UN to send human rights teams to assess situation in Egypt and Tunisia

UN to send human rights teams to assess situation in Egypt and Tunisia

2011-03-26 00:23:54 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations on Friday announced that two human rights teams will travel to Egypt and Tunisia to assess the situation popular uprisings that removed the long-standing regimes in both North African countries.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will send a five-member team to Egypt on Sunday. The high-level staff will meet with the Supreme Army Council, Government ministers, judges, lawyers, human rights defenders, youth leaders and others.

The OHCHR team will then make recommendations to High Commissioner Navi Pillay in order to set the UN agency's role in Egypt. The ruling military council replaced long-time president Hosni Mubarak after weeks of protests calling for democracy and respect for human rights.

In Tunisia, the OHCHR decided to open a regional office and next week a second human rights officer will arrive to the North African nation upon recommendation of a team of senior experts.

The team made an assessment mission last month indicating that violations of human rights and impunity for perpetrators are the main concerns of the population. Since the beginning of the year, protests have been staged across the region.

On Wednesday, the Egyptian interim government approved a decree-law that criminalizes protests and strikes. The law assigns severe punishment to protesters of up to a year in prison and fines of up to half a million Egyptian pounds (84,000 dollars).

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