UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters yesterday that the heads of UNMIS and UNAMID, Haile Menkerio and Ibrahim Gambari, respectively, will attend the ceremony on Thursday.
Another U.N. official, who asked not to be identified by name, told Reuters that the two officials were attending the inauguration as a diplomatic courtesy.
Human Rights Watch sent a letters this week to the 111 countries that signed the International Criminal Court statute and to the United States, saying they should stay away from events with al-Bashir unless absolutely essential and the inauguration is not an essential meeting.
Human Rights Watch asked the US administration to follow the lead of the UN, which they wrote, has standing guidelines that state that the presence of UN representatives in any ceremonial or similar occasion with persons indicted by international criminal courts should be avoided.