SHAFAQNA– United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet says she is worried about widespread arrests in Egypt and urges freedom for a rights activist imprisoned in Saudi Arabia.
In a statement issued on Friday September 27, 2019 Michelle Bachelet urged Egyptian authorities to respect the freedom of expression and assembly for peaceful protesters as more than 2,000 people have been arrested over recent demonstrations against army commander-turned-president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.
The arrestees include human rights defenders, lawyers, political activists, university professors and journalists. They rallied in several cities across the North African country on September 20-21 and called on Sisi to step down.
The head of OHCHR also demanded Zimbabwe to act quicker on democratic reforms and go further in promoting people’s rights and engage in dialog with those affected by the country’s harsh austerity measures.
The UN’s top human rights chief said the UN has agreed to send a fact-finding mission to Venezuela to inquiry into alleged killings and abuse of opposition supporters.
The OHCHR finally said Saudi Arabia should release female activist and political prisoner Lujain Al-Hathloul who is in jail for more than 500 days.
Source: UN news
Read more from Shafaqna:
Egypt: Over 1,100 arrested since weekend
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