellists were Paulino Wanawilla Unango, Minister of Justice of South Sudan, Olusegun Obasanjo, Chair of the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan, Lawrence Korbandy, Chair of the Human Rights Commission of South Sudan, and Ibrahim Wani, Director of the Human Rights Division of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Seyoum Mesfin, Chair of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Mediation Team on South Sudan, had prepared a statement, which was read on his behalf by the Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations Office at Geneva. 3. The present report was prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 26/31. II. Statement by the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights and contributions by panellists 4. In her opening statement, the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that the human rights situation in South Sudan continued to be of grave concern, despite a decline in the scale and severity of reported violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law compared to the first months of the conflict. The Deputy High Commissioner referred to the visit to South Sudan by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, in April 2014, which had taken place against the background of a critical level of violence, including ethnically motivated mass slaughter and gruesome revenge killings. The Deputy High Commissioner noted that civilians continued to bear the brunt of the ongoing armed conflict, with continued reports of killings and wounding of civilians by all parties to the conflict as well as by other armed groups, and serious violations of the rights of children and women. She stressed that the number of internally displaced persons had continued to rise, and drew attention to the vast influx of civilians into UNMISS compounds, which presented UNMISS with unprecedented challenges. 5. The Deputy High Commissioner expressed concern that the Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition continued to mobilize forces and amass weapons in an effort to consolidate their respective power bases — and to undermine the protection of civilians and the life-saving work of humanitarian agencies and UNMISS. She also noted that the humanitarian situation had deteriorated rapidly, with the country experiencing extreme food insecurity and facing a possible famine. 6. The Deputy High Commissioner further noted that the conflict had exacerbated the already weak system of administration of justice, and that there had been arbitrary arrests, incidents of prolonged detention and allegations of torture and ill-treatment in custody. A 3