News stories by Katie Mattern

A poll of 19 nations released here Wednesday reveals that majorities in most countries believe climate change should be a high priority for their governments, but relatively few thought that their leaders were doing enough about the problem.

On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama announced his intention to sign the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), in what will be the U.S.'s first signing of an international human rights treaty in over a decade.

A prominent human rights group is demanding the release or trials of five Ugandan detainees held by military intelligence for up to 16 months.

A new survey released on Thursday shows that the publics in four majority Muslim and African nations, contrary to the positions of their governments, largely approve of the indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Despite a bill passed by Saudi Arabia's Shura Council on Wednesday, a prominent New York-based human rights group is asking for more protection for the estimated 1.5 million domestic workers in the country.

Iranian authorities should release a prominent reformist detained during recent post-election unrest to a medical facility because he has suffered harsh interrogations and inadequate medical care that could have life-threatening consequences, said a prominent human rights group Wednesday.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling for an immediate investigation of Kenyan security officials it says were sent to protect civilians in the country’s northeastern Mandera district during the move to disarm the heavily militarised region in October 2008, but who beat and tortured those civilians instead, according to the report released Monday.

After informing the Syrian embassy in Washington on Tuesday night, the U.S. State Department announced on Wednesday that President Barack Obama will be sending an ambassador to Damascus for the first time since 2005.

A new report issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) Monday calls for the Angolan government to end the arrest and torture of suspected rebels in the oil-rich enclave of Cabinda.

Gaza, South Africa and Thailand are among the world's worst places to be a refugee, according to the latest annual World Refugee Survey released here Wednesday by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).