The U.S. Department of State released this statement regarding the suspension of embassy operations in Syria on February 6, 2012.

President Obama gave this statement on Syria on February 4, 2012.

Mark P. Lagon and William F. Schulz take a closer look at how liberals and conservatives understand and advance human rights and lay out options for creating a more unified human rights movement focused on resilience and creative policies rather than dogmatism.

Jerome A. Cohen and Jared Genser argue that the case of detained Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng demonstrates how far the Chinese government will go to suppress legitimate criticism by its citizens.

The United States submitted these observations on the relationship between climate change and human rights to the UN Human Rights Council in 2008. The observations were "requested by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in its communications dated June 3 and August 21, 2008…in accordance with Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution 7/23, in order to conduct "a detailed analytical study on the relationship between climate change and human rights."

The ILO Abolition of Forced Labor Convention of 1957 was adopted on June 25, 1957 by the General Conference of the International Labour Organisation and entered into force on January 17, 1959.

The Council of Europe Social Charter was opened for signature on October 18, 1961 and entered into force on February 26, 1965.

The Protocol amending the Slavery Convention was adopted as UN General Assembly resolution 794 on October 23, 1953. It was signed on September 25, 1926 and entered into force on December 7, 1953.

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote his theological treatise, Summa Theologica, from 1265 to 1274. This section deals with which actions, in war, are lawful and unlawful.

The UN Global Compact was launched on July 26, 2000 with nine principles. A tenth was added on June 24, 2004. The UN states, "The UN Global Compact's ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption enjoy universal consensus and are derived from The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and The United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

The UN Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption."

This proposed anti-homosexualitybill was introduced in Uganda's Parliament in October 2009; among its provisions, it states that "A person who commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality shall be liable on conviction to suffer death." The bill has not been voted upon.

The UN states, "The International Bill of Human Rights consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights and its two Optional Protocols."

Secretary of State Clinton gave these remarks on internet freedom on December 8, 2011.

Secretary of State Clinton gave these remarks on International Human Rights Day, December 6, 2011, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave these remarks with Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon, Burma on December 2, 2011.

Secretary Clinton is in Myanmar to gauge recent reforms by the military-backed regime. Experts are calling for further democratization, including strengthening the rule of law and reconciliation with ethnic minority groups.

Amnesty International discusses how Egyptian human rights have been restricted by the military since Mubarak's ousting in February 2011.

The UN Human Rights Council issued this report on Syria on November 23, 2011. It states that "gross violations of human rights have been committed by Syrian military and security forces since the beginning of the protests in March 2011".

This UN Human Rights Council report was released on November 17, 2011. The summary states, "The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to its resolution 17/19, in which the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to commission a study documenting discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, and how international human rights law can be used to end violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity."

CFR's Mark P. Lagon discusses with students the problem of human trafficking in the world and what the United States can do to deter it, as part of CFR's Academic Conference Call series.

Learn more about CFR's resources for the classroom at Educators Home.