Iran should immediately halt the execution of children, the UN’s top human rights official said today.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today told the UN Human Rights Council to immediately address the escalating atrocities in Darfur by sending an independent team of investigators to the volatile Sudanese region.

The top UN human rights official today urged Iraq to ensure former President Saddam Hussein a fair appeals process, and to refrain from executing him even if the death penalty is upheld.

The new UN Human Rights Council offers a “great new chance” for the United Nations to renew its struggle for global human rights, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.

The UN human rights chief warned that the global ban on torture is becoming a casualty of the “war on terror,” singling out the reported US practices of sending terrorist suspects to other countries and holding prisoners in secret detention.

Uzbek officials took foreign diplomats and journalists on a lightning-quick tour of Andijan today, showing them a prison and the local administration building and arranging meetings with local officials, as the top UN human rights official called for an independent investigation.

THE UN's human rights chief has warned that the vision and promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are under considerable strain.

chief Margaret Hassan’s murder by her kidnappers in Iraq has underscored the difficulty for even seasoned relief workers to provide aid to Iraqis.

Aid chief Margaret Hassan’s execution by her kidnappers in Iraq has underscored the difficulty for even seasoned relief workers to provide aid to Iraqis.

Sudan is not afraid of a UN resolution threatening sanctions over the violence in Darfur, President Omar el-Bashir has been quoted as saying.