A two-member team from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will next week undertake an official visit to Botswana to assess the situation regarding deprivation of liberty in the country.
The delegation – comprising working group vice chairperson Mumba Malila of Zambia and Elina Steinerte of Latvia – is expected to visit Gaborone and other parts of the country from 4-15 July.
“They will meet government officials, civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders during the visit,” the UN said on Friday.
The experts are also expected to visit places where people are held, including prisons, police stations and institutions for juveniles, migrants and people with psychosocial disabilities, to gather information for their assessment, it said.
The visit comes in the wake of complains about ill-treatment of refugees by Botswana authorities.
The working group would present its final report on the visit to the Human Rights Council in September 2023.
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established by the former Commission on Human Rights in 1991 to investigate instances of alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty.
It is made up of five independent expert members from various regions of the world and is chaired by Miriam Estrada-Castillo of Ecuador. Other members are Priya Gopalan of Malaysia and Matthew Gilllett of New Zealand.
They are independent from any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.
JN/APA