South Sudan: Green Book Law Sparks Human Rights Concerns

Rumbek, South Sudan — "Officials are fostering injustice and marginalisation." A controversial law that treats harsh punishment as a remedy for insecurity in two South Sudanese states has failed to stem conflict and led to a spate of human rights abuses, according to activists and local community leaders. The so-called Green Book legislation was passed by lawmakers in Lakes state in 2022 and Warrap state in 2024, authorising execution by firing squad for offences including cattle raiding, murder, forced marriage, rape, and kidnapping. Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines The law gained some grassroots support as the two states experienced particularly high levels of violence in recent years. Advocates argue that it has successfully targeted criminals and contributed to drops in violent crime at different periods. Critics, however, say the law violates constitutional guarantees of fair trial, legal representation, and the presumption of innocence, while doing little to address key drivers of conflict between and within communities. UN human rights investigators have documented extrajudicial killings over minor offences, while activists say the law is applied unfairly, with people who have connections to political leaders sometimes escaping punishment. "When you look at the implementation of the Green Book, it is too selective," said Daniel Laat Kon of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), a civil society group. "There are some people that are being exempted when they have committed a crime." South Sudan has experienced high levels of conflict since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011. The worst violence occurred during a civil war between 2013 and 2018 that cost an estimated 400,000 lives. A post-conflict period followed a peace deal and unity government involving the ruling SPLM and opposition SPLM-IO. But local militias and self-defence groups were neglected by the peace process, and continued to fight in many parts of the country. Now, the peace deal is unravelling and civil war is returning, all while localised conflict continues to flare. Caught in the violence, many are desperate for something that might stop the bloodshed, even when it means sacrificing basic rights. "When this law was made, it was made... out of anger," Kon told The New Humanitarian. "It was not made because the people need it, but there was no alternative for them." Lakes and Warrap are neighbouring states in central and northern parts of South Sudan. Community leaders there described conflicts over land boundaries and theft of cattle as some of the primary threats affecting their communities. Just last month, for example, at least 60 people were killed and 50 injured in Tonj North county in Warrap state, after a mobilisation of armed youth . It was one of the deadliest incidents of localised violence this year in South Sudan. Kon said cycles of cattle raiding, revenge killings, and mass displacement have become so severe in recent years that many affected people decided to support a law that could protect them, "no matter how bad it was". Yet Juol Nhomngek, a former parliamentarian and member of the SPLM-IO, said local politicians have used the Green Book legislation "from the beginning" to settle scores and entrench their power. He said that officials in Warrap have removed community leaders who criticised the authorities, while in Lakes, those who opposed commissioners or the governor were similarly removed and opposition members arrested. "The law has been abused against chiefs who have been questioning the authorities," Nhomngek said. "[It has] given the executive overwhelming powers to make sure that they can do anything they wish without any accountability." Kon said the law's selective application has encouraged further crime. "If people who have committed heinous crimes are seen having a relationship with authority, or they have used their money to go free, then other people will do the same