The NSS released two of the contractors, while a contractor and WFP worker remained missing at year's end. During the December 2013 crisis, the PSLA was badly fragmented, with roughly half of its forces defecting to the opposition. However, the SPLA regularly exercised police functions, in part due to the ineffectiveness of law enforcement in many parts of the country.
Between December 2013 and April, in Malakal, Upper Nile State, both SPLA and opposition forces. David Yau Yau's militia, the South Sudan Democratic Movement/Defense Army-Cobra Faction, was in the process of being integrated into the SPLA by year's end. UN officials apologized for the error, stating, "Several containers were mislabeled and inadvertently contained weapons and ammunition." However, the government publicly accused UNMISS of supporting the rebels.
Respect for Civil Liberties, Including a. Freedom of Speech and Press
In August, the NSS temporarily shut down the Roman Catholic radio station Radio Bakhita for citing a statement reported in the Sudan Tribune newspaper that contradicted the government's version of fighting in Unity State. Violence and harassment: Security forces routinely intimidated or detained journalists whose reporting on security issues they perceived as unfavorable to the military or government. There were no government restrictions on Internet access or credible reports that the government monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms without proper legal authority.
There were no legal restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events, and the government generally respected these freedoms. The transitional constitution provides for freedom of peaceful assembly, and the government generally respected this right, but many citizens did not gather for fear of targeted violence. The government at times obstructed UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations seeking to provide protection and assistance to displaced persons and refugees.
Citizenship: While there were no reports of the government revoking citizenship for political reasons, some NGOs reported that the government sometimes denied it. The government has no laws or policies in place to protect IDPs in accordance with the UN Guidelines on Internal Displacement, although the government is a party to the Geneva Conventions (see section 1.g.). The government allowed refugees from a variety of countries to settle and generally treated refugees no differently than other foreigners.
Access to Basic Services: While refugees sometimes lacked basic services, this generally reflected a nationwide problem rather than discriminatory practices by the government. Durable solutions: The government accepted refugees and returnees for resettlement, although it had not published a national strategy to facilitate integration or reintegration into local communities.
Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
Relations between the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities remained strained following the assassination of the Ngok Dinka head chief, Kuol Deng Koul, in May 2013. On 13 September, SPLA deserters set up illegal roadblocks in southern Abyei and attempted to collect taxes from passing traffic. According to the transitional constitution, general elections must be held by July 2015, which coincides with the end of the five-year presidential term.
Civic education remained low in the country and contributed to a limited public understanding of political processes. While international observers considered the presidential election, which resulted in the election of President Salva Kiir Mayardit, to be generally free and fair within the semi-autonomous region of South Sudan, observers believed that the SPLM manipulated state elections to elect the favoring SPLM governors in some states. In the months leading up to the 2010 elections, security forces harassed, arrested and detained persons suspected of opposing the SPLM, including journalists and opposition members.
Political parties and political participation: The SPLM has had a near monopoly of power in government and has been the most widely recognized and supported political entity since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. At various points in the past, members of various political parties have worked together under the SPLM name to would achieve common goals, which gave the name a strong attachment and symbolic meaning. Throughout the year, as the peace talks dragged on, various officials switched political parties or sides in the conflict.
Participation of women and minorities: The transitional constitution requires at least 25 percent participation of women in the legislative and executive branches of government. Women held 99 of the 332 seats held in the NLA, but held only five of the 50 seats in the Council of States.
Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government
The government had largely failed to meet the 25 percent representation requirement for women at the state level. The government made efforts to demonstrate representation from a variety of regions and ethnic groups, although it had established no formal mechanism to achieve such a balance by year's end. The absence of a translation of the constitution into Arabic or local languages limited the ability of local and minority populations to meaningfully engage in dialogue and caused low turnout for several consultations around the country.
