UN human rights experts to visit South Sudan

The UN Commission of Human Rights in South Sudan today begins a 19-day mission to South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda, during which it will meet political and community leaders, refugees and internally displaced people as well as members of the international community regarding the human rights situation in South Sudan.

The three Commissioners were mandated by the UN Human Rights Council in March this year to monitor and report on the human rights situation in South Sudan, to establish a factual basis for transitional justice and to provide guidance to the Transitional Government of National Unity of South Sudan on transitional justice.

During their mission to South Sudan, the Commissioners, Yasmin Sooka, Ken Scott and Godfrey Musila, are scheduled to meet a number of ministers, parliamentarians, police, judicial officers, military officials and they have requested a meeting with President Salva Kiir. They will also conduct a number of visits to camps in Juba and Bentiu. Prior to their departure from South Sudan, the Commissioners will hold a press conference on Thursday, 15 September 2016 at 10h00 in the conference room at UNMISS Tomping in Juba.

The Commissioners will then visit Addis Ababa, where they will meet leaders of the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) as well as other members of the international community and civil society. They will then proceed to Kampala and Adjumani in Uganda, to visit the refugee settlements there housing South Sudanese refugees.

The Commission is scheduled to present a comprehensive written report to the Human Rights Council at its 34th regular session in March 2017.