UN Deadline for Mongolia's Official Explanation of Riot Arrives

UN Deadline for Mongolia's Official Explanation of Riot Arrives

TODAY, October 16, is the last day for Mongolia to provide Louise Arbour, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, an official report the post-election riot, its investigation, the conditions of detained people, and trial procedures.

The Center for Protection of Human Rights, a local non-profit organization, called on the government to give a transparent response to the UN body by making it publicly available. The center also demanded the Government open the trials of those arrested during and after the riot to television and radio stations. One rights activist from the center said that the authorities’ decision to detain people—accused of participating in the riot or breaking curfew—for prolonged periods of time was illegal.

UN Human rights officials expressed concerns on July 3 about the post-election riot that rocked Mongolia’s capital, and the four-day state of emergency that was imposed on July 1, 2008.

Five people died during those events, four of them allegedly death by police officers. Numerous people were also injured, including local and foreign journalists, and around 700 protesters were detained, many of whom are under-aged.

The UN Human Rights Office reminded Mongolia’s Government that it is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a document that pledges to uphold fundamental beliefs, such as the right to life, and the prohibition on torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

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