Transitional Justice Institutions are Useless Without the Establishment of the Hybrid Court in South Sudan
Hybrid Court of South Sudan
By Joseph Achiech Mathen, Kampala, Uganda
Monday, 27 January 2025 (PW) — Transitional Justice Institutions are institutions which are part of the country’s efforts to achieve justice, peace and accountability for the several crimes committed during the conflicts since 2013. These are enshrined in Chapter 5 of the R-ARCSS as follows; (1) The Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing (CTRH), (2) An Independent hybrid judicial body, to be known as the Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS), and (3) Compensation and Reparation Authority (CRA).
On Friday last week, 24 January 2025, the Council of Ministers granted the Justice Minister, Ruben Madol Arol, authority to proceed with setting up the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing, and the Compensation and Reparation Authority. No mention of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS) was made.
Article 5.2 of the R-ARCSS established the CTRH. It provided that the role of the CTRH is to spearhead efforts to address the legacy of conflicts, promote peace, national reconciliation and healing. This is by inquiring into all aspects of human rights violations and abuses, breaches of the rule of law and excessive abuses of power committed against all South Sudanese by state or non-state actors.
The role of the CRA as stipulated under article 5.4 is to provide material and financial support to citizens whose property was destroyed by the conflict and help them to rebuild their livelihoods. This seems to be just a ‘wishful thinking’! I don’t know how the government intends to achieve that. If it failed to pay civil servants the whole of last year, how is that even possible?
Lastly is the role of the Hybrid Court. Since the formation of the RTGoNU, little has been said in regard to HCSS. Yet it is impossible to achieve national reconciliation and healing without justice to victims and families of the victims. Before any reconciliation and compensation, the government is supposed to first establish a tribunal/hybrid court to try cases including the deliberate killing of civilians, forced recruitment of children, forced displacement, rape and other sexual offenses committed during the conflicts.
What then is the Hybrid Court for South Sudan? It is a court that is supposed to investigate and prosecute crimes committed in South Sudan since 2013. The court is to be established by the African Union. Article 5.3 of the R-ARCSS established the HCSS. The court has jurisdiction with respect to crimes such as (1) genocide – the intentional destruction of national, racial or religious group. For the case of South Sudan, it can include killing members of the tribe, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the tribe, deliberately creating conditions that will physically destroy members of the tribe, committing sexual offenses like rape etc.
(2) Crimes against humanity – serious crimes that are committed against civilians on large scale and in systematic manner. For instance, the 2013 Juba and Bor Massacres, 2014 Bentiu Massacre etc (3) War crimes – murder, torture and illegal detentions etc. (3) Other serious crimes under the international law and relevant laws of South Sudan including gender based crimes.
Rwanda established this similar kind of judicial system after the genocide. During the 1994 genocide, the country’s population was traumatized after up to one million people perished and as many as 250,000 women were raped. In the years following, more than 120,000 people were detained and accused of bearing criminal responsibility. To deal with such, a judicial response was pursued by setting up an International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the national court system of Rwanda.
The trial started in 1997 and by the end of 2011, the tribunal had completed the trial of 80 out of the 92 accused. The first case was against the former Major Jean-Paul Akayesu, who was convicted in 1998 on nine counts of genocide and crimes against humanity. The Prime Minister, Jean Kambanda, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998 for the crime of genocide.
After the judicial processes, Rwanda embarked on the national reconciliation efforts such as the ‘Ingando’. This was peace education program in solidarity camps. The aim of the program was to clarify Rwandan history and the origins of division amongst the population, promote patriotism and fight genocide ideology. Other programs such as seminars on training of grassroots leaders, political party leaders, youth and women trauma counseling followed. Rwanda is one of the peaceful and prosperous states in Africa today.
South Sudan should adopt the processes and procedures of Rwanda if the government needs to achieve national reconciliation and healing. I know most of the senior government officials are immediate culprits of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts. President Salva Kiir and his deputy Dr. Riek Machar have blood stain in their hands. That possibly explains why they ignore the judicial approach. Why then waste time curing the effects of the disease and leave the cause?
The author, Joseph Achiech Mathen, is a South Sudanese lawyer and activist who can be contacted via his email: josephaciec66@gmail.com.
If you want to submit an opinion article, commentary, or news analysis, please email it to the editor: info@paanluelwel.com or paanluel2011@gmail.com. PaanLuel Wël Media (PW) website does reserve the right to edit or reject material before publication. Please include your full name, a short biography, email address, city, and the country you are writing from.
About Post Author
