It is too early for South Sudan to join the UN Human Rights Commission because the country is too young and has many rights issues to address.
This is the view activist and radio personality Isaac Kenyi Kungur shared with CRN
Mr Kenyi was commenting on South Sudan’s bid to be elected for the 47-member UN Human Rights Council on November 12.
He said South Sudan first should improve its image as a law abiding nation by respecting the dignity of persons expressed in the UN and African Union charters.
Mr Kenyi said the country’s leadership is highly militarized and it needs to be trained and transformed in order to understand the issues of human rights.
The activist said civil society plays a very important role on checks and balances on human rights issues.
Mr Kenyi lamented that many activists are being employed by the Government due to lack of qualified personnel and cannot be human rights watchdogs.
South Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Namibia and South Africa are candidates to fill four vacancies in the 13-strong African Group at the UN Human Rights Council, based at the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland.