Renowned former war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte is resigning from the UN's Syria panel, saying in five years it has had no success at all.

The head of a UN commission investigating abuses in Syria says it has been collecting evidence about 20 massacres, including three in the central city of Homs since December.

The special UN envoy on human rights in North Korea urged a quick resolution of the nuclear stand-off with Pyongyang today, saying it would help improve human rights in the communist regime.

North Korea should take immediate action to halt further human rights abuses, the UN said in a report today.

A UN human rights expert has called on North Korea to give its citizens more freedoms and overhaul its administration of justice.