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Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

ADDIS ABABA. — The African Union yesterday announced the team for the Commission of Enquiry mandated to investigate human rights violations and other abuses committed during the armed conflict in South Sudan.Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission, told reporters at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that the commission comprises five members from different categories.

The chairperson said the AU Peace and Security Council meeting held at the level of heads of state in December 2013 in the Gambian capital Banjul requested the AU Commission to establish the commission of inquiry.

“We were requested by the summit of Peace and Security that took place in Banjul to establish a commission of inquiry working together with the Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” she said.

“We now are at the stage where we can say that we have put a team together that is going to work on this and we have put a terms of reference,” Dlamini-Zuma added.

On the mandate of the commission, the chairperson quoted the decision of the summit as saying, “To investigate the human rights violation and other abuses committed during the armed conflict in South Sudan and make recommendations on the best ways and means to ensure accountability, reconciliation and healing among all South Sudanese communities.”

According to the chairperson, former president Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria will head the five-member commission.

“I have held consultations and now indeed we have come to the point where we think that we are ready to execute the Banjul decision of our heads of state and government and I will then announce the names of the team that constitutes this South Sudan Commission of Enquiry,” she declared. — Xinhua.