The African Union Peace and Security Council will meet in New York on September 26, 2015, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss South Sudan.
In a letter to the African Union (AU) chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, 38 South Sudanese and international organizations said that the meeting should be used to support the establishment of an AU commission-created hybrid court for South Sudan. The court would try grave crimes committed in the country’s recent conflict, as provided for in the August peace agreement between the parties to the conflict. The organizations also urged Dlamini Zuma to help ensure the long-awaited publication of the report by the AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan.
“An independent hybrid court could make an essential contribution for South Sudanese, who are looking for justice as part of sustainable peace following a war that has destroyed civilian towns and villages, killed thousands of civilians, displaced over 2 million people, and plunged much of the country into humanitarian crisis,” the groups said in their letter. “The AU Commission should make clear its support for the hybrid court from the outset.”
