Officials of the United Nations Monday released a statement condemning the decision by Malian authorities to expel Guillauma Ngefa, the UN’s Human Rights representative to the West African nation.
In a statement released to the media, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk called on Mali’s interim government to immediately reverse their decision.
“I deeply regret the decision by the Malian authorities to declare my representative, Guillaume Ngefa, as persona non grata and to order him to leave the country,” read the statement released by Türk.
“I have full confidence in his professionalism and his dedication to the promotion and protection of human rights in Mali and I call on the interim authorities in Mali to rescind this regrettable decision without delay,” added the statement.
Malian authorities released a statement on Sunday announcing the expulsion of Ngefa and said this was in connection to decisions taken by the UN representative who allegedly displayed a biased choice of civil society witnesses for briefings on the West African nation, at the U.N. Security Council.
In response to Mali declaring its personnel persona non grata, the United Nations said the doctrine is not applicable to its representatives and is contrary to the obligations of all member states that subscribe to the UN Charter.
This report was compiled from statements released by the United Nations and Reuters.
