Secretary-General Appoints Major General Cammaert of Netherlands to Lead Investigation into July 2016 Violence in South Sudan, Response of United Nations Mission

The Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Major General (retired) Patrick Cammaert of the Netherlands to lead an independent special investigation into the violence in Juba, South Sudan, in July 2016, and the response of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

The investigation will review reports of incidents of attacks on civilians and cases of sexual violence that occurred within or in the vicinity of the UN House protection of civilians sites in Juba.  It will also determine the actions of UNMISS and whether the Mission responded appropriately to prevent these incidents and protect civilians within its resources and capabilities at the time.  In addition, the investigation will review the circumstances surrounding the attack on the Terrain Hotel and assess the Mission’s response.

The special investigation team will undertake a field visit to Juba to interview the relevant interlocutors.  A final report will be presented to the Secretary-General within one month, the findings of which will be made public.

Major General (retired) Cammaert recently led a Headquarters-Board of Inquiry on the circumstances of the clashes that occurred in the UNMISS protection of civilians site in Malakal, South Sudan, on 17-18 February 2016.  He previously had a distinguished military career in both the Netherlands with the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps and the United Nations, including as Force Commander in the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), as Military Adviser to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and as General Officer Commanding the Eastern Division in the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)