Leading UN human rights official to make first visit to Guinea Bissau from 7 to 11 July 2013

GENEVA, Switzerland, July 3, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonović, will conduct the first ever high-level human rights mission to Guinea Bissau from 7 to 11 July 2013 at the invitation of the Transitional Government.

He will also have meetings with the President of the National Assembly, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, the President of the Superior Military Court, the Prosecutor-General and representatives of the Bar Association, the National Human Rights Commission and of civil society organisations.

Mr. Šimonović will conduct field visits to the National Simao Mendes Hospital, a detention centre in Bissau, a legal aid centre and a prison in the town of Mansoa, northeast of Bissau.

During his visit, Šimonović will attend the National Conference on Impunity, Justice and Human Rights to be held on 10-12 July and will meet with the Transitional authorities, including the President, Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Interior.

Guinea-Bissau's first National Conference on Impunity, Justice and Human Rights is being organised as a follow-up to the Regional Conference on Impunity, Justice and Human Rights held in Bamako, Mali, in December 2011.