(United Nations) The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, whose mandate ends on Wednesday, will be temporarily replaced by her deputy, pending the appointment of her successor, the spokesperson said on Tuesday. word of the UN Secretary General.
Posted at 3:15 p.m.
“Tomorrow is Michelle Bachelet’s last day. I don’t expect an announcement tomorrow” on his succession, said Stéphane Dujarric during a press briefing.
Until the appointment of a replacement and “from 1er September, Nada Youssef Al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, will be in charge,” he said.
Asked about the possible date of the announcement of the choice of Antonio Guterres for this sensitive post, he indicated that he could not “predict”. “We are trying to do this as quickly as possible and diligently.”
The person chosen by Antonio Guterres will then have to be confirmed by the UN General Assembly.
Michelle Bachelet took office on 1er September 2018. And to everyone’s surprise, she announced in June that she would not seek a second term in her very exposed position, to spend time with her family and in her country.
The former Chilean president has been harshly criticized in recent months by the United States but also by major NGOs, who accuse her of a lack of firmness in the face of human rights violations in China and accused her of behaving above all as a “diplomat” and not as a defender of rights.
In an open letter to the UN Secretary General, more than 60 NGOs had also called in June to replace her with someone with “courage” including in the face of the most powerful countries.
“It’s not a job for a nice, quiet diplomat, because a quiet diplomat has no weight. No one listens to a reserved diplomat. Nobody changes their behavior because of a reserved diplomat”, insisted a few days ago during an interview with AFP the director general of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth.