Dear Media Colleagues,

You are cordially invited to attend a press conference of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, at the conclusion of their ninth visit to South Sudan.

From 7 to 12 February, the Commissioners are in South Sudan meeting with key Government ministers, members of civil society, religious leaders, diplomats, entities monitoring the 2018 Revitalised Peace Agreement, UN agencies and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. As part of these meetings, the Commissioners will discuss steps and support necessary to implement transitional justice mechanisms under the Revitalised Agreement, following a related Conference hosted by the Commission in December 2021 in Nairobi, Kenya.

At the press conference, Commissioners Yasmin Sooka (South Africa) and Barney Afako (Uganda) will update media about the visit, and their findings on the human rights situation.

Media are kindly invited to attend the event as below:

Date: 11 February 2022

Time: 09h15

Venue: Juba Conference Room, UNMISS Compound in Tomping

Event duration: approximately 45 minutes

Journalists are kindly requested to bring a valid press card/ID and arrive no later than 9h00.

If assistance is required upon arrival at the gate, please contact: Amaring Ikarak (0921 767 848) or Malish Nemaya (0922 301 099).

Background information:

The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan is an independent body mandated by the UN Human Rights Council. It was first established in March 2016.

The Commission is mandated to investigate the situation of human rights in South Sudan, and to determine and report the facts and circumstances of human rights violations and abuses, including by clarifying responsibility for violations and abuses that are crimes under national and or international law. To assist in addressing impunity in South Sudan, the Commission is also mandated to collect and preserve evidence, and to make this available to transitional justice mechanisms, including the hybrid court for South Sudan that is to be established under Chapter 5 of the Revitalised Peace Agreement of 2018.

The Commission will present its next report on the human rights situation in South Sudan to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2022, in Geneva.

Source: UN Human Rights Council