Systemic government corruption and brazen predation by South Sudan’s political elites have unleashed an immense human rights crisis, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan warned in a damning report released in Nairobi and Geneva on Tuesday.
The report, “Plundering a Nation: How Rampant Corruption Unleashed a Human Rights Crisis in South Sudan,” says that since independence in 2011, the country has received more than $25.2 billion in oil revenues, yet millions of South Sudanese live without access to health care, education, or clean water.
“Our report tells the story of the plundering of a nation,” said Commission Chair Yasmin Sooka. “Corruption is not incidental—it is the engine of South Sudan’s decline.
It is driving hunger, collapsing health systems, and fueling deadly conflict.”
The Commission highlights that three-quarters of child deaths are preventable, yet funds continue to be funnelled into patronage networks rather than basic services.
Civil servants, including doctors and teachers, have gone unpaid for months on end.
International donors, rather than the government, now bear the brunt of funding essential services, raising concerns about sovereignty and accountability.
South Sudan sits at the bottom of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.
Commissioner Carlos Castresana Fernández stressed the human toll: “Even as we speak, nepotism and kleptocracy in government are further entrenching. This situation is unacceptable. It sabotages peace, elections, and the survival of the population.”
The report frames corruption itself as a human rights violation under international law. South Sudan is legally bound under the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to allocate its maximum available resources toward fulfilling citizens’ rights. Instead, billions have been diverted.
“The deprivation we see on the ground—the hunger, the absence of medicine, the lack of schools—are direct outcomes of corruption,” Sooka said.
The 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement had promised fiscal reforms and accountability, but most remain unimplemented. Meanwhile, the ongoing detention of First Vice President Riek Machar since March has thrown the fragile political arrangement into crisis.
South Sudan’s fractured political landscape has made progress almost impossible. With key opposition leaders jailed or exiled, and elites securing positions for family members, the Commission warns that the very foundations of the peace process are being eroded.
The report issued 54 recommendations to the government, urging it to end impunity for corruption, strengthen accountability, and redirect spending to essential services.
“The suffering of South Sudanese civilians is a direct consequence of the brazen plundering of public revenues since independence,” Sooka concluded.
“For the transition to survive, accountability for economic crimes and an investment in human rights are indispensable.”