A/HRC/45/CRP.3
more than 575 humanitarian staff were relocated due to insecurity.272 Bureaucratic and
operational interference continues, including in areas under the control of non-State
armed groups, hampering the delivery of critical health and nutrition services.
130. Based on the evidence in its possession, the Commission has reasonable grounds
to believe that both of the previous incidents were in violation of customary international
humanitarian law which requires parties to the conflict to “allow and facilitate rapid and
unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need, which is impartial in
character and conducted without any adverse distinction, subject to their right of
control”.273
131. The Commission further has reasonable grounds to believe that sufficient evidence
exists to hold to account members of the SPLA-IO (RM) under international and national
laws for the crime of starvation of civilians used as a method of warfare by arbitrarily
denying humanitarian aid to populations in need in Central Equatoria, including by
arbitrarily denying objects indispensable to their survival.
VIII.
The situation of internally displaced persons
132. Chapter III of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South
Sudan lays out broad provisions concerning humanitarian assistance and reconstruction.
The Government of South Sudan, however, continues to outsource its responsibilities
towards internally displaced persons – citizens of South Sudan – to humanitarian aid
organisations and international donors, offering limited and in many instances no
assistance to address the devastating humanitarian crisis it has created. Non-State armed
groups including SPLA-IO (RM) forces have similarly done little to provide support to
displaced persons, while in many instances actively and deliberately hindering the work
of humanitarian organisations and harassing their staff.
133. At the time of writing (August 2020), more than 1.67 million people remain
internally displaced across South Sudan.274 Civilians displaced at the start of the conflict
in December 2013 are now entering their eighth year of displacement, many of whom
have experienced multiple displacements. As at June 2020, the United Nations Mission
in South Sudan was sheltering 181,231 internally displaced persons in its protection of
civilian sites in Bentiu (Unity State), Juba (Central Equatoria State), Malakal (Upper Nile
State), Bor (Jonglei State), and Wau (Western Bahr el Ghazal State), of which Bentiu is
by far the largest (Annex VII).
134. Those residing in protection of civilian sites generally face grim living conditions,
as these sites are overcrowded, with civilians having limited options to earn an income.
Adverse weather conditions related to rainy seasons, and epidemics and communicable
diseases such as measles and cholera further exacerbate their struggles. Infrastructure is
often ill-suited for encamped residents with disabilities. 275 Moreover, after over six years
in protection of civilian sites, women and girls have been made to walk farther and farther
into the bush to collect firewood to eke out a modest income or for cooking, greatly
increasing the risk of sexual assault. 276
272
South Sudan: Annual Humanitarian Access Review (January - December 2018), UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR THE
COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS (OCHA), 25 FEBRUARY 2019, available at https://reliefweb.int/report/southsudan/south-sudan-annual-humanitarian-access-review-january-december-2018.
273 ICRC Rule 55.
274 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.
275 See, e.g., ERN 103146 – 103150, paras. 9-10.
276 See, e.g., ERN 100625 – 100636; ERN 103328 – 103331, para. 7; ERN 102318 – 102323, paras. 6-8; ERN 102308 – 102312,
paras. 7-10.
33
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