RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOUTH SUDAN:
Uphold the commitment to demobilize all child soldiers and provide resources for demobilization programs; punish military officials found to be in violation of laws related to recruitment, use, and exploitation of children; increase efforts to investigate suspected human trafficking cases, prosecute trafficking offenses, and convict and punish trafficking offenders, including complicit government officials, using existing laws; establish and implement procedures to prevent prosecution of trafficking victims for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking; launch a public awareness campaign to educate government officials and the general public on all forms of human trafficking; train law enforcement and judicial officials to recognize trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, particularly individuals in prostitution and children in street vending, construction, or domestic service; work with NGOs to develop an inventory of service providers, and train government officials on procedures to refer victims to these organizations to receive care; ensure unimpeded access to all military barracks for monitoring missions to identify and remove any children; enact the draft labor act to ensure adequate prohibitions of forced labor; form an interagency committee to develop and implement a national anti-trafficking policy; and accede to the 2000 UN TIP Protocol.

PROSECUTION
The government made minimal anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts, but did not investigate or prosecute any government officials complicit in trafficking. South Sudanese law does not prohibit all forms of trafficking. South Sudan’s Penal Code Act of 2008 (Article 282) prescribes a sufficiently stringent punishment of up to seven years’ imprisonment for the sale of a person across international borders. The Penal Code Act also prohibits and prescribes punishments of up to seven years’ imprisonment for abduction (Article 278) and transfer of control over a person (Article 279) for the purpose of unlawful compulsory labor; the prescribed punishment of up to two years’ imprisonment for compulsory labor without aggravating circumstances is not sufficiently stringent. Article 276 criminalizes buying or selling a child for the purpose of prostitution and prescribes a punishment of up to 14 years’ imprisonment, which is sufficiently stringent and commensurate with those prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. Punishments prescribed in Article 254 for procuring a child (up to 10 years’ imprisonment) or an adult (up to two years’ imprisonment) for the purposes of prostitution are not commensurate with those for rape. Article 258 prescribes punishments of up to 10 years’ imprisonment for parents or guardians who cause or allow their child to be involved in the sex trade. South Sudan’s Child Act of 2008 prohibits the recruitment and use of children for military or paramilitary activities, and prescribes punishments of up to 10 years’ imprisonment for such crimes.
Some government officials, including members of the SPLA, SSNPS, and National Wildlife Service were reportedly complicit

in trafficking offenses.The government made no efforts during the reporting period to address government complicity by investigating and prosecuting those who committed such crimes and has never formally issued a punishment for the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Although the SPLA issued orders in June 2014, making division commanders responsible for ensuring their divisions were not recruiting or using child soldiers, there is no evidence this led to decreased impunity in the recruitment and use of child soldiers. The government reported there is now an active directorate for child protection, headed by a brigadier general, responsible for investigating allegations of child soldiering.
The government reported its investigation of five suspects; it did not identify whether the cases pertained to sex or labor trafficking. Capacity of law enforcement officers in most regions of the country remained limited, and courts often lacked adequate human and physical resources to investigate and prosecute crimes, including human trafficking. Pervasive corruption in the judicial sector, including the use of intimidation and bribery, previously hindered prosecutions of traffickers. The government did not provide specialized anti-trafficking training to law enforcement officers or judicial officials during the year, and officers continued to have little or no awareness of South Sudan’s laws prohibiting human trafficking.The national legislature did not pass the omnibus labor act, which was drafted by the Ministry of Labor in 2009 to provide further protections against forced labor.

PROTECTION
The government did not protect trafficking victims and, at times, law enforcement efforts were harmful to victims. Although the government reportedly identified five victims, including two children, it did not transfer identified victims to receive care from either the government or civil society organizations. Law enforcement continued to indiscriminately arrest individuals in prostitution, including trafficking victims, as there was no process to distinguish or identify potential victims among these or other vulnerable populations. UN agencies and NGOs provided temporary shelter to child soldiers demobilized by the government in partnership with an international organization, but the government did not provide financial or other support to these organizations.
Demobilization of children within the SSDA-CF, in partnership with UNICEF, began in January 2015 with 549 children ranging from 11-17 years of age released by mid-February.The demobilization plans stipulated a monetary incentive in the form of one-time financial assistance of 700 South Sudanese Pounds ($237) to help former child soldiers find work and safety after leaving the SPLA; however, due to the economic crisis in South Sudan the funds were often unavailable, which slowed the pace of demobilization.
The Ministry of Gender, Child, and Social Welfare (MOGSW), with support from international donors, operated a children’s shelter that could be used to shelter trafficking victims; however, the shelter was not equipped to handle trafficking cases, had limited space and resources, and has not provided shelter to any trafficking victims since independence in 2012.There were no specialized services available for male, female, or foreign trafficking victims or for any victims outside Juba. Front-line officers failed to remove potential and identified victims from exploitative situations. Social stigma and justified fears of punitive law enforcement actions discouraged victims, particularly sex trafficking victims, from communicating with law enforcement authorities.There were no laws or policies in place to protect victims from prosecution for crimes committed

as a direct result of being subjected to trafficking.The government did not encourage victims’ assistance in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking crimes or provide legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries where they would face hardship or retribution. In previous years, the government arrested foreign victims for lack of proper documentation, and police and SPLA soldiers reportedly raped child sex trafficking victims and female child soldiers, though it is unknown if this continued during the reporting period.