Professor Andrew Clapham Will Serve on the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan

Portrait of Professor Andrew Clapham Portrait of Professor Andrew Clapham

25 September 2017

The President of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), Ambassador Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli, appointed Professor Andrew Clapham to serve as a member of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan charged with monitoring and assessing the human rights situation in the country.

He will join Ms Yasmin Sooka, a leading human rights lawyer and the Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa, and Dr Godfrey M. Musila, legal consultant in the areas of human rights, transitional justice and the rule of law and formerly director of Kenyan Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC).

Professor Clapham is an expert in international law, international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and has published widely on these issues. His current research focuses on the role of non-state actors in international law and related questions in human rights and humanitarian law. He is the former Director of the Geneva Academy and teaches in our LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.

‘I am honored to have been asked to join this important UN Human Rights Council Commission to see how best to address the challenging human rights situation in South Sudan. I look forward to going to the country and learning firsthand about the situation there so that the Commission can report and make recommendations on how to improve the situation’ underlines Professor Clapham.

About the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan

The HRC established the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan in March 2016 to monitor and report on the human rights situation in South Sudan and to make recommendations on transitional justice and accountability.

The Commission is scheduled to submit its second report to the HRC in March 2018.

The Situation in South Sudan

In its first report to the HRC, the Commission noted that the ‘conduct of the Government of South Sudan and of other parties to the conflict suggests the deliberate targeting of civilian populations on the basis of their ethnic identity by means of killings, abductions, unlawful detentions or deprivation of liberty, rape and sexual violence, and the burning of villages and looting’.

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

IHL in Focus Spot Report News

Spot Report – Water Crisis in War and Under Occupation: Current Israeli Policy and Practice in Occupied Palestinian Territory Under International Humanitarian Law

16 June 2025

The Geneva Academy has published a new spot report analysing Israeli policy and practice relating to water in the Occupied Palestinian Territory through the lens of IHL.

Read more

Human Rights Tiles News

From Signals to Action: Strengthening the UN's Conflict Prevention Efforts

31 March 2025

Our recent research brief series explores how the United Nations' human rights system can enhance its role in early warning and conflict prevention.

Read more

Special Rapporteur Sign Event

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in an Era of Escalating Armed Conflict: Where Can International Human Rights Law Help?

25 September 2025, 18:30-20:00

This evening dialogue will present the publication: International Human Rights Law: A Treatise, Cambridge University Press (2025).

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

Read more

Town Hall Meeting Training

Localizing International Human Rights

8-10 October 2025

This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.

Read more

Panel Discussion: Project

Treaty Body Members’ Platform

Started in January 2014

The Treaty Body Members’ Platform connects experts in UN treaty bodies with each other as well as with Geneva-based practitioners, academics and diplomats to share expertise, exchange views on topical questions and develop synergies.

Read more

A session of the UN Human Rights Council Project

IHL Expert Pool

Started in January 2022

The IHL-EP works to strengthen the capacity of human rights mechanisms to incorporate IHL into their work in an efficacious and comprehensive manner. By so doing, it aims to address the normative and practical challenges that human rights bodies encounter when dealing with cases in which IHL applies.

Read more

Cover of the 2023 Geneva Academy Annual Report Publication

Annual Report 2024

published on July 2025

Read more