UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations human rights office said on Friday it would dispatch a delegation to Bahrain to discuss how to build an open and democratic society there.

A four-member team will head to Bahrain next week at the request of the Manama Government, according to Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“The delegation looks forward to engaging with the government, civil society, members of the political opposition and victims of human rights violations in the country,” Ms. Shamdasani said. The team, which will be headed by Bacre Ndiaye, director of the Human Rights Council and special procedures division at OHCHR, will submit recommendations to High Commissioner Navi Pillay on the way forward for Bahrain.

The small island country was rocked by violent clashes between security forces and protesters earlier this year, part of the Arab uprising that has engulfed much of the region and led to the toppling of long-term regimes in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.