A team of top-level specialists from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations (OHCHR) is assembling in Tunisia and will start its week-long assessment of human rights priorities there, a UN spokesperson said here on Wednesday.
Officially starting on Thursday, the team will meet with interim authorities, civil society groups, UN agencies on the ground and other key actors, Martin Nesirky, the UN spokesperson, said here at a daily press conference.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, said that "human rights abuses were at the heart of the problems faced by the people of Tunisia, and therefore, human rights must be at the forefront of the solutions to those problems," Nesirky told reporters.
"She said that the team's observations and recommendations will enable her to put together a set of concrete proposals for immediate and future action to improve the human rights situation in the country," Nesirky added.
Weeks of mass protests against unemployment and high prices forced Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia in mid-January.
As unrest fills the North African country with the Tunisian government being reshuffled, both anti-government and pro- government demonstrations have clashed.
On Wednesday, it was reported that anti-government demonstrators clashed with police in front of the Prime Minister's Office.
Earlier on Wednesday, Tunisian Justice Minister Lazhar Karoui Chebbi announced at a press conference that an international arrest warrant had been issued against deposed president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, his wife Leila Trabelsi and a number of his relatives who fled the country. They are being charged with illegal transfer of currency, acquiring real estate abroad and corruption.
Later Wednesday, the government spokesman is expected to announce a cabinet reshuffle, to replace five ministers who resigned, as well as a number of changes among formerly appointed governors and ambassadors, reports said.