The Constitution of South Sudan describes the country as "a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-racial entity where such diversities peacefully coexist".
In the government's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA)'s anti-insurgency campaign to disarm rebellions among the Shilluk and Murle, they burned scores of villages, raped hundreds of women and girls and killed an untold number of civilians.
[2] Human Rights Watch alleges that both the SPLA and the rebel group led by Johnson Olony were responsible for atrocities.
[4] Beginning in March 2012, security forces executed a disarmament campaign called "Operation Restore Peace" among the Murle people in Jonglei state.
Amnesty International researchers claim these security forces committed widespread torture against civilians, including children as young as 18 months.
[5] A Human Rights Watch report describes how the SPLA allegedly burned and looted homes, destroyed schools, churches, and the compounds of aid agencies providing life-saving assistance.
It accused the army and allied militias as allowing fighters to rape women as form of payment, as well as raid cattle in an agreement of "do what you can, take what you can.
[16] On 23 September 2020, the Amnesty International stated that serious human rights violations continued even after the formation of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity.
Kiir used his broad powers, which include the inability to be impeached and the authority to fire governors and dissolve parliament, to dismiss his entire cabinet and vice president Riek Machar in 2013.
According to Amnesty International, the government has failed to guarantee due process and fair trials, and it has also arbitrarily arrested and detained people without ensuring their right to legal counsel.
[24] Many women in South Sudan are living "without basic forms of human security, health care or economic stability".
Prolonged conflict in the region leads to greater gender-based violence, such as "disruption of community and family structures, presence of arms, weakened legal and security institutions, and heightened tensions related to displacement".
[26] A UN survey found that 70% of women who were sheltering in camps had been raped since the beginning of the conflict, with the vast majority of rapists being police and soldiers.
[29] The government of South Sudan has made efforts to eliminate child labor and promote children's rights, but their attempts have been largely ineffective.
[31] According to the United States Department of Labor, despite the Constitution and Child Act's provisions of free primary education, parents usually end up having to pay the salaries of their children's teachers, which is often a prohibitive cost for families.
[32] This is due to widespread cultural views that marrying early is in the best interest of girls, since it allows families to access resources that are traditionally paid in the dowry.
[35] It also reinforces poverty and strains ethnic relations, "leading to ethnic-based competition over limited resources and political offices.
[35] The domestic law of South Sudan forbids hate speech and punishes incitement to violence with 1 to 20 years of imprisonment.
[36] A UNMISS report states that "[widespread] stereotyping, the creation and use of 'enemy' images, [and] hate speech amounting to incitement to violence have also exacerbated the conflicts.
[37] In 2022, the majority of the South Sudanese population is Christian (60.5%), with a larger number of followers of animist religions (33%); there is also a sizeable Muslim minority (6%).