UN Human Rights Chief To Assess South Sudan Situation
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay yesterday arrived in South Sudan to familiarize herself with the human rights situation in the country.
Navanethem Pillay addressing a past conference [©icj-usa]
By Waakhe Simon Wudu
JUBA, 9th May 2012 [Gurtong]
Pillay met a number of senior government officials including the Minister of Foreign Affairs to discuss concerns about the protection of civilians amid recent hostilities that have periodically flared up along the Sudan and South Sudan border.
"I’m in South Sudan to access the human rights situation and to see in what concrete way the United Nations office can be helpful to the government,” Pillay told the press yesterday after meeting the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“Since there are good intentions to protect and promote human rights in South Sudan, the United Nations is ready to help the government and the civil society to be strengthened," she added.
Her visit will also discuss other disputes between Sudan and South Sudan that have already had an impact on the security and well-being of civilian populations on both sides of the border and a range of other human rights issues including the inter-communal violence within South Sudan, especially in Jonglei State as well as economic and social issues arising from decades of conflict and underdevelopment.
The Commissioner’s visit follows military conflicts that broke out between the two countries leaving civilians dead and thousands displaced.