UN rights chief Zeid tells staff he will not seek reelection

GENEVA, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has told his staff he would not seek reelection to his post, a staff member said Wednesday.

He sent an email message to his staff, which Xinhua has seen, saying that next year will be the last of his mandate and he will not run again for the post which is an appointment made by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"To do so, in the current geo-political context, might involve bending a knee in supplication; muting a statement of advocacy; lessening the independence and integrity of my voice - which is your voice," said Zeid, noting "it has been an arduous year for many of us."

Zeid, a seasoned UN and Jordanian diplomat, assumed his functions as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sept. 1, 2014, succeeding South African former judge Navi Pillay whose term had begun in September 2008.

Pillay was the only commissioner who has ever served for more than one term, completing one and a-half terms after her mandate was extended by the then UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.

Zeid is the sixth High Commissioner to lead the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the first Asian, Muslim and Arab to do so.

He studied at the Johns Hopkins University in the United States and has a doctorate from the UK's Cambridge University. Enditem