South Sudan: Letter to President Salva Kiir Mayardit to Commit to Improve Rights Ahead of Election for International ...

H.E. President Salva Kiir Mayardit

President of the Republic of South Sudan

Commander in Chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA)

Dear President Kiir,

We, the undersigned, are a diverse group of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world. With elections to the United Nations Human Rights Council quickly approaching, and with South Sudan standing as a candidate, we are writing to urge your government to demonstrate its commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights.

UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251, which established the Human Rights Council, states that members of the Council "shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights" and "fully cooperate with the Council". Earlier this week, more than 40 civil society groups wrote to you and all other UN member states emphasizing the importance of this commitment, and their expectations for states seeking elections to the Council. We believe it is essential that South Sudan and other candidate states adhere to these criteria. Thus we would like to draw your attention to some key areas where we believe swift and urgent reform could improve human rights conditions in South Sudan.

Hold Abusive Security Forces to Account

In 2013, Soldiers from South Sudan's army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), and officers from the Auxiliary Police Force unlawfully killed over 95 people from the Murle ethnic group and Murle members of the security forces during an armed conflict in Pibor County, Jonglei state. These killings are serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and the government of South Sudan has an obligation to hold those responsible to account.

While some welcome steps towards accountability have been taken by the SPLA for those abuses, including the arrest and prosecution of two soldiers for killing two women in Pibor town and the arrest of the commander for this area, we believe that the government has not done enough to ensure justice for victims. We understand that the SPLA is conducting some other investigations, but we are concerned these do not address the majority of documented crimes against civilians and urge the government to investigate all incidents, including for example killings of civilians by soldiers in the Lotho village on December 4, 2013, in Pibor town on January 27, 2013 or in Manyabol town on May 26, 2013.