A/HRC/45/CRP.3 I. Introduction 1. After decades of systematic victimisation, marginalisation, and exploitation dating back to the 19th century slave-raiding, southern Sudan has seen conflict almost constantly since the independence of Sudan in January 1956. The war of liberation was characterised by horrendous abuses, including the deliberate targeting of civilians, the denial of their means of livelihood, and the deliberate starvation of the population, all of which contributed to the South’s overwhelming vote for secession from Sudan in July 2011. A highly militarised and traumatised country and society emerged, however, and led the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) – a highly divided movement with limited governance experience. Intense political competition and factionalism mobilised along ethnic lines led to the fratricidal conflict that broke out in 2013, which has worsened South Sudan’s cleavages. The economy, society, and lives of the population, particularly women, have been negatively impacted as some of the worst methods of warfare and repression from the past have been replicated in South Sudan. 2. In the absence of governance and without adequate systems of accountability, South Sudan’s predatory and extractive leadership and elite have failed to rise to the challenge of nation and state building and have instead stoked divisions and diverted South Sudan’s vast oil wealth and other national resources for personal gain and for sustaining parallel political and security systems.1 The Government has invested disproportionally in a pervasive and repressive national security architecture, routinely curtailing political space and freedoms in order to maintain its hold on power. The formation of the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) in February 2020 now provides an opportunity to fully implement the Revitalised Agreement for the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS). The Revitalised Agreement provides a roadmap for the challenging task of rebuilding South Sudan and reversing its deep crisis and culture of impunity, including by ensuring accountability and reparation for the violations and abuses that have characterised South Sudan’s recent conflicts. 3. Since December 2013, the armed conflict in South Sudan has provoked a dire humanitarian crisis which has led to the displacement of nearly 4 million women, men, and children.2 Around 1.67 million people are currently displaced internally, languishing in camps that barely meet their basic needs and subsisting on rapidly diminishing humanitarian aid.3 South Sudan enjoys the unenviable status of representing the third largest refugee crisis in the world, with over 2.2 million people having fled abroad as refugees and asylum seekers.4 On-going surges in the armed conflict accompanied by protracted insecurity have obstructed the work of humanitarian actors struggling to ameliorate the crisis. 4. Prior to the outbreak of the conflict in December 2013, more than 1.5 million people across South Sudan amounting to 17 per cent of the population faced acute food insecurity and were classified as being “in Crisis” (IPC Phase 3).5 At the time of writing (August 1 See generally Report of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, A/HRC/43/56, 31 January 2020, at paras. 33-44, available at https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoHRSouthSudan/A_HRC_43_56.docx. 2 South Sudan emergency, UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR), as at 31 August 2019, available at https://www.unhcr.org/south-sudan-emergency.html. 3 South Sudan Situation, Operational Update, UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR), 15 July 2020, available at https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/77822.pdf; Confidential meeting, 6 December 2019. 4 South Sudan emergency, UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR), as at 31 July 2020, available at https://www.unhcr.org/south-sudan-emergency.html. 5 The IPC Acute Food Insecurity classification rates hunger levels from one to five and provides information to decision makers by focusing on short-term objectives to prevent, mitigate, or decrease severe food insecurity. See http://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfowebsite/ipc-overview-and-classification-system/ipc-acute-food-insecurity-classification/en. See also Acute Food Insecurity Situation Overview: The Republic of South Sudan, INTEGRATED FOOD SECURITY PHASE CLASSIFICATION (IPC), 30 July 2013 to 30 4