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This study asserts that women’s rights are far from being recognized in South Sudan despite its efforts to include the rights of women in the Transitional Constitution after its attainment of independence from Sudan in 2011. While the article acknowledges the traditional modernization theory and cultural sovereignty theory, it engages international human rights standards as its conceptual framework. Using documentary research methodology involving analysis of primary and secondary sources, the manuscript established that a plural…

This report gives an overview of the legal frameworks pertaining to the regulation of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the greater Horn of Africa, ongoing political and economic transformation, as well as the increasing tension and dynamism between governments and CSOs. It focuses deliberately on the shortcomings affecting the growth and contributions of the NGO sector to the general population. It further presents an array of opportunities and threats, as well as successes and challenges,…

The African Union is mandated to help South Sudan to ensure accountability for past human rights abuses through the establishment of a hybrid court. This mandate is derived from the Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan, signed in 2015. The agreement also makes provision for a Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing and a Compensation and Reparation Authority. In the face of continued violence in South Sudan, how can the African Union…

“Do not remain silent”: Survivors of Sexual violence in South Sudan call for justice and reparations, reveals aggravated acts of sexual violence against thousands of people across the country since hostilities began in December 2013. The report is the result of a joint research project between Amnesty International and 10 South Sudanese human rights defenders. Perpetrators come from both sides of the conflict, pitting the government forces of President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, against opposition…

We live in an era where the need to ensure proper administration of justice has never been so imperative. However, the fulfilment of this desire, as an aspiration of every citizen, depends largely on the competence, independence, and integrity of judges as the custodians of the laws. This brief discusses the significance of judicial independence to the administration of justice, particularly in the context of South Sudan. While the brief acknowledges that maladministration is inherent…

This paper presents ethnographic evidence from three sites across the Uganda/South Sudan borderlands. At each location, procedures to identify alleged poisoners were documented. Novel voting processes were initiated by hybrid local authorities. Addressing widespread anxiety about proximate wrong-doing seemed to promote order locally. In this paper, we discuss similarities between locations and review what constitutes poison. Descriptions of indigenous electoral processes are then provided. We reveal the contested nature of accountability, responsibility and democracy at…

This paper discusses the state of South Sudan’s national unity. Our insights are based on interviews conducted with the members of parliament, representatives of women and youth, civil society organizations, intellectuals, and representatives of political parties residing in Juba, South Sudan. Most of the respondents look at national unity as a sense of common purpose, a sense of justice, and a sense of feeling included and benefiting from the state.

LSE’s Naomi Pendle paints an informative and insightful portrait of the challenges of reconciliation in South Sudan. Download

This paper is based on findings from more than 600 observations of customary and statutory courts by twenty South Sudanese researchers for the Justice and Security Research Programme (JSRP) from July 2015-July 2016. It identifies key issues for further deliberation based on research in the towns of Nimule, Torit, Rumbek, Yambio, Yei, Wau, and surrounding areas, in Juba town and United Nations Mission in South Sudan, Protection of Civilian Sites (UNMISS PoCs) in Juba and…

This report investigates people’s perceptions and experiences of truth, justice and reconciliation in relation to the past and present conflicts in South Sudan. The main data-collection was undertaken by means of a survey, for which 1,912 respondents were interviewed in November and early December 2015 in Juba town, Juba Protection of Civilian site (POC), Wau town and Bentiu POC. Qualitative information was gathered during subsequent interviews and workshops aimed at sharing, fine-tuning and verification of…

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