The Canadian government has welcomed the ceasefire agreement signed by South Sudanese leaders on Friday, while also calling for ‘full accountability for atrocities’ that have been committed since December. 

In a statement issued Sunday, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said, “Canada welcomes this agreement and calls on military commanders in the field to immediately refrain from any and all armed action.”

“We urge the leadership of both sides to make every effort to facilitate the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian assistance to the people of South Sudan and to create security conditions that will give people confidence to plant their crops before it is too late,” added Baird.

The Canadian government has previously been involved in South Sudan in support security reform, in particular prisons reform, as well as demining initiatives, and it deployed police and military officers as part of UNMISS.

Endorsement of human rights report

Baird’s statement makes him probably the first foreign minister to openly back the recommendations of the UNMISS Human Rights Division report published on 8 May.

“Canada also fully endorses last week’s report on recent human rights violations, produced by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan,” he said.

The UNMISS human rights report argued that the measures announced by the South Sudanese government so far to address human rights violations “do not meet the minimum requirements of accountability demanded by international human rights law.”

For example, the SPLA General Court Martial ordered on 23 January 2014 to investigate crimes committed in Juba in mid-December has reportedly not even convened.

UNMISS suggested that the South Sudanese judiciary does not have the capacity to address serious crimes committed on a large scale. The mission therefore recommended establishing a special or hybrid court with international involvement.

The report also recommended consideration of international assistance to pursue criminal investigations. “By working side-by-side with South Sudanese institutions and experts, the confidence and the capacity of national institutions would be enhanced and real accountability could be achieved,” UNMISS suggested.

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird stressed, “There can be no lasting peace settlement or reconciliation in South Sudan without accountability.”