NEW MEMBER APPOINTED TO JOINT UN-OAU COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON ALLEGED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN TOGO

Press Release
AFR/257
HR/4484

NEW MEMBER APPOINTED TO JOINT UN-OAU COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON ALLEGED HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN TOGO

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Salim Ahmed Salim, today announced that Issaka Souna of Niger has been appointed as a member of the International Commission of Inquiry for Togo. Mr. Souna is replacing Amadou Ould-Abdallah of Mauritania, who withdrew form the Commission for reasons of unforeseen scheduling conflicts. The other members of the Commission are Mahamat Hassan Abakar of Chad (Chairperson) and Paulo Sergio Pinheiro of Brazil.

The Commission on Inquiry, which was established on 7 June 2000, is looking into allegations that hundreds of people were victims of extrajudicial executions in Togo in 1998. The Commission is expected to assembly at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva in the near future for consultations and, thereafter, to undertake its work in the field.

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