Solutions through dialogue best way forward, says UN
With the South’s independence only days away, Kyung-Wha Kang stressed the role of human rights in the future South Sudan and directly addressed the current escalation of the north-south conflict.
South Sudan can not be at genuine peace when some transitional areas are within the conflict.”
South Sudan can not be at genuine peace when some transitional areas are within the conflict,” Kang said during a lecture at Juba University. Both sides must be urged to take a step back and seek solutions through dialogue.”
South Sudan, with genuine and consistent assistance from the international community, must take a crucial step as an independent state to demonstrate its commitment to peace and democracy,” she added.
Having fought decades for independence that was finally clinched in a referendum six months ago, the stakes for the Republic of South Sudan are high as it sets a course riddled with obstacles but paved with high expectations.
The new nation's commitment, said Kang, must be based on the values of equal rights and human dignity for all the people without discrimination.”
Kyung-Wha Kang with displaced civilians in Zazam, an IDP camp in El Fasher. Photo by: OHCR Photo / Scott CampbellIn light of Southern Sudan’s prevailing poverty and discrimination against women, she emphasised that women’s economic and social rights should be top priorities, along with universal access to education.
During her two-day visit to Juba, Kang also met with high-ranking officials, including the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, as well as Commissioners of the Southern Sudan Human Rights Commission, to discuss the integration of human rights into state-building efforts from the ground up.
Challenges on the human rights front are numerous. Studies suggest at least one in every three women in Southern Sudan has beaten, coerced into sex, denied her rights, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
Elsewhere, Juba University students who wished to remain anonymous said Southern Sudanese citizens face human rights violations on a daily basis. Security personnel sometimes beat people on the street for no apparent reason, they said, and detain citizens without a trial.
Read Kang's full press statement
Kang’s first visit to Sudan is aimed at raising the visibility of human rights in the country and supporting the human rights work of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), the UN-African Union joint mission in Darfur, and other human rights partners.
I think we have to ensure that human rights are protected,” said Aggrey Abate, Juba University’s Vice Chancellor, and that everything is being done to guarantee human rights for everybody as stipulated in the constitution.”
Abate said the government has already set up institutions to guarantee that the rule of law is practiced and to ensure that human rights violators are brought to justice.
