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Senior UN official to visit Ukraine to assess human rights situation

11 December 2014 18:28 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The UN assistant secretary- general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic, will visit Ukraine on Dec. 11-15 to assess the human rights situation in the country, UN officials said here Thursday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

During his visit, Simonovic is scheduled to meet with a number of Ukrainian government officials as well as civil society actors, the officials said, adding that he is also scheduled to visit the eastern region of the country.

Simonovic will hold a press conference in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, on Dec. 15, launching the eighth monthly report of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

On Dec. 12, Simonovic will also participate in the presentation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the officials said.

Simonovic assumed his functions as the UN assistant secretary- general for human rights on July 17, 2010. He heads the New York Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Simonovic's visit takes place about one week after Ukrainian forces suspended hostilities against independence-seeking insurgents in the country's eastern regions.

The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, which began in mid-April, has claimed at least 4,350 lives and wounded more than 10,000 others, according to latest UN estimates.