The UN's high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, has begun a five day trip to Zimbabwe at the invitation of the the president, Robert Mugabe.
Pillay said,
"It is very, very important that the government has invited [the] U.N. commissioner for human rights. I am here to assess the human rights situation and to see how the United Nations can help to advance human protection here,"
However, reports state that the Mugabe's party has chosen NGOs to meet Navi Pillay at a planned meeting at the ministry of justice. Thirty-six civil society groups have, in a statement released Monday, said they would boycott the meeting in protest at Mugabe's attempt to present a "fraudulent" image of human rights in Zimbabwe.
