A/HRC/45/CRP.3 III. Methodology 27. The Commission submits the present report to the Human Rights Council pursuant to Council resolution 43/27. In the report, the Commission focuses primarily on establishing the facts and circumstances of incidents occurring between December 2013 and April 2020. 28. 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. 29. 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. 30. The Commission adopted a “reasonable grounds to believe” evidentiary standard. Its work was informed by the requirement to collect and preserve evidence in accordance with a standard that would support future accountability mechanisms, including criminal accountability. 31. 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. 32. Evidence gathered and analysed included eyewitness testimony from survivors, humanitarian actors, Government officials, and opposition officials. Evidence in the possession of the Commission also includes satellite imagery from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research - Operational Satellite Applications Program (UNITAR - UNOSAT) denoting the razing of villages.28 33. 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”. IV. Applicable law 34. Protection of the civilian population from starvation is a well-established norm under both treaty and customary international law and binding on all belligerents, including non-State actors. South Sudan is a State Party to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its three Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005.29 Of particular relevance to the non-international armed conflict in South Sudan are Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions, and Articles 14 and 18 of Additional Protocol II which prohibit the starvation of civilians or rendering useless objects indispensable for their survival, and the diversion of humanitarian assistance. Once the thresholds for the application of ERN D116708 – D116714. South Sudan ratified the Four Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols on 25 January 2013; they entered into force for South Sudan on 25 July 2013. 28 29 10