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Torture, ill-treatment and impunity for the perpetrators are widespread in police custody in Nigeria, though apparently not in the prison system, and the Government should take decisive steps to implement its obligations under international law to criminalize these practices, an independent United Nations human rights expert said today, while welcoming progress in other areas.

Neither Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian-led Government nor Serbia have shown any will to reach a negotiated accord on the future status of the Serbian province, where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1, and the senior United Nations official overseeing the issue will submit a “realistic compromise” to the Security Council this month.

Welcoming a recent diplomatic meeting on Iraq, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced hope that it would spur progress on key issues, including those affecting its neighbours, which he said must play a constructive role in promoting stability in the country.

Increasing fighting in Sri Lanka between Tamil separatists and the Government has forced well over 100,000 civilians to flee their homes in the eastern district of Batticaloa, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and aid agencies working in the country said today, urging both sides to ensure their protection and comply with international human rights law.

Emergency United Nations food aid to almost 100,000 Cambodians suffering from HIV/AIDS and TB can now resume, the World Food Programme (WFP) said today, after the agency received $1 million from the Government of Dubai, but it warned that more donations were urgently needed to fully restart operations in the impoverished country.

While acknowledging that the Philippines needs to take effective measures to prevent and counter terrorism, an independent United Nations expert today called on the new congress to be elected this Spring to amend or repeal entirely a recently signed anti-terrorism law which could adversely affect human rights.

The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has helped rehabilitate a high school for some 5,000 students in the St. Martin quarter of Port-au-Prince, the capital, after it had been out of commission since 2004 because of insecurity and disrepair.

Following the signing of a peace agreement between the rival leaders in Côte d’Ivoire, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on the international community to be ready to provide key help in such fields as disarmament, security sector reform and preparations for elections in the divided West African country.

A suspected armed robber was shot dead early yesterday near Liberia’s border with Guinea when United Nations peacekeepers supporting Liberian Police returned fire on armed men in a stolen UN vehicle who attacked a checkpoint after an earlier armed robbery.

A United Nations human rights expert today issued a strong appeal for the release of Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo and his aides, who are reportedly being held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan.