Group Civil Society Letter to AU Peace and Security regarding South Sudan

15 July 2020

Re: AU Peace and Security Council Session on South Sudan 

Your Excellencies,

We, South Sudanese, regional and international civil society organizations, write ahead of the 21 July Peace and Security Council (PSC) session scheduled on South Sudan’s implementation of the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) and the council’s 9 April communiqué on the situation in South Sudan.

We welcome a session on South Sudan and wish to encourage the council to use the session to consider the stalled establishment of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS) and to direct the AU Commission to take unilateral action to enable the court’s creation immediately. These efforts would signal the AU’s commitment to implementing its 2020 theme, “Silencing the Guns.” Delays in establishing the HCSS threaten the future of the peace deal and protection of civilians and prevent survivors and families of victims from seeking justice for themselves and their loved ones.

Stalled Establishment of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan

The AU Commission has taken important steps to date to prepare for the establishment of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, and renewed initiatives over the past year to achieve this objective, including convening expert consultations in December 2019 in Dar es Salaam and reviewing the court’s legal instruments prepared by the commission’s Office of Legal Counsel. Despite these significant steps, the establishment of the HCSS has continued to stall as the Government of South Sudan failed to prioritize processes that would ensure accountability and truth telling. In 2019 the government secured a lobbying firm to work to delay and block the HCSS, although the contract was later revised. South Sudan has yet to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on the HCSS that was developed with the AU in 2017.

To read the full letter click hereGroup Civil Society Letter to AU PSC re 21 July South Sudan Session_7.15.20