S. Sudan fails to secure seat on Human Rights Council

November 15, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan has lost its bid to win a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) following a vote on Tuesday.

The young nation was one of the five African nations contesting for four regional seats, eventually won by South Africa, Morocco, Algeria and Namibia.

The council is an inter-governmental body within the UN structure, with a membership of 47 countries. It is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.

At least 14 local and international entities had, prior to the elections, raised alarm over abuses allegedly committed with impunity against civil population, human rights defenders and journalists by South Sudan army (SPLA) and security forces.

In a letter addressed to president Salva Kiir, the agency said South Sudan should “demonstrate its commitment to protection and promotion of human rights”, in order to boost its bid for a seat at the council.

“Across South Sudan, National Security Services (NSS) officers and other security forces have unlawfully harassed, arrested and detained journalists, leading to self-censorship and a chilling effect in the media,” the letter read in part.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011 after an overwhelming vote for secession in a referendum that was part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended over two decades of the North-South Sudan civil war.

Since then, however, the new nation’s leadership has been in the spotlight for restricting journalists and threatening human rights advocates, practices it labeled against Khartoum during the conflict.

Last year’s killing of civilians during the peaceful protests in Wau, the Western Bahr el Ghazal capital, abuses allegedly commitment by the SPLA in Jonglei’s Pibor and the murder of renowned political commentator, Isaiah Abraham in the country’s capital, Juba were some of the key concerns raised by the activists.

Had it been elected, South Sudan would work with other countries to monitor human rights globally as part of its mandate at the world rights body.

(ST).