Former Dean Faculty of Law, Uuniversity of Nigeria Nsukka, Professor Joy Ezeilo has been appointed as a member of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan by the United Nations.
Prof. Ezeilo is the founder and Executive Director of Women’s Aid Collective (WACOL); a non-governmental organization that has been providing free legal services for women and girls for 25 years and running.
Her appointment into the mission is contained in an announcement by the President of the UN Human Rights Council, Václav Bálek issued on Tuesday and published on its website.
Prof. Ezeilo according to the statement will also work alongside, Mohamed Chande Othman of Tanzania and Mona Rishmawi of Jordan/Switzerland on the mission, with Othman as Chair of the three independent members of the new Independent International Fact-Finding Mission.
The statement partly read: “The Human Rights Council established the Fact-Finding Mission in October, through resolution A/HRC/RES/54/2, “to investigate and establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law, including those committed against refugees, and related crimes in the context of the ongoing armed conflict that began on 15 April 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, as well as other warring parties.”
The Mission, which was established for an initial duration of one year, was further requested to collect and analyse evidence in view of any future legal proceedings; to identify, where possible, individuals and entities responsible; and to make recommendations with a view to ending impunity and ensuring accountability and access to justice for victims.
The President of the Human Rights Council sought recommendations from various stakeholders and expressions of interest to find highly qualified and impartial candidates to fill these positions. The Mission members will serve in their personal capacities and will not be paid salaries for their work.
The Council requested the Fact-Finding Mission to provide an oral update on their findings followed by an interactive dialogue at the Council’s fifty-sixth session, in June-July 2024. It also requested the Mission to present a comprehensive report at the Council’s fifty-seventh session, in September-October 2024, and to submit those findings to the UN General Assembly at its seventy-ninth session, in October 2024.
