Expanding the Reach of Justice and Accountability in South Sudan

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. The brief is structured in three sections. After a short introduction, the first section examines comparative state practice in the use of amnesties. Though often viewed as impediments to justice and accountability, partial or conditional amnesties can also provide a useful means of coping with widespread conflict-related abuses and states’ inability to bring all suspects to trial. The second section presents survey data on perceptions of amnesties and the overlap between the victim and perpetrator population to try to understand the implications of conditional amnesties in the South Sudanese context. The third section provides policy options for South Sudan to consider in its transitional justice program moving forward, most notably, the use of alternative sentencing and referrals to customary justice mechanisms for certain categories of perpetrators who admit wrongdoing and seek forgiveness.

This policy brief is part of two new publications from the research project “Intersections of Truth, Justice and Reconciliation in South Sudan”, carried out in cooperation by the University for Peace (UPEACE) Centre The Hague, the South Sudan Law Society (SSLS) and PAX. Please consult this link for the policy brief "Observations on the Mandate of South Sudan’s Commission on Truth, Reconciliation and Healing (CTRH)".