Faced with U.N. scrutiny, China on defensive over Uyghur detentions
China's government rejected the concerns of U.N. human rights experts that at least 1 million ethnic Uyghurs are being detained and indoctrinated in the remote Xinjiang Province.
Human Rights
The United Nations says human rights are inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination. International human rights law sets out the obligations of governments to promote and protect human rights.
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Chile's former president Bachelet named U.N. human rights chief
Bachelet got involved in politics after becoming a Chilean human rights activist in the early 1970s, owing to her family becoming political prisoners and the death of her father, an air force general, after months of torture while in prison.
Danish cartoons stir Muslim push for international 'hatred' ban
Deep-seated Muslim anger at efforts to satirize Prophet Muhammad stirred the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to propose a ban against incitement of religious hatred.
Out of limelight, a quiet force for civilian and political rights
Three times a year, a little-known panel of human rights experts gathers in Geneva and New York with a monumental task: upholding people's civil and political rights.
Experts detail atrocities against Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar
A U.N. panel of human rights experts returned from Bangladesh after gathering evidence of a military-planned campaign of genocide against Myanmar's Rohingya people.
Modern slavery traps 40.3 million people around the world
The report found the highest concentration of modern slavery in North Korea — and bigger numbers than previously reported in Australia, Europe and the United States.
U.N. calls on Turkey to uphold all 'basic rights' after emergency rule
International organizations welcomed the end of Turkey's emergency rule and urged President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government to uphold basic human rights and legal standards.
U.N. investigative report targets human rights abuses in Venezuela
U.N. human rights investigators said the world's permanent war crimes tribunal should prosecute Venezuelan security forces for hundreds of arbitrary killings and other abuses.
Trump administration abandons U.N. Human Rights Council
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, complaining of bias against Israel, said it will reduce U.S. participation to observer status at the world's foremost human rights body.
U.N. officials blast U.S. border policy as 'unconscionable' and cruel
Human rights and humanitarian officials said U.S. officials must stop separating migrant children from their parents.
U.N. report on India-Pakistan conflict in Kashmir spreads blame
The U.N. human rights office pinned blame for violence on both countries in its first report on the disputed region.
Threats to press and repressive leaders pose danger to democracy
Reporters Without Borders says hatred for the press is 'steadily more visible' - and is not limited to authoritarian countries.