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Mr. President,
Norway commends the signing of the Revitalized Peace Agreement. We call upon all parties to cooperate fully in the implementation of the Agreement.
Norway appreciates the efforts by the Government of South Sudan to assist the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan in the fulfilment of its mandate.
The Commission’s work is vital in order to ensure accountability and to bring perpetrators to justice. We strongly urge the Government of South Sudan to support the extension of the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.
Norway is deeply concerned by the numbers of grave human rights violations and abuses in South Sudan. The report of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has documented serious violations by all parties to the conflict, including targeted killing of civilians, and conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence.
We call upon all parties to stop human rights abuses, and remind the Government of South Sudan that it has the primary responsibility to protect all of its population from violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. We urge the Government of South Sudan to investigate all violations and human rights abuses, ensure accountability, and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in South Sudan.
We welcome South Sudan’s accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, but remain concerned by the reporting on ongoing recruitment of children to armed groups. Norway urges all parties to immediately cease this practice and release all children that have been unlawfully recruited to date.
Thank you.