The (Unfinished Story of the) Hybrid Court for South Sudan

The Republic of South Sudan is the newest sovereign state in the world. It was created in record time in the summer of 2011 and it was also in record time that it was admitted to membership in the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU). Unfortunately, soon after gaining independence, South Soudan met the fate that so many other African states have experienced upon gaining independence, namely hostilities between government forces and opposition forces, coups d’état, and ethnic tensions (unavoidable in Africa) leading to civil wars with an enormous human toll. Given that the civil war in South Soudan lasted from December 2013 until February 2020, the history of this country has been intricately linked to the perpetration of atrocious crimes on a large scale, including the alleged used of starvation as a tactic for collective punishment of population groups, sexual violence, the use of children as soldiers, etc. While in the past impunity of those accused of committing atrocities was the order of the day, in more recent times Africa has made strides in ensuring that alleged perpetrators will be brought to trial and, if found guilty, punished. This brief article will examine the establishment of a court of justice with criminal jurisdiction to determine culpability in the South Sudanese Civil War. This judicial institution, if and when it becomes operative, will be the Hybrid Court for South Sudan.