UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday signed a deal with the new government of Sudan to open a Human Rights Office in the capital of Khartoum. In addition to the capital office, there will be four field offices in Darfur, Blue Nile, Southern Kordofan and East Sudan to safeguard human rights.
Former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by his generals in April. The military council and opposition groups are sharing power for the next three years leading up to elections for a “full civilian government.” The UN office hopes to support this transition by strengthening the opening of democratic and civic space.
The power sharing deal has been welcomed by Bachelet, who stated, “The Constitutional document … contains many positive commitments to human rights, including the bill of rights and a commitment to work with my Office. I note also the establishment of an independent national investigation committee to investigate the repression of peaceful protestors.”
Bachelet continued, “I look forward to working with Sudan to build on the momentum of the remarkable gains of the past few months and ensure that they are firmly entrenched and irreversible.”