A Chinese anti-corruption activist put on trial in what campaign groups say is a crackdown on dissent was beaten by police while in detention, lawyers said Thursday.
Spanish courts are releasing serial rapists and killers under a European human rights ruling, terrifying their victims as authorities warn the convicts risk reoffending.
A UN General Assembly committee has agreed a landmark first resolution on women's rights defenders such as Malala Yousafzai, despite a hard fought campaign by an alliance including the Vatican to weaken the measure.
A Pacific islander's bid to become the world's first climate change refugee failed Tuesday, with a New Zealand judge describing his case as "unconvincing".
Mexico said Sunday it will award its 2013 International Prize for Equality and Non-Discrimination to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban for championing girls' rights to education.
Uzbekistan must halt its routine use of torture and cease reprisals against human rights campaigners who expose state abuses, United Nations monitors said Friday.
Britain's David Cameron put Sri Lanka on notice Saturday to address allegations of war crimes within months or else he would lead a push for action at the UN.
The head of a UN inquiry into North Korea rights abuses told Tuesday how he had been reduced to tears by witness accounts of people who fled the hardline state.
A US government commission said Thursday that China's human rights record has not improved under the country's new leadership and raised concerns on issues from minority rights to forced abortion.
Council of Europe chief Thorbjoern Jagland has distanced himself from a controversial resolution of the pan-European human rights body that calls for regulation of circumcision practices.
Israel labelled as "racist" and "anti-religious" Friday a resolution of the pan-European human rights body calling for regulation of circumcision practices.
Venezuela withdrew from a regional human rights court on Tuesday, fulfilling the wishes of late president Hugo Chavez to the dismay of activists who fear the state may commit abuses.
The head of a UN inquiry into human rights in North Korea appealed on Tuesday for access to the country, even as Pyongyang condemned his commission's work as slanderous and provocative.
The head of a UN inquiry into human rights in North Korea challenged Pyongyang on Monday to back its allegation that testimony gathered by his commission in Seoul amounted to "slander"
US President Barack Obama on Thursday called on Vietnam's leader to improve on human rights but the former enemy nations pledged to work together on trade and tensions with China.