By Philip Buda Ladu
President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Tuesday the 5th of April 2022 launched a public consultative process on the establishment of the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing (CTRH), that is expected to go to the people to get their views on the legislation that will establish the CTRH.
In February last year, the Council of Ministers passed a resolution tasking the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to start the process of implementing chapter five of the Revitalized peace agreement that talks about transitional justice and reconciliation.
Chapter five, article 5.2.1.1 of the R-ARCSS mandates the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) to establish the CTRH as a critical part of the peace building process in South Sudan, to spearhead efforts to address the legacy of conflicts, promote peace, national reconciliation and healing.
Dr. Gabriel Isaac Awow, the Undersecretary in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs said the launching of the public consultative process was the Technical Committee taskforce formulated by the Minister of Justice to gather views on legislations for establishing the CTRH.
Dr. Isaac said the Taskforce is to oversee, advocate, commit and cooperate with the concerned institutions and stakeholders for the implementation of the above truth reconciliation and healing provision in the R-ARCSS.
The process is being supported by funding from the Kingdom of the Netherlands channeled through UNDP. There was estimated budget of 970,000 dollars half of which is said to have been secured.
“The Technical Committee has done the necessary arrangements to go to the ground for the public consultation within a period of one week, to the States and Administrative Areas and the diaspora also to Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and DRC,” Dr. Isaac affirmed.
He said the UNDP will take care of the logistical arrangements including the travel fares, accommodation and local transport.
President Salva Kiir, who officiated the launching said they have marked another milestone in the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement with the launch of the public consultations on the establishment of the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing.
“In light of the challenges we are currently facing what we need, the most is reconciliation before the next step on pursuing punitive justice. We need community healing first rather than devoting our energies on resolving specific acts of violence through criminal prosecution, we need to use reconciliation and forgiveness to eradicate the culture of impunity,” Kiir said.
The President emphasized that they should encourage the use of their indigenous processes in addressing post-conflict matters for genuine reconciliation and healing to take effect.
Kiir emphasized that the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and other institutions involved in the process need to always remember that the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing owns a critical path of the peace building process in our country.
“The CTRH must focus on solving the interest of the victims throughout its work, the final prove that would come out of this process must reflect what the victims went through. It is only after this that our country can achieve genuine reconciliation. Today (Tuesday) marks the beginning of the launch of the consultative process for the establishment of CTRH,” the President declared the launch of public consultations.
For his part Dr. Riek Machar, the First Vice President said the launching of the National Consultative process with the aim to draft legation for establishing the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing is an important moment for the country in the course of justice and reconciliation.
Dr. Machar said the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing is recognized as a critical part of peace building process as it spearheads efforts to address the legacy of conflicts, promote peace, national healing and reconciliation.
The First Vice President said the CTRH is expected to inquire into all aspects of human rights violations or abuses, breaches of the rule of law and the excessive use of force committed against all persons by the State and all none State actors.
“This commission is expected to recommend processes for full enjoyment by victims of the right to remedy. The establishment of these mechanisms deters perpetrators from violating human rights,” Dr. Machar said.
He said the agreement signed for the unification of the command of the unified forces ushers in a conducive environment for the taskforce to visit all over the country without interruptions since the unification of forces is going to be accelerated.