HRW Oral Statement - ID on OHCHR report on technical assistance in South Sudan - HRC62

This statement was delivered by Human Rights Watch at the 62nd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council during an interactive dialogue on OHCHR report on technical assistance in South Sudan held on July 3, 2026.

We share the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' concerns over the marked deterioration of the human rights situation in South Sudan over the past year, amid a deteriorating political and security situation.

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As hostilities have escalated, parties to the conflict continue to commit grave violations, including unlawful killings, devastating sexual violence and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Hundreds of thousands have been recently displaced and millions are in urgent need of food aid, as the military and opposition forces block humanitarian access and unjustifiably order civilians to evacuate populated areas, while UNMISS's capacity has been dramatically reduced.

The assault on civic space continues, as the National Security Service and other government forces continue to target critics, including lawyers, political opposition members and others with unlawful arrests. Under the guise of a criminal crackdown, government forces in Juba have unlawfully detained and abused young adults and children and forcibly recruited both.

Despite repeated appeals made before this Council and broad recognition that impunity is among the core drivers of conflict-related abuses, the government is not making meaningful progress on accountability. The military has not only failed to discipline but has instead promoted commanders responsible for grave abuses. There has been no progress on the establishment of the Hybrid Court.

Last session, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan warned that the country's political and military leaders are "systematically dismantling the 2018 Revitalized Peace agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, undermining governance and security safeguards and exposing civilians to grave risks of mass atrocity crimes, and [other] serious violations of international human rights [..] and international humanitarian law."

In this context, we would like to ask OHCHR what benchmarks this Council would use to assess the focus and impact of the technical assistance it continues to mandate, and what concrete progress they consider possible in the absence of political will to advance on accountability?

Thank you.