UN human rights expert to visit Transistrian region

Thomas Hammarberg, UN Senior Expert on Human Rights in the Transnistrian region, will conduct his second mission in Moldova during September 17-25. The expert will provide next week briefings for media and other interested parties on the scope of his assignment, the UN Moldova said in a media advisory. Thomas Hammarberg's second mission focuses on minority and diversity issues as well as neuropsychiatric institutions and penitentiaries in the region. The UN has engaged Thomas Hammarberg as Senior Expert on Human Rights for the Transnistrian region to identify opportunities for strengthening human rights in this region following the mission of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, to Moldova in November 2011, when a broad range of parties emphasized the need for further particular attention to the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region. UN Senior Expert Hammarberg’s extensive experience includes having been then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's appointed representative (SRSG) for human rights in Cambodia (1996-2000), and Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (2006-2012).