A human rights report is accusing Israel of using torture on Palestinian security prisoners. But as Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, the Israeli government describes the allegations as exaggerated and baseless.

As the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights wrapped up an 11-day tour of Central Asia in Turkmenistan today, her office announced plans to assist the country's Government on rights issues.

The outgoing State Department official responsible for U.S. human rights policies has testified in Congress about human rights around the world. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, where Assistant Secretary of State Barry Lowenkron appeared before a House committee examining the State Department's most recent reports on global human rights.

The London-based human rights group Amnesty International says repression is worsening in China ahead of the Olympic games that Beijing is preparing to host next year. VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from the Chinese capital.

The U.S. will be checked for the cases of the human rights violations later this month. It is highly criticized for Texas center detain immigrant families and two border areas announced they would finish off Mexicans illegally crossing the border. So a United Nations Human Right expert is going to visit U.S.

Members of the Iranian parliament have protested against widespread arrests of teachers and students. Sixteen lawmakers today called on police and security forces to respect the "legal and professional rights" of teachers and students.

Russian lawmakers have decried as "unacceptable" the recent negative assessments of Russian human rights standards in a U.S. State Department report detailing U.S. aid efforts in 2006.

An international rights group has accused Egyptian authorities of committing regular abuses of human rights in the name of national security. Amnesty International issued a report Wednesday that describes arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention without trial, torture and other ill-treatment by security officials in Egypt.

The U.S. State Department has issued its fifth annual report on what the United States is doing to support worldwide human rights and democracy. The State Department report says the U.S. government spent some $1.2 billion last year to help defend human rights around the world. The report stresses that major efforts to restrict human rights come from official crackdowns on non-governmental agencies.

Spain and Cuba have renewed their bilateral ties during talks in Havana with an agreement to discuss human rights and economic cooperation. Visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos signed the agreements Tuesday with his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque.

A European Union delegation is meeting in Uzbekistan with Uzbek officials about the human rights situation in that country stemming from violent events in Andijon two years ago. The talks are going forward in Tashkent under a cloak of silence from both the European Union and the Uzbek government.

The Georgian Justice Ministry has announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Moscow at the European Court of Human Rights over Russia's mass deportations of Georgians last autumn.