Summary
In the 10 weeks since it began its work, the Panel of Experts on South Sudan has travelled extensively within South Sudan and to Ethiopia, Kenya, the Sudan and Uganda. Throughout, the Panel has consulted the parties prosecuting the war and those most affected by it, including internally displaced persons, tribal and community leaders, civil society organizations, humanitarian actors and peacekeepers. The report represents the preliminary findings of that research.
Since the adoption of resolution 2206 (2015) by the Security Council, the situation in South Sudan has deteriorated precipitously, posing a significant threat not only to the country’s citizens but also to the peace and security of the entire region.
Both the humanitarian and human rights situation and the environment for humanitarian and peacekeeping operations continue to worsen rapidly. Since March 2015, an additional 100,000 people have been displaced within the country, bringing the total number of internally displaced persons to more than 1.6 million. The number of people facing severe food insecurity has almost doubled since the beginning of 2015 to an estimated 4.6 million, including 250,000 children who are severely malnourished - the highest numbers since the war began.
Since the offensive in the greater Upper Nile area began in April 2015, the intensity and brutality of the violence aimed at civilians are hitherto unseen, even in what has already been, without a doubt, an exceedingly violent conflict. Some 750,000 people have been affected by the recent military campaign in Unity State alone, and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that at least 138,000 of those who were receiving humanitarian assistance before the upsurge of violence are now without that assistance owing to insecurity. The actual number is likely to be significantly higher.
Obstruction of humanitarian assistance and of peacekeeping operations has also escalated since the adoption of resolution 2206 (2015). Humanitarian workers and United Nations Mission in South Sudan personnel alike are regularly being attacked, assaulted, harassed, detained, intimidated and threatened. In May 2015, humanitarian actors reported the same number of access-related incidents as the preceding two months combined. All parties to the conflict have been reported to divert humanitarian assistance, including by stopping humanitarian convoys at checkpoints and extorting money in exchange for safe passage or to permit the utilization of the roads. The relentless violations of the Mission’s status-of-forces agreement and movement restrictions have been devastating for the Mission’s operations and its ability to execute its mandate to protect civilians under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
All parties to the conflict have been targeting civilians as part of their military tactics and thereby contravening applicable international humanitarian law, as referenced in resolution 2206 (2015). Scores of civilians have been killed, maimed, tortured, burned alive inside their homes, displaced, raped and abducted, and children have been recruited and used as part of the war effort. The Panel is investigating the chain of command pertaining to those serious crimes.
The supply of arms and ammunition to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition, as well as to affiliated forces, has been instrumental in prolonging and escalating the war. It is further clear that the acquisition by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army of greater air and riverine capacity is part of a strategy to diminish the tactical disadvantage posed by the difficulty of deploying troops and heavy equipment during the rainy season, which could have a substantial impact on the dynamics on the ground. The Panel will continue to examine those transfers, including their sources and the trafficking networks behind them, together with their impact on the war and their role in violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
The Panel has also begun investigations into the financing channels used by the Government and the opposition to prosecute the war and into those individuals and entities who gain financially from the continuation of the conflict. The Panel will report its findings in forthcoming updates to the Security Council in the context of the sanctions designations criteria established in resolution 2206 (2015).
In the coming weeks, the Security Council will have to consider the application of resolution 2206 (2015) in the context of two possible scenarios. First, should the parties fail to sign the compromise agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan recently proposed by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, by 17 August, an assessment of responsibility for that failure and swift action commensurate with that responsibility will be critical. Second, should the parties sign an agreement, the prevailing issue will be not only the implementation of that agreement and an end to the violence, but also the promotion of national reconciliation and a durable and inclusive political settlement for South Sudan, including ensuring accountability for serious crimes committed throughout the war. Resolution 2206 (2015) foresees a role for sanctions under either scenario.