At an international conference organized by the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, ethical, legal and health professionals, together with representatives of relevant authorities, agreed on the need for more experience-sharing, co-operation and public dialogue to ensure better protection of human rights in the biomedical field. The conference was part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Russia’s membership of the Council of Europe.

The fate of hundreds of asylum seekers being held in a detention center in Papua New Guinea was in limbo on Wednesday as the country’s prime minister announced the facility would close in response to a court ruling that Australia’s detention of the men on the island nation is illegal.

On 25 April, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore said that Iraq’s development plan must be based on equality, the rule of law and a vision that has earned the confidence of all the country’s diverse communities.

The sentencing of human rights activist Issa al-Hamid to nine years in prison and a travel ban of equal duration is the latest evidence of the Saudi Arabian authorities’ resolve to continue their ruthless onslaught against civil society in the Kingdom, said Amnesty International.

On 21 April, the appeal court in Nouadhibou upheld the death sentence for Mauritanian blogger and freelance journalist Mohamed Mkhaïtir.

On 20 April, the United Nations refugee agency said that as many as 500 people may have lost their lives this past week when an overcrowded boat carrying refugees and migrants sank in the Mediterranean Sea at an unknown location between Libya and Italy.

The vast majority of immigrant children who arrive alone at the U.S. borderare placed by the government with adults who are in the country illegally, federal data reviewed by The Associated Press show.

Conflict-related violence in Afghanistan has harmed health and education personnel, reduced the availability of health care and limited children’s access to essential health and education services, the United Nations said in a new report released 18 April.

Policies of "destitution by design" are eroding rights of asylum seekers in Ireland and austerity has been imposed with "little respect" for the rights of the poor and marginalised, a leading human rights advocate has said.

On 14 April, United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein appealed to Iran to halt executions for drug offences until the new Parliament debates a proposed law that would remove the mandatory death penalty for drug crimes.