UN rights expert to visit Panama after 'Panama Papers' leak

GENEVA (AP) - The U.N. human rights office says one of its independent experts will travel to Panama next month to investigate tax avoidance and evasion schemes like those revealed by the so-called "Panama Papers" leak.

Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, the office's expert on foreign debt and human rights, has been asked by the U.N.'s Human Rights Council to study Panama's efforts to improve financial transparency and reduce illicit financial flows.

The U.N. Human Rights Council has asked Bohoslavsky to study the impact of such illicit transactions and report to the 47-member body next March.

The Argentinian expert said Thursday that during the May 2-10 visit he also wants to consider how Panama's "impressive economic growth" has trickled down to citizens, and the possible negative effects of large infrastructure projects on human rights.