Citizens’ perceptions on transitional justice processes in South Sudan

The report finds that South Sudanese citizens have very low awareness of the transitional justice mechanisms outlined in the 2015 peace agreement, with many viewing transitional justice through the lens of either customary law or retributive justice. While 60% of respondents prioritize the Commission for Truth Reconciliation and Healing (CTRH), there is significant skepticism regarding the political will of the government to implement these processes, as many current leaders were involved in the violations. The study highlights a tension between the government's narrative that judicial accountability is a foreign agenda and the victims' desire for justice, while recommending a more inclusive, victim-centered, and gender-sensitive approach to implementation.

• Public awareness and understanding of the transitional justice mechanisms mandated by the 2015 peace agreement are very low among ordinary citizens. Understanding is often subjective, based on personal experiences with customary justice systems or statutory courts rather than the formal peace agreement.
• There is a clear preference among respondents for non-judicial mechanisms over judicial ones, with 60% prioritizing the Commission for Truth Reconciliation and Healing (CTRH), compared to 49% for the Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS) and 7% for the Compensation and Reparation Authority (CRA).
• The South Sudanese government promotes a narrative that the Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS) is an externally driven, retributive process intended to facilitate regime change, which has limited the space for civil society to advocate for judicial accountability.
• Implementation of transitional justice is severely hindered by a lack of political will, as the political and military leaders currently in power are often the same individuals responsible for the human rights violations that the processes are intended to investigate.
• The national judiciary is perceived as compromised, underfunded, and susceptible to executive influence, with citizens reporting bribery, intimidation, and a fear of reprisal when seeking justice through statutory courts.
• Victims of human rights violations are largely absent from the transitional justice agenda due to fear of reprisals and a lack of victim-centered programming, often feeling isolated even from the international organizations advocating on their behalf.

APA

Ngari, A., & Kolok, J. D. (2019). Citizens’ perceptions on transitional justice processes in South Sudan. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ear-29.pdf

Chicago

Ngari, Allan, and Jame David Kolok. Citizens’ perceptions on transitional justice processes in South Sudan. Institute for Security Studies, 2019. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ear-29.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ngari |first1=Allan |last2=Kolok |first2=Jame David |title=Citizens’ perceptions on transitional justice processes in South Sudan |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=November 2019 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ear-29.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ngari2019citizens, author = {Ngari, Allan and Kolok, Jame David}, title = {{Citizens’ perceptions on transitional justice processes in South Sudan}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ear-29.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }