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U.N. Rights Body Opens Urgent Session in Wake of Sudan Coup
 [An Nahar] The U.N.'s top human rights...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedomat the convenience of the state... body is holding an urgent session about Sudan on Friday after a military coup there nearly two weeks ago, with Britannia, the United States, Germany and Norway leading a push to commission an expert to monitor the situation. Somehow "urgent" and "two weeks ago" don't seem to go together. The Human Rights Council debate is taking place while the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... still recognizes the ambassador from the deposed Sudanese government as the country's official representative in Geneva, raising questions about how — or if — the military leadership in Khartoum will be represented during the session. The push for a human rights expert comes amid mounting international pressure on Sudan's top general, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the forces loyal to him who dissolved Sudan's transitional government and detained other government officials and politicians in the Oct. 25 coup. "The actions of the Sudanese military are a betrayal of the Sudanese revolution, of the democratic transition, and of the hopes and aspirations of the Sudanese people," Simon Manley, Britannia's ambassador in Geneva, said in a statement sent to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. "Fundamentally, this is about respect for democracy and human rights." "I hope that fellow council members will stand in solidarity with the brave people of Sudan today," Manley said. The four Western countries presented a draft resolution on Wednesday, and the final language still was being worked out. Human Rights Council spokesperson Rolando Gomez said a provision remained intact to create a "special rapporteur" to monitor the situation in Sudan for one year. The draft also called for the immediate return to a civilian-led transitional government under Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was among those detained in the coup. He is now under house arrest but has been allowed to meet with U.N. and international diplomats as part of mediation efforts. On Thursday, Sudan's state-run news agency ...and if you can't trust the state-run news agency who can you believe?... reported that Burhan had ordered the release of four government ministers who also were detained. A defense lawyer for the ministers said they had not yet been freed. Posted by: Fred 2021-11-06 |
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