UN human rights expert group to visit South Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia

Members of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan will undertake their second field mission to South Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia from 21 November to 7 December 2016.

The three Commissioners*, who will be in South Sudan for 10 days, will meet Government officials including key ministers, members of civil society, religious leaders, diplomats and UN agencies to discuss the current human rights situation in the country. They have also requested meetings with the President, the two Vice Presidents of South Sudan, the Chief Justice and members of the Judiciary as well as the Chief of General Staff of the South Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA). They will visit UN compounds across the country, where internally displaced people are housed, to meet the people living there, community leaders and civil society organisations.

The Commissioners will hold a news conference on Tuesday 29 November 2016 at 10h00 at the UNMISS conference room in Tomping, Juba.

The Commissioners will then visit Ethiopia and Kenya, where they are expected to engage with African Union leaders, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), senior UN officials, as well as other members of the international community and civil society. In Ethiopia, the Commissioners plan to visit Gambella refugee camp to meet South Sudanese refugees.

The Commission is mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the human rights situation in South Sudan and provide guidance to the Transitional Government of National Unity of South Sudan on transitional justice and accountability. The Commission will present its report to the Human Rights Council in March 2017.

*The Commissioners are: Yasmin Sooka (Chairperson), Kenneth Scott and Godfrey Musila.