Adrian Severin, who served as the United Nations' Special Monitor on Belarus, said the UN Human Rights Council is sending a "wrong and worrying" message to Minsk by deciding not to renew his mandate.

The UN's top human rights body is meeting today in Geneva to decide whether to accept significant changes in the way it works. But there are serious concerns that the 47-nation Human Rights Council will not accept the proposed reforms.

A United Nations human rights envoy has expressed deep concern about the physical and mental health of some 60 imprisoned dissidents in Cuba.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has launched a new publication which aims to serve as a research tool for children's rights advocates based on the major international treaty guiding their work.

A United Nations expert body urged 11 countries to take steps to improve the situation of children and young people, noting continued discrimination and violation of their rights.

Sudanese lawyers who represent victims of torture and abuse in the Darfur region of the Sudan will be available to reporters at a special press briefing to be held in conjunction with the American Bar Association Section of Litigation's Darfur Legal Training Project. Each of these lawyers has made personal sacrifices in an effort to represent those who cannot speak for themselves. The briefing will be held on Tuesday at 1 p.m. in London.

The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing Company, on behalf of three victims of the United States government's unlawful "extraordinary rendition" program.

Amnesty International's recent 2007 human rights report harshly criticized the United States for what it called Washington's "breathtakingly shameless" doublespeak on human rights. It accused the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush of overlooking and even encouraging rights abuses around the world while pursuing the war on terror.

The U.S. administration plans to implement drastic cuts in financial aid to rights groups in Russia and Ukraine next year, The Washington Post said Monday, citing a Freedom House report.

The status of women in the Middle East was the focus of a conference held at the Baker Institute at Rice University in Houston Tuesday. Several panels including a total of 20 scholarly experts discussed such issues as education, politics, marriage, sexuality and reproductive health at the day-long event.

Governments and armed groups around the world are using "the politics of fear" to crush human rights and encourage dangerous divisions in society, according to Amnesty International's 2007 human rights report, released today.

Dr Hans Blix - Swedish diplomat, international human rights lawyer, weapons inspector and disarmament campaigner - is the Sydney Peace Prize jury's unanimous choice as recipient of the 2007 Sydney Peace Prize.