United Nations

The U.N. Human Rights Council, a body within the United Nations system that works closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, is composed of 47 member states that can be elected for two maximum consecutive three-year terms. The Geneva-based council meets at least three times a year for 10-week sessions, and can call special sessions as well. Along with assessing other human-rights concerns around the globe, members are supposed to commit to upholding high human-rights standards at home. However, this body is mired in controversy.

At the end of October 2008, angry and frustrated Congolese were chucking rocks at a U.N. compound in the tumultuous eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tutsi rebels were advancing unchecked, as many as 250,000 Congolese had already been displaced from their homes, and the Spanish commander of the peacekeeping mission who had only been in the country for three weeks, Lt. Gen. Vicente Díaz de Villegas y Herrería, had abruptly resigned. Officially, this resignation was for "personal reasons," but the New York Times cited sources that said he was frustrated by the lack of cohesion and resources in the mission, leaving the civilians with little protection from the fighting.

World leaders gather in New York for the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Here are a collection of photos from that meeting.

In September 2009 Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi made his first trip to the United States to address the 64th General Assembly of the United Nations. His controversial 96-minute speech caused quite a stir; here are the images from that visit.