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A United Nations rights expert today demanded the immediate release of political prisoners in Belarus, called on the Government “to cease human rights violations” and urged the authorities to engage in dialogue with all sectors of civil society.

A United Nations expert on torture told a Geneva-based panel today that Nepal was the only country out of four he visited on fact-finding missions where he had concluded that “torture was conducted on a systematic basis.”

With 1.3 million victims of forced work in Latin America, representing more than 10 per cent of the global total, the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) aims to drastically reduce such hash servitude over the next 10 years, according to a report it released today.

The top United Nations envoy in Afghanistan began a two-day visit to Iran today as part of an international effort to promote regional cooperation.

The top United Nations relief official for the Horn of Africa arrived in Somalia today on the final stage of a weeklong tour, urging donors to be flexible as the aid community works on carrying out longer-term programmes in the faction-torn country, where some 2.1 million people urgently need food aid and other support this year.

One day after parties to the conflict in Darfur missed the African Union’s deadline for reaching a peace agreement, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged the main rebel groups in particular to redouble their efforts to end the suffering and destruction in the strife-torn Sudanese region.

United Nations officials have praised a week-long training course in Liberia involving non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UN agencies, and military, civilian and police personnel from the world body’s peacekeeping operation in the West African country (UNMIL) for highlighting ways to strengthen civilian-military coordination not only in this mission but also in other complex peace operations.

United Nations agencies have started delivering food, safe water and other basic needs to the over 10,000 Sri Lankans displaced by recent clashes between the Government and the separatist Tamil rebels, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.

One month after the United Nations Security Council called for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is reporting that this work continues, and it can make no further progress in determining whether the country is carrying out illicit nuclear activities because it lacks the cooperation of the Government.

A senior United Nations official today called on officials from across the world attending the annual session of the Commission on Sustainable Development to address the needs of the 2.4 billion people who lack modern energy services as well as concerns over energy security exacerbated by high prices.