By adopting a strong resolution on South Sudan, the UN Human Rights Council extends investigations into human rights violations committed in the country. Defend­Defenders welcomes this vital step, which allows the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS) to pursue its work as the country is facing a risk of relapse into large-scale civil war. 

“Now is the most dangerous time since a revitalised peace agreement was signed, in September 2018,” said Has­san Shire, Exe­cu­tive Direc­tor, Defend­Defen­ders. “It is in­disp­ensable to extend in­vestigations and maintain scrutiny over the country to both document abuses and warn par­ties that they are being watched.”

The resolution adopted today extends the mandate of the CHRSS for one year. Since 2016, the CHRSS has docu­mented vio­la­tions and abuses committed in South Sudan, collected and preserved evi­dence, and identified per­pe­tra­tors. A Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) brought an end to a bloody civil war (2013-2015 and 2016-2018) after an initial peace agree­ment (2015) failed. Since the R-ARCSS was signed, however, fighting has been ongoing, including with holdout armed groups and in the form of myriads of localized conflicts.

In its last report, which it pre­sented to the Council on 28 February 2025, the CHRSS found that South Sudan’s leaders were fuelling violence, obs­tructing peace, and “abjectly failing the people of South Sudan” as a range of human rights vio­la­tions, including sexual and gender-based violence, continued to plague the country. Impunity also remains widespread. 

Since the Council considered the CHRSS’s report, South Sudan has been on the brink of relapse into large-scale conflict. Heavy fighting in several parts of the country, including in Upper Nile and Western Equatoria States, as well as escalating tensions in the capital, Juba, with the arrest of senior oppo­si­tion figures, threaten to nullify the 2018 R-ARCSS. These developments come after the extension of the transitional period and postponement of the country’s first ever national elections, which were due to take place in December 2024 but will not be organised before December 2026 at earliest.

“Today’s situation is the result of multiple factors, both domestic and external, and multiple ins­­tances of dereliction of duty,” said Nicolas Agostini, De­fend­­Defen­ders’ Representative to the UN, Senior Advocate and Researcher. “We welcome the Council’s decision to extend investi­­gations and urge it to stand ready to respond to any developments in South Sudan, including through a special (emergency) session.”

Civil society has been united in urging the international community, the African Union and regional institutions to enhance the attention they dedicate to the crisis in South Sudan. It has also made clear that the approach favoured by the South Sudanese government, which relies on the provision of “tech­nical assistance” and moving away from investigations, was not a credible way of ensuring ac­coun­tability for violations, and therefore of building lasting peace.

In February 2025, 103 South Sudanese, African and international NGOs urged member states of the Council to adopt a strong resolution on South Sudan. They proposed a two-year extension for the CHRSS and that the Commission regularly report on the presence of risk factors for atrocity crimes. During a public event held on 3 March, civil society also raised the alarm over fighting in several states of South Sudan and the multiple risk factors of violence and atrocities.

The Human Rights Council is holding its 58^th regular session over six weeks, from 24 February to 4 April 2025. It is expected to adopt over 30 resolutions covering both thematic issues (including human rights defenders) and country situations (including, in addi­tion to South Sudan: Belarus, Haiti, Iran, Myanmar, Palestine, Syria, or Ukraine). 

For more information, please contact:

Estella Kansiime
Advocacy, Research and Communications Manager, DefendDefenders
[email protected] or +256 782 360 460 (English)

Nicolas Agostini
Representative to the United Nations, Senior Advocate and Researcher, DefendDefenders
[email protected] or +41 79 813 49 91 (English and French)