Regional rights center to be inaugurated

A human rights center is due to be inaugurated in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, on Thursday by the United Nation's human rights chief executive, Mary Robinson and diplomats from 11 western and central African countries. The sub-Regional Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa has been operational since March 2001, but the ceremony will mark its official opening, director Teferra Shiawl-Kidenkal told a news conference in Yaounde. The centre, he added, would contribute to development by preventing conflict, and promoting peace and sustainable development in Central Africa. With an initial funding of US $1 million, the centre covers 10 countries including Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. The two-day visit would allow Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to gain first-hand human rights experience in Cameroon and neighbouring countries, Shiawl-Kidenkal said. Robinson's visit would also be highlighted by a conference of justice/human rights ministers and supreme court presidents of the member-countries that will discuss the importance of human rights reporting and the role of the civil society in the write-up of such reports, the official added. The conference would address disparities that at times appear between reports submitted by government authorities and those submitted non-governmental organisations and other civil society groups on human rights issues.