[JURIST] The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged the Mongolian government [press release] to "exercise the utmost restraint" in dealing with protests of the country's recent parliamentary elections. President Nambar Enkhbayar [official website, in Mongolian] on Tuesday instituted a four-day state of emergency following protests in which at least five have been killed and more than 700 have been detained. The Office said Mongolia should "ensure that due process is followed in the case of any detentions, and that the incidents leading to deaths and injuries be properly investigated," as part of their obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [text]. The UN News Centre has more.

In the elections held Sunday, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party [party website] won the majority of the vote, and supporters of the Democratic Party [party website, in Mongolian] and other opposition parties staged protests against the results on Tuesday. On Friday, the Democratic Party called for new elections [Reuters report] because of alleged fraud, but Enkhbayar has said that both parties have agreed to address the riots under established law [Xinhua report].