UN experts urge South Sudan to fund Warrap justice system amid rights concerns

JUBA – UN human rights experts have urged the South Sudanese government to provide financial resources to Warrap State authorities to strengthen the justice system and address inter-communal violence.

The experts highlighted the lack of courts and other essential services, despite significant oil and non-oil revenue, and linked this neglect to the adoption of extrajudicial killings in the state.

The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan held a press conference in Juba on Thursday, where Carlos Castresana Fernández, one of the commissioners, emphasized the need for government funding.

“The government must provide the financing to Warrap authorities to strengthen the justice system, so that violence among communities can finally be addressed with the instruments of rule of law – this may include interim measures such as mobile courts, but the work on developing permanent functional justice systems deployed in all the territory must also start, and be properly funded,” Fernández said.

“Any nation’s political leaders cannot reasonably say that the lack of courts, as well as schools and hospitals, are because there is no money for them when at the same time oil revenue and non-oil revenue collections are generating significant money,” he added.

Fernández noted that even with the partial oil export shutdown, revenue from the second pipeline and non-oil collections is substantial. He argued that instead of funding essential services, much of this money is “diverted off-budget to corruption,” with implicated individuals remaining in or being promoted to senior government positions.

Barney Afako said the recurring human rights violations in South Sudan are linked to impunity, lack of accountability in governance, and the failure to invest national wealth in institution building.

“This is why many of our recommendations over the years have returned to commitments in the Revitalized Agreement, accompanied by human rights law, because, although yet to be implemented in earnest, the Agreement and the human rights treaties offer the best path to address the challenges facing the Government and indeed those of the population,” Afako stated.

Yasmin Sooka described the dire situation of sexual and gender-based violence in Warrap State, particularly the prevalence of forced child marriage.

“We also met numerous young girls forced into marriage—treated as commodities, exchanged for cattle as dowry. These teenage survivors shared harrowing stories of being coerced into marriages with men often more than 20 years their senior, enduring rape, physical abuse, and forced pregnancies,” Sooka said.

She added that many victims are trapped in these marriages because their families refuse their return to avoid repaying the dowry, leaving them dependent on struggling one-stop centers.

Sooka highlighted the extreme poverty and lack of development in the area, with local authorities citing scarce resources and victims lacking access to even basic services.