UN human rights chief to visit South Sudan

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay will visit South Sudan from Monday to Tuesday to discuss the worsening human rights situation in the war-torn country.

Pillay's office said in a statement Monday that she plans to meet South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, senior government officials as well as key actors such as the National Human Rights Commission, Xinhua reported.

During the visit, Pillay will attempt to meet or talk with opposition leaders either in South Sudan itself or in Addis Ababa, where she also plans to meet senior officials involved in the South Sudan peace process.

According to the statement, the UN human rights chief will be joined by the UN secretary-general's special advisor on the prevention of genocide, Adama Dieng, who is visiting South Sudan at the same time.

If security conditions permit, Pillay will travel to sites where recent grave human rights violations have occurred to assess the human rights situation and talk to victims.

Over the past two months, thousands of people are believed to have been killed in fighting that began in mid-December as a result of political disputes between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy president Riek Machar.

More than 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the fighting began. Another 250,000 have sought refuge in Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and neighbouring Sudan.