Britain seeks urgent session of top UN rights body on Sudan

GENEVA (Reuters) – Britain said on Monday that it had requested that the U.N. Human Rights Council convene an emergency session on Sudan following last week’s military coup.

The request was sent to the president of the 47-member Geneva forum on behalf of 18 member states, more than the one-third required to convene a special session. It was backed by 30 countries with observer status, including the United States. “The actions of the Sudanese military are a betrayal of the revolution, the transition & the hopes of the Sudanese people,” Simon Manley, Britain’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, said in a tweet.

Last week, Sudan’s military took power in a coup, detaining civilian officials and politicians, and promising to establish a new government of technocrats. The coup has been met with opposition and street demonstrations over the last week.