UN rights chief says 'change system' in Egypt

In a statement on Tuesday, Ms. Pillay quoted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights saying people must be protected from abuses "if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression."

An effigy depicting President Hosni Mubarak hangs while people demonstrate in Tahrir, or Liberation, Square in Cairo, on Tuesday. Photo: AP.

The U.N.’s top human rights official says Egypt should change the system that has bred abuse and praises the popular protests movement.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says “the whole world is watching how the president and the reconfigured government will react to the continuing protests demanding radical change.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Ms. Pillay quoted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights saying people must be protected from abuses “if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression.”

She condemned reports that 300 people have been killed and more than 3,000 injured in the anti-government protests that have gripped Egypt since last week.