Enhanced Interactive Dialogue with the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan
Statement by the Delegation of the United States of America
As Delivered by Ambassdor MichèleTaylor
Human Rights Council – 52nd Session
Thank you, Mr. President.
High Commissioner Turk, thank you for your sobering update and impassioned plea. I want to especially thank the Commission for your heart-wrenching report, your optimism, and your ongoing engagement with the transitional government of South Sudan and with the African Union, including by holding a conference on transitional justice just last month.
We remain deeply concerned about the protracted human rights crisis in South Sudan, much of which is related to the sharp rise in sub-national conflict over the past year. We are alarmed by rampant human rights violations and abuses, including those involving ethnically based killings, pervasive gender-based violence, and use of child soldiers. Continued attacks on humanitarian workers are unacceptable, with at least eight people killed in January of this year alone.
With the two-year extension of the Revitalized Agreement, we have yet to see the political will needed to advance the Agreement’s requirements on human rights and transitional justice.
We renew our call for South Sudan’s leaders to act with urgency to end sub-national violence and to hold accountable those responsible for attacks targeting civilians and humanitarian organizations, as well as for abductions and other human rights violations.
Now more than ever, renewing the Commission’s mandate is a critical component in pursuing truth, justice, and reconciliation in South Sudan. I am grateful to our fellow members of the core group for their engagement with all parties concerned.
How can the government pursue urgently needed accountability through both existing and new mechanisms?
I thank you.
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