The Saudi Arabian authorities continued their cynical use of a repressive and overly vague counter-terrorism  law to purge the Kingdom’s small and embattled civil society by convicting the human rights defender Abdulkareem  al-Khoder  and imprisoning him for 10 years, Amnesty International said.

Expressing his «deep sadness» at the recent execution by Iran of two juvenile offenders, United Nations  Secretary-General  Ban  Ki-moon  noted with concern the alarming increase in executions in the country over the last decade.

The Cuban authorities’ failure to keep to their commitment to release a graffiti artist unfairly imprisoned nearly a year ago is a painful illustration of their disregard for freedom of expression, said Amnesty International.

Marking the International Day of Rural Women, the United Nations affirmed the role of women as significant and crucial for the progress of rural households, local and national economies.

A new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) finds that social protection is emerging as a critical tool in the drive to eradicate hunger, yet the vast majority of the world’s rural poor are yet to be covered.

A recent revelation by satirical cartoonist Atena Farghadani that she was forced to undergo a "virginity and pregnancy test", prior to her trial for a charge of "illegitimate sexual relations" for shaking hands with her lawyer, has added another stain on Iran’s shameful record of violence against women, Amnesty International said.

United Nations  Secretary-General  Ban  Ki-moon  has denounced terrorist bombings in Ankara, Turkey.

Despite significant progress towards building a solid human rights framework, the Mexican Government must nevertheless "bind itself to a new sense of urgency in solving the enormous human rights challenges it faces," Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said today as he wrapped up an official visit to the country.

On 7 October, the United Nations launched the Revised Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, dubbed the ‘Nelson Mandela Rules,’ which  Secretary-General  Ban Ki-moon  welcomed as "a great step forward" but also drew attention to three areas that could be strengthened from a human rights perspective.

Roughly 6,000 federal inmates will be released in the coming weeks in an effort to ease prison crowding and lessen harsh penalties for  non-violent  offenders, US media report.