Senior UN human rights official to visit South Sudan from 1 to 6 February

NEW YORK/JUBA/GENEVA (30 January 2015) – The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Simonovic, will visit South Sudan from 1 to 6 February to assess the human rights situation in the country.

During his visit, Simonovic will seek updates on progress in investigations of human rights violations committed since the resumption of fighting in December 2013 that have resulted in the killing of thousands of civilians and internal displacement of over a million people. He will also discuss ways to prevent future violations.

Simonovic is scheduled to meet with a number of government officials as well as civil society actors in Juba, South Sudan’s capital. He is also scheduled to visit Bentiu, Malakal and Rumbek.

This is Simonovic’s second visit to South Sudan. He first visited in January 2014.

ENDS

Ivan Simonovic assumed his functions as UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights on 17 July 2010. He heads the New York Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

UN Human Rights page on South Sudan: http://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/south-sudan

Learn more about the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: http://www.ohchr.org

For more details please contact:
In Juba: Ariane Quentier, quentier@un.org,+211 912 177 770
In New York: André-Michel Essoungou, essoungou@un.org, +1 917 367 9995
In Geneva: Ravina Shamdasani, rshamdasani@ohchr.org, +41 22 917 9169

UN Human Rights, follow us on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unitednationshumanrights
Twitter: http://twitter.com/UNrightswire
Google+ gplus.to/unitednationshumanrights   
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/UNOHCHR
Storify: http://storify.com/UNrightswire