UN Human Rights

The Olympic Games and the football World Cup must champion the right to adequate housing, with such ‘mega-events' often driving people out of their homes, according to a new United Nations report by an independent human rights expert.

Despite recent advancements in tackling the human rights of indigenous people in Australia, an independent United Nations expert today called on the country's authorities to develop new social and economic initiatives and to reform existing ones to allow respect for cultural integrity and self-determination.

The United Nations human rights chief said today she was appalled by the latest "massacre" of hundreds of villagers in northern Nigeria, and called for authorities to tackle the underlying causes of the tension in the region.

A working group comprising United Nations experts has been created to look into the situation of Haitians with disabilities, who have been disproportionately affected by January's catastrophic earthquake.

The head of the United Nations agency tasked with upholding press freedom today spoke out against a recent shooting two journalists in Honduras, resulting in one of their deaths, calling it an attack against all people of the nation.

So-called ‘honour killings' are an extreme symptom of discrimination against women, which - including other forms of domestic violence - is a plague that affects every country, the United Nations human rights chief says, calling on governments to tackle impunity for this crime.

The top United Nations human rights official today voiced deep concern about the violent crackdown on dissent in Iran and the marred prospects for peace in Sri Lanka, where journalists, human rights defenders and other critics of the Government are being mistreated.

The United Nations today kicked off a two-day meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to discuss the presence and activities of mercenaries and private military and security companies in Africa.

The United Nations human rights office in Nepal today expressed its deep concern over the killing of the head of a media group, the latest in a string of murders of journalists in the Asian nation.

With dozens of unarmed migrants attempting to enter Israel via the Sinai Desert having been killed since mid-2007 by Egyptian security forces, the top United Nations human rights official today called on the nation's Government to call an end to the "deplorable" use of "lethal force."

The top United Nations human rights official said today that the economic and financial crises have exposed existing violations and increased the number of victims of abuse and hardship.

Two independent United Nations experts today urged the leaders and Government of Uganda to prevent an anti-homosexuality bill currently before Parliament from becoming law, stressing that it would be in breach of fundamental freedoms and human rights.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced disappointment that the continued appeal against her house arrest in Myanmar by prominent pro-democracy and opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was rejected again.

Enforced disappearances continue to be one of the worst human rights violations, a United Nations independent expert said today, marking the 30th anniversary of the creation of a body to look into the scourge.

Botswana's Government must step up efforts to tackle the challenges faced by many indigenous communities, such as land rights, according to a new report by a United Nations independent expert.

Slavery is an abhorrent practice that still needs to be eradicated in many parts of the world, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed, noting that one way to pursue this goal is by remembering the past and using its lessons to ensure that such crimes never occur again.

A senior United Nations human rights official today called on international troops fighting militants in Afghanistan to follow directives designed to guard against civilian deaths, drawing particular attention to the plight of children caught up in the conflict.

There is evidence of growing global support for the eventual elimination of the death penalty, a senior United Nations official stated today, while acknowledging that abolishing this practice is a difficult and sensitive process for many societies.

An independent United Nations human rights expert today voiced concern over Albanian society's widespread acceptance of settling personal scores through deadly violence and prevalence of violence in the home.

Addressing impunity for human rights violations is one of the top challenges facing the Central African Republic (CAR), as it enters the final stretch before elections, a senior United Nations official said today.