While hailing Turkey’s rights efforts and initiatives by noting that “significant progress” has been made, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism called today for more to be done to investigate allegations of torture, and to respect the linguistic and cultural rights of all groups living in the country, including the Kurds.

With reports that recent demonstrations in Belarus have been violently dispersed and over 1,000 protesters and journalists detained, a group of seven United Nations experts today called for investigations into what they termed the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

In his third condemnation in a week over presidential elections in Belarus, decried by monitors as neither free nor fair, a United Nations expert today deplored the escalation of Government abuses against the independent press, opposition candidates and supporters, and called for the immediate release of all political detainees.

Slovakia today became the first country to ratify and become party to a treaty for cooperation in staving off the horrifying possibility of terrorism involving the use of nuclear devices, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in April 2005.