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Sudan Tribune

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UN trains Unity state officials on human rights protection

November 25, 2013 (BENTIU) – The United Nations has provided human rights training to the commissioners and heads of police in Unity state’s seven counties in an efforst to protect citizens from human rights abuses.

During the training, the human rights section of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in collaboration with the government’s Human Rights Commission have emphasised the importance of respecting human rights laws.

Unity state’s deputy governor Mabek Lang De Mading, while addressing officials at event organised by the UN’s headquarters in the state capital in Bentiu town, said the forum was the first step in a dialogue to bring different groups and county commissioners to understand their role as the protectors of human rights.

South Sudan, he said, had experienced decades civil war with the Sudanese government – leading to independence from Khartoum in 2011 – which has set back the advancement of human rights in the region.

Human rights must be the top priority of the government, which is run by the political wing of the former rebel movement that fought the Sudanese army from 1983 until a 2005 peace deal, in order for South Sudan to have a better image in the world.

“Human rights must be respected so that you will be a clean state” and a “clean county” that will deserve to be recognised and accepted internationally, he advised.

“You will be assisted whenever there is something that you require so I think with this training we will see our state to be peaceful.”

Peter Dak Khan, the Mayom County commissioner, says that the participants learned about their own weaknesses in terms of ensuring human rights are protected.

The inclusion of county commissioners and police officers will help to correct previous mistakes, he said.

“I think [human rights protection] will improve a lot because the commissioners of the nine counties, the deputy commissioners and the police inspector of nine counties participated in the workshop, so we identify areas that actually violate human rights. I believe we will try our best to correct these.”

Deputy governor De Mading warned county commissioners to learn form the recent deadly clashes triggered by a land ownership dispute between Jikany and Leek sections of the Nuer community.

The South Sudanese government will not tolerant any cases of human rights violation, Unity state’s deputy governor said.

“People killing themselves in the part of the state like what happen last Wednesday is not a something that can be forgiven in our daily life because [there is] no need for unaccountable death without reason.”

He added that instead of focusing on internal border issues, South Sudanese should focus on the need to resolve disputed areas along the un-demarcated international border with Sudan.

(ST)

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