Abstract This analysis draws from security and state spending data to measure the human security experience in South Sudan. The results show amore volatile security environment following independence. Defence expenditure and human security, as measured in the number of insecurity episodes, are unrelated. Descriptive evidence indicates that human security and security expenditure tend to vary unpredictablyover time, a signal that security sector spending is unresponsive to the country’s security predicaments. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS)…

Despite the fact that humanitarian agencies have been operating in South Sudan for over thirty years, there has been an absence in understanding how the aid community and the assistance it provides are perceived by affected populations. The lack of nuanced information on community perceptions regarding humanitarian assistance is a global issue and a key driver for the strengthening of Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) initiatives across the humanitarian response. This failure to capture the…

South Sudan: Crippled justice system and blanket amnesties fuelling impunity for war crimes Two and a half years after South Sudan gained its independence, soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir Mayardit andthen Vice President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon clashed in the country’s capital, igniting an armed conflict between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the national army, and armed opposition groups including the SPLA-In Opposition (SPLA-IO). Both government and opposition forces have committed crimes under…

On 11 July 2016, at the end of four days of fighting between government and opposition forces in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, government soldiers stormed the Terrain ‘Hotel’, a residential compound that was home to South Sudanese and East African and Western expatriates. There they began a violent rampage of systematic looting, rape, gang rape, and abuse—including one killing—of the civilians sheltering in the compound. The Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GRSS)…

This paper reviews the existing transparency and accountability rules to understand the extent to which these have been implemented. Despite the existence of strong petroleum transparency and accountability legal rules, we find that compliance with them has worsened in the last three years. For example, only 26% of the information required by the petroleum laws has been published in 2019, compared to 42% in 2016. This seriously violates the petroleum transparency and accountability rules and…

This policy brief presents the results of the conference “South Sudan: Justice and Reconciliation in a Divided Country” in Nairobi, Kenya on September 27, 2016 and the Hague, The Netherlands on 4th October 2016. The conference discussed the findings of the research project “Intersections of Truth, Justice and Reconciliation in South Sudan.” Download

This paper examines the initiatives of people living in PoC sites – functionally, internally displaced people (IDPs) – to invigorate their own authority structures and security and justice mechanisms. In particular, we focus upon the practices of customary chiefs’ courts. Download

This report (2016) reviews the weaknesses of three of South Sudan’s governance institutions that are most critical to establishing accountability: the Anti-Corruption Commission, the National Audit Chamber, and the Public Accounts Committee in the National Legislative Assembly. All three institutions face considerable operational challenges that have undercut their effectiveness in implementing their constitutional mandates. Download

The mass coverage of rape and other – related offences since the start of the conflict in South Sudan in December 2013 has highlighted the horrific scale of civilian abuse, shedding a much needed gender perspective onto violence dynamics in the country. Detailed accounts of sexual violence at the hands of South Sudan’s warring parties and their related forces have come to dominate commentary on the country’s conflict, suggesting that women’s (and at times men’s)…

This policy brief explores various options to consider in expanding the reach of justice and accountability processes as part of any post-conflict transition in South Sudan. Download

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