A/HRC/45/CRP.4 of the conflict in December 2013, in spite of the overall decrease in fighting and political violence. Various Government officials, including the Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs and Chief of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces, have publicly acknowledged that members of the Government security forces have been involved in perpetrating sexual violence and urged commanders to ensure that the perpetrators of these acts be held accountable.47 This notwithstanding, victims of sexual and gender-based violence continue to face significant challenges in seeking justice. Across the country, victims and survivors continue to express reluctance to report their experiences owing to stigma, the fear of reprisals, rejection by their families and communities, and their lack of confidence in judicial and non-judicial responses. The Commission has previously noted that impunity for conflict related sexual-violence and sexual and gender-based crimes remains at an all-time high, while survivors of sexual violence still have limited access to redress.48 In Bentiu, the Commission heard testimonies of sexual violence from women who were waiting to share their stories with an accountability mechanism. Women across the country, particularly in Yei, Wau, and Bentiu, were still reporting high levels of sexual and gender-based violence following the alleged rape and sexual assault of over 150 women and girls in November 2019. 65. The Commission is also concerned that many cases of sexual and gender basedviolence continue to be heard by traditional customary courts, which are not equipped to meet international fair trial and due process standards, and often act outside their jurisdiction. These courts are often conducted in open public spaces, with mostly male community members in attendance, and are presided over by male elders.49 Women who speak out in front of their community about their experiences of SGBV are often subject to stigmatisation and physical abuse.50 Furthermore, rape and sexual violence are seen, not as individual crimes involving only the perpetrator and the survivor, but as collective issues affecting the entire community. The type and level of justice accessible to survivors is, therefore, influenced by factors such as the victim’s age and marital status, social standing and perceived “value,” often in relation to bride price.51 In addition, the justice that is available generally takes the form of reparations determined between customary elders, rather than individual legal redress for the survivor.52 66. In August 2019, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict noted that, despite the adoption of clear provisions in the Revitalised Peace Agreement calling for an end to all forms of sexual and gender-based violence, such violence continued unabated in South Sudan, and is widely used to humiliate both victims and entire communities, in a climate of near-total impunity.53 Further to this, the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on South Sudan called for targeted measures against individuals credibly suspected of bearing command responsibility for sexual violence crimes, noting that seven of the eight individuals listed by the Committee are also cited for sexual violence. The Special Representative has since engaged with the Government, the SPLA/IO, and the leadership of the non-signatory National Salvation Front (NAS) armed group to ensure the cessation and non-repetition of sexual violence and encourage the parties to hold perpetrators accountable. Since then, the leadership of the SPLA/IO has conceded that its soldiers have been involved in CRSV, as documented in an UNMISS report in October 2018. 54 The SPLA/IO has now adopted an Action Plan on CRSV and agreed to conduct internal investigations into alleged sexual violence perpetrated by its forces in Western and Central Equatoria States. The leader of the SPLA/IO, First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, also 47 See Minister of Defence statement on 14 March 2019. See Report of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan – A/HRC/40/CRP.1. 49 D. Deng, ‘Challenges for Accountability’, March 2013, South Sudan Law Society, Pact, and USAID. 50 United Nations Security Council, Report of the Secretary General on Conflict Related Sexual Violence, 23 March 2015, S/2015/203 para. 48; Deng, DK, Challenges of Accountability: An Assessment of Dispute Resolution Processes in Rural South Sudan (March 2013) at p. 2. 51 SIHA, December 2012, Falling Through the Cracks: Reflections on Customary Law and the Imprisonment of Women in South Sudan, p xiv. 56. 52 Ibid. 53 See UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on South Sudan Concerning South Sudan Meets with the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict – SC/13947, 11 September 2019. 54 See Conflict Related Violations and Abuses in Central Equatoria, September 2018 to April 2019 – UNMISS, 3 July 2019. 48 14