PRESS RELEASE : UN Human Rights Council 55 – Joint Statement on South Sudan [March 2024]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 1 March 2024.

Joint Statement for the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on South Sudan, as delivered by the UK’s Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French.

Thank you, Mr. President,

This statement is on behalf of the Item 2 Core Group for South Sudan –Albania, Norway, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

We thank the Commissioners for their important report and their presentation today. We also thank the Government of South Sudan for its continued co-operation with the Commission, and for the Minister of Justice’s contribution to this dialogue.

Mr. President,

Reporting from the Commission, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and others show ongoing human rights violations and abuses being committed in South Sudan with impunity, as well as a deteriorating climate for civic and political space.  We share these grave concerns, and are also deeply worried by the lack of progress in implementing the Revitalized Agreement more broadly.

As friends of the people of South Sudan, we stand ready to play our part in supporting South Sudan’s path to peace, reconciliation, accountability, and full respect for human rights. The Commission plays a vital role in this regard, and our Core Group believes firmly that its mandate must therefore be extended in full in this Session, to ensure continued and robust human rights scrutiny by this Council, We will continue to engage with South Sudan in the hope that this extension can be agreed by consensus.

Thank you.