UN rights official severely assaulted by S Sudan police

A top UN human rights official was assaulted by South Sudan police officers, the office of the UN rights chief said yesterday, slamming the incident as "totally unacceptable."
Benedict Sannoh, who heads the human rights section of the UN South Sudan mission, was "severely assaulted in a hotel lobby in Juba by around 12 South Sudan police officers," said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The police "beat, kicked and punched him in a sustained fashion while he was in a foetal position on the floor," said the spokesman, adding that the officers had the intention of searching Sannoh's room.
South Sudanese authorities have said they will probe the case, and Colville said his office will "follow the conduct of that investigation closely."