The African Union Commission (AUC) has appointed
former President Olusegun Obasanjo to head its 5-member commission of inquiry
into the human rights abuses in the Republic of South Sudan.
The inquiry is expected to cover the over two month’s
violent period in the country. The commission has a mandated period of three months to report progress
of the situation but without a limited time to complete the assignment under
the financial support from the AU commission.
The AU chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, made the announcement on Friday in Addis Ababa.
Other members of the panel include the newly-appointed
AU Special Envoy for Women, Peace and Security, Mrs Binta Diop and Dr Pacifique
Manirakiza, a professor of International Law. Also, Ghana’s former Supreme Court Judge, Ms Justice
Sophia Akuffo, who is the President of the African Court on Human and Peoples’
Rights Arusha, Tanzania and Prof. Mahmood Mamdani of Makerere University,
Kampala, Uganda.
According to the Chairperson, the
authority was mandated to set up the commission by the Banjul AU-Peace and
Security Council declaration and the Assembly of Heads of State and Government
in December last year.
Zuma reiterated AU’s strong support
for the African mediation on South Sudan led by IGAD and commended the
Mediation Team for its sustained efforts and continued commitment in the search
for a solution to the current conflict. The UN Human Right organ had said that
more than 200,000 persons mostly women and children were killed, while over
500,000 others were displaced in the first month of violence in the oil rich
country. (NAN)
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