The State Department released its yearly publication, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2011, on May 24, 2012.

A broad-sweeping look at international efforts to protect and promote human rights. This is part of the Global Governance Monitor, an interactive feature tracking multilateral approaches to several global challenges.

Jerome A. Cohen discusses conspiracy speculations surrounding the Chen Guangcheng case.

Jerome A. Cohen says diplomacy took Chen Guangcheng only so far.

President Obama gave these remarks at the Holocaust Memorial Museum on April 23, 2012.

UN Security Council Resolution 2043 regarding Syria was adopted on April 21, 2012.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta gave these remarks on Syria on April 19, 2012 before the House Armed Services Committee.

This Declaration and Agenda for Action was released at the 1st World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Stockholm, Sweden on August 31, 1996.

The declaration begins, "We, gathered in Stockholm for the World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, representing the Governments of 122 countries, together with non-governmental organizations, the End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT) campaign, UNICEF and other agencies within the family of the United Nations, and other concerned organizations and individuals worldwide, hereby commit ourselves to a global partnership against the commercial sexual exploitation of children."

The Council of Europe's Convention Against Trafficking in Human Beings was opened for signature on May 16, 2005 and entered into force on February 1, 2008.

The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others was approved by the UN General Assembly on December 2, 1949 and entered into force on July 25, 1951.

There are no good solutions to the mess in Syria, says James Traub, a fellow of the Center on International Cooperation.

The Ouagadougou Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, Especially Women and Children was adopted on November 23, 2006 by the EU and African states. The EU says, "It aims at developing co-operation, best practices and mechanisms to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings between the European Union and the African Union. The Action Plan takes a holistic human rights approach and includes measures also to protect the victims and prosecute the traffickers."

The Brussels Declaration on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings was adopted on November 29, 2002 at the European Conference on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.

The UN Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air was adopted on November 15, 2004 and entered into force on January 28, 2004.

The UN Security Council issued this Presidential Statement concerning Syria on March 21, 2012.

President Obama gave these remarks on Nowruz, Persian new year, on March 20, 2012.

The UN General Assembly passed this resolution on February 16, 2012. The press release states, "Strongly condemning continued widespread and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities, the General Assembly today voted overwhelmingly to call on both the Government and allied forces and armed groups "to stop all violence or reprisals immediately".

Adopting an Arab-backed resolution by a recorded vote of 137 in favour to 12 against, with 17 abstentions, the Assembly expressed grave concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria, and condemned a raft of violations carried out by the authorities, such as the use of force against civilians, the killing and persecution of protestors and journalists, and sexual violence and ill-treatment, including against children."

Imre Nagy, prime minister and acting foreign minister of Hungary, sent this telegram on November 1, 1956 to diplomatic missions in Budapest, Hungary. Nagy asks for the withdrawal of Soviet troops, declaring Hungary's neutrality, and denounces the Warsaw Pact.

The UN Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons was adopted on September 28, 1954 and entered into force on June 6, 1960.

The UN released this press release on February 13, 2012; it describes the statement made by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, regarding Syria. Statements by UN delegations follow the her words.