A/HRC/34/63 7. The Commission thanks the Government of South Sudan for facilitating its missions and responding to its requests for information. It is grateful for the full cooperation it received from the Governments of Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda during its missions to those States, and in particular for facilitating the Commission’s visits to refugee camps in Gambella in Ethiopia and Adjumani in Uganda. 8. The Commission also appreciated the valuable contributions made to its work by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UNMISS, non-governmental organizations and experts. It is grateful for the support received from United Nations agencies and partners, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in Ethiopia and Uganda. II. Methodology 9. The Commission interpreted its mandate as requiring it to monitor and report on the current situation of human rights in South Sudan. It did not have the mandate or resources to carry out investigations or fact-finding. The Commission therefore based its methodology on OHCHR and international standards for human rights monitoring. 10. The conclusions reached in the present report are based on information received from rights-holders, victims and witnesses of violations of human rights violations and abuses, civil society actors and United Nations and humanitarian agencies working in South Sudan, and the Government of South Sudan. The Commission also reviewed material received from secondary sources, including reports by the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan, UNMISS, United Nations agencies, and international and national human rights organizations. 11. The Commission interviewed human rights defenders, journalists, editors, religious leaders, members of civil society organizations, former detainees and officials of the governing party and SPLM/A in Opposition, and former political detainees during its missions to South Sudan and neighbouring countries. 12. The Commission thanks all the victims and witnesses who shared their experiences. The present report includes information only where sources granted informed consent and where disclosure would not lead to any identification or result in harm. Primary responsibility for protecting victims, witnesses and other persons cooperating with the Commission rests, however, with their countries of residence and nationality. III. Context and background A. Political and security context 13. Following the signing of the Agreement for the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan in August 2015, Dr. Riek Machar returned to Juba on 26 April 2016 to take up the position of First Vice-President in the Transitional Government of National Unity. The delay in his return held up implementation of the Agreement for nearly eight months. Nevertheless, Dr. Machar’s return resulted in some steps being taken to complete the arrangements enshrined in the Agreement, including the establishment of a Transitional Government of National Unity and power-sharing arrangements between the signatories to the Agreement, namely SPLA, SPLM/A in Opposition, the Group of Former Political Detainees and the Group of Other Political Parties. 14. On 2 October 2015, President Salva Kiir announced the demarcation of 28 States (establishment order 36/2015), a decision perceived by many as an attempt to reconfigure 4