UN Human Rights

A joint fact-finding team from the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been set up to look into the deaths of a number of Ghanaian nationals who were found buried in Gambia in 2005, the world body announced today.

After making recommendations on the rights of refugees and on the right to food, the United Nations Human Rights Council's Advisory Committee concluded its first session in Geneva today.

The perpetrators of this week's brutal murder of four aid workers supporting education projects in Afghanistan must not go unpunished, an independent United Nations human rights expert said today.

While Nepal has come a long way in tackling discrimination and the marginalization of certain communities, more can be done to ensure that all of the country's citizens can enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms, a top United Nations human rights official said today.

A United Nations human rights expert today welcomed the approval of a new constitution in the Maldives, saying it demonstrated the country's progress towards upholding democratic principles and ensuring the independence of the judiciary.

A senior United Nations humanitarian official has urged the parties to the conflict in Georgia, where fierce fighting in recent days has uprooted nearly 100,000 people, to do their utmost to protect civilians and ensure access for aid agencies.

The suffering of indigenous peoples around the world &#8220includes some of the darkest episodes in human history,&#8221 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, marking the annual International Day of the World&#39s Indigenous People.

Albino people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) face discrimination and marginalization in their communities, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which is sponsoring a workshop to promote their rights.

Two senior United Nations human rights officials called today for political commitment from States and the support of the public at large to fulfil the rights of indigenous peoples around the globe, in a joint statement released on the eve of the International Day of the World&#39s Indigenous People.

The United Nations human rights office has voiced serious concerns about the execution of a Mexican national by United States authorities in defiance of an order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The independent United Nations expert on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has wrapped up a four-day visit to the South-East Asian nation, his first since taking up the post in May.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste today welcomed a recent report on human rights abuses that took place during the country's bloody struggle for independence in 1999.

The prospects for protecting and promoting human rights in Togo are improving, but defenders of rights still face serious obstacles to carrying out their work, experts with the United Nations and African Union (AU) have said after visiting the West African country.

A new body serving as a "think tank" to provide advice and conduct research for the United Nations Human Rights Council began its first-ever session today in Geneva.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is to provide $3 million in additional support for its child nutrition programmes in Mozambique, Executive Director Ann M. Veneman announced as she wrapped up a three-day visit to the country.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar will conduct his first mission to the Asian country next week after receiving an invitation to visit from the Government.

United Nations human rights officials in Nepal have voiced concern over recent threats and actions taken against reporters and newspaper distributors, calling on authorities and law enforcement to step up media security.

The newly appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says she comes to her work with a personal understanding of human rights violations, based on her experience of living in South Africa during the apartheid regime when non-whites such as herself suffered from institutionalized discrimination.

A human rights team with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has travelled with Congolese officials and doctors to investigate reports of mass rapes, looting and torture carried out by a group of Maï Maï militiamen last year.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that he was "gratified" that his nomination of South African judge Navanethem Pillay as the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had today been endorsed by the General Assembly.