UN Human Rights Commissioner Concludes Sudan Visit
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk’s official visit to Sudan will conclude today.
In his first official country visit as UN Human Rights Chief, Turk met with Sudanese high-level officials including General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, President of the Transitional Sovereign Council. He also met with regional officials, representatives of UN bodies, and a number of civil society groups. The visit comes amid increased police brutality in the country following last year’s military coup.
Thousands of Sudanese Islamists sympathetic to the ruling military junta and opposed to the UN’s mediation efforts between the junta and civilian leaders protested Turk’s arrival, speaking out against foreign intervention. Continued government crackdowns on pro-democracy demonstrations across the country have contributed to a deterioration in the human rights in the country. Earlier this year, ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan visited Sudan to maintain momentum on the investigation of Bashir’s genocide of African minorities in Darfur.
Turk’s visit is unlikely to change the Sudan’s current political stalemate, as the junta is unlikely to support a total transition to civilian-led government. The junta has continued efforts at consolidating through political coalitions with other armed groups.