In June, the government accused its chief negotiator in Addis Ababa, Nhial Deng Nhial, of embezzling 750 million South Sudanese pounds (SSP) ($250 million) when he held various ministerial positions between 2008 and 2011. Although the SSACC received these forms and became responsible for monitoring compliance, no monitoring took place at the end of the year. Public access to information: No law provides for public access to government information, and the government has resisted domestic and international pressure for greater transparency, particularly in the financial sector.
The Ministry of Finance failed to investigate and report on major discrepancies between planned and actual budget expenditures since 2008. The central bank did not publish information on foreign exchange reserves or other commonly available data.
Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
For example, the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, one of the government agencies responsible for registering NGOs, routinely requisitioned assets that legally belonged to donors after the project ended. The United Nations or other international bodies: The government sometimes worked with representatives of the United Nations and other international organizations. Despite regular notifications by UNMISS to the government of these violations, by the end of the year the government had not shared with UNMISS the results of any of the investigations it undertook.
The government cooperated with the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan established on March 6 to investigate violations of. Government human rights bodies: The president appoints members of the South Sudan Human Rights Commission (SSHRC), and its mandate includes education, research, monitoring and investigation of human rights violations. The SSHRC investigates allegations of human rights violations, either on its own initiative or at the request of victims.
The commission collaborated with international human rights defenders, submitted reports and recommendations to the government and participated in a panel debate at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. In September 2013, under the auspices of the international conference in the Great Lakes Region, the government set up a national committee for The government set up several committees to investigate conflict-related human rights abuses committed by the SPLA and opposition forces.
In January, the Office of the President established a Human Rights Commission of Inquiry to gather evidence. This investigation is said to have ended in May and the report was given to the Investigative Committee for Human Rights.
Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons The transitional constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, gender,
Traditional courts usually ruled in favor of the spouse's family in most child custody cases, unless children were between the ages of three and seven. The government did not register all births immediately and the public had little knowledge of them. Education: The law provides for tuition-free primary education through eighth grade, although education was not compulsory and many children did not attend school due to the armed conflict.
Early marriage and forced marriage: The law states that every child has the right to protection against early marriage, but does not explicitly prohibit marriages before the age of 18. In other cases, families of rape victims encouraged marriage to the rapist to avoid public disgrace. The law prohibits subjecting children to negative and harmful practices that affect their health, well-being and dignity.
Child soldiers: The law prohibits the recruitment and use of children for military or paramilitary activities and prescribes penalties of up to 10 years in prison. International Child Abduction: The country is not a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The law does not specifically prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities in physical, sensory, mental and intellectual development in employment, education, air and other transport, access to medical care or provision of other state services.
Inter-ethnic clashes occurred throughout the year between Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups due to the crisis that started in 2013 (see section 1.g.). While the transitional constitution provides equal rights for members of all ethnic groups, members of the government often contributed to inter-ethnic conflicts through discriminatory rhetoric.
Worker Rights
For the kidnapping and transfer of power to a person for the purpose of illegal compulsory labor, the law prescribes a penalty of up to seven years in prison, which is severe enough to deter violations. The law for compulsory labor without aggravating circumstances prescribes a penalty of up to two years in prison, but it is not severe enough. There were reports of forced labor by men, women and children, many of whom were from Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Most of those in situations of forced labor in cattle camps and agricultural activities were family members. The law defines light work as work that does not harm the health or development of a child and does not affect the child's school attendance or ability to benefit from it. The Ministry of Labour's Child Labor Unit had only two investigators specifically trained to address child labour.
The law stipulates punishments for violating the right of the child up to six months in prison, which was not enough to deter the violations. See also the Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor at www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/findings/. Discrimination in relation to employment or occupation The law does not prohibit discrimination in relation to employment or occupation.
The Act gives the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resources the authority to issue a schedule of wage rates according to which all officials, civil servants and employees must be remunerated. According to the law, only unskilled workers are entitled to overtime pay beyond 40 hours of work per week.
