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Interactive Dialogue on the Situation of Human Rights in South Sudan
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September 23, 2021

Interactive Dialogue on the Situation of Human Rights in South Sudan

48th Session of the Human Rights Council

Statement by the Delegation of the United States of America
As delivered by Chargé d’Affaires Benjamin Moeling

We thank the Commission for working to address South Sudan’s grave human rights situation.

July marked South Sudan’s 10th anniversary as a country, but there was little to celebrate.

South Sudan’s leaders have plundered its resources and stoked conflict.  Reports of human rights violations and abuses may now be as prevalent as during the independence struggle, including reports of pervasive sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and excessive restrictions on freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly.

We condemn the ongoing crackdown on civil society and the attacks on humanitarian workers, which continue and remain unaddressed by the government.

Transitional justice mechanisms must be fully established.  The people of South Sudan need to be given an opportunity to choose their own government through an inclusive constitution-drafting process and free and fair elections by mid-2023.

Question: What is the likelihood of renewed mass atrocities in South Sudan?