Geneva, Oct. 10 -- The United Nations Human Rights Office on Saturday expressed concern over reports of detentions of demonstrators, protest leaders, civil society members, lawyers and journalists in the national capital before and during the protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).

In a statement issued following reports of such alleged detention, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan urged authorities to respect the right to assembly and "immediately and unconditionally" release all those alleged "arbitrarily detained".

He also called for restraint in handling protesters and ensured that any restrictions on demonstrations met "strict tests of necessity and proportionality".

"We are concerned by reports of mass deten...