* Would aim to help transition to democracy
* Silence on Middle East from U.N. Human Rights Council
By Robert Evans
GENEVA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay is awaiting permission from Egypt's military authorities to send experts who would help in mapping the nation's transition to democracy, U.N. aides said on Wednesday.
By accepting the mission, the new rulers in Cairo could prove their sincerity in promising the Egyptian people to work for a free society, the aides told a news briefing in Geneva.
Requests for such a mission had come in from groups which staged the protests that led to President Hosni Mubarak's overthrow last Friday, said Anders Kompass, Pillay's director for operations and technical cooperation.
"The idea is to see how we can help the transition to democracy from the human rights perspective," Kompass said. "We would like to send the team within the next few days, but so far we have not had the green light from Cairo."
As anti-government demonstrations continued in a number of Middle Eastern and North African countries, Pillay's specialist on the top rule of law, Mona Rishmawi, said governments must observe the right of citizens to protest peacefully and refrain from using force against them.
"She (Pillay) wants to be with the people," Rishmawi told the briefing. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For other reports on Egypt click on [ID:nLDE71327H] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
TEAM WENT TO TUNISIA
Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and previously a judge in South Africa, sent a similar team to Tunisia, with agreement of the new authorities there, after the overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January.
Rishmawi and Kompass said fast action was needed in Egypt to channel the enthusiasm of young people and bring them into the process of building a new society. "If they are frustrated, other forces could come in," said Kompass.
The moves by Pillay's office, rights activists say, contrast with inaction at the 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council, where a bloc of Islamic, Asian and African states shield each other from detailed examination of their records.
During the protests in Cairo last week and as reports came in of many deaths and arrests by Mubarak's security forces, Egyptian diplomats in Geneva led resistance to easing the Council's rules on calling emergency sessions.
Such sessions, hailed as a major advance when the Council was set up in 2006, were meant to highlight crises and help to prevent them from descending into violence, causing loss of life and human rights abuses.
But they can be called only if 16 Council members agree, a total difficult to achieve if a session is opposed by the developing country bloc. Western members have sought to lower the bar.
To date, the Council has called only 11 crisis sessions, five of them targeted at Israel, leading even rights groups critical of Israeli behaviour to accuse the body of bias and of turning itself into a mutual protection society. (Editing by Laura MacInnis/David Stamp)
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