![Carlos Castresana, member of the UN Human Rights Commission on South Sudan speaks during a press conference with fellow colleagues at the UN House in Juba on Friday, February 16, 2024. [Photo by Sudans Post]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/IMG_9676.jpg?resize=1024%2C464&ssl=1)
Addressing reporters at a press conference in Juba, Carlos Castresana, one of the commissioners of the UN Human Rights Commission in South Sudan, warned that the lack of judges hampers the trail of crimes in the country.
“South Sudan judiciary is not functioning, it is severely under-sourced, has no money or the personnel or the distribution in the territory and lacks the means to be impartial and independent and in most of the country has no effective present,” said Castresana.
A Spanish jurist and prosecutor said the persistence of widespread gender-based violence including abduction can’t be addressed due to a dysfunctional judiciary system.
“Justice Institutions must be properly established and funded with resources and with personnel and deployed throughout the country.”
He called for the establishment of transitional justice processes to try crimes committed during the 2013 conflict.
“Truth, Reconciliation, Repatriation and Accountability are indivisible dimensions of transitional justice and can’t be separated in the interest of elite and political experience; you can’t leave victims behind if you are building a future for everyone.”
Yasmin Sooka, Chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan called on the government to establish an independent functioning justice system all over the country to prosecute cases.
“In our work, we also noted that sub-national conflict occurs across the country and a large number of killing, rape and massacre of civilians are going unchecked and that further demonstrate if impunity is not addressed, these violations will persist,” said Sooka.
