[Editor’s note: We’re pleased to feature another special contribution from Huda Seif-Gerard, a scholar and human rights activist currently based in Brussels. Between January 2008 and February 2010, she served as Political Advisor for the European Union Special Representative (EUSR) for Sudan. In 2006-2007, she also served as Governance and Gender Advisor with UNDP’s Rule of Law in Sudan. Previously she taught at George Mason University and University of Mary Washington in Virginia, USA and worked with the UN in Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia and Zimbabwe.] Now that the referendum process in South Sudan has been concluded and the United Nations has endorsed the legality of the “Yes” vote for independence from the North, it is timely to address some key political realities and human rights concerns, both of which are relevant under international law. The international community needs to be cognizant of these issues and ready to tackle their ramifications when they emerge as post-referendum challenges to 1) peace and security issues in the region and 2) economically viable co-existence between the two Sudanese states. By ensuring the people of South Sudan the right to self determination hence a complete separation for Khartoum by mid 2011, the January 2011 Referendum represented one of the major rudiments of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the Sudanese Government and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army.