Watchdog

The head of the Russian presidential human rights council says he has not been allowed to visit detained suspects in the killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

Mikhail Fedotov told Interfax news agency on March 16 that he and his colleague Kirill Kabanov were not allowed to visit the five suspects on March 13.

He added that there was no official document from investigators explaining the prohibition.

On March 11, Andrei Babushkin, also a member of the presidential human rights council, was questioned by Russian investigators after visiting three of the suspects held in a Moscow pretrial detention jail.

Babushkin said after the visit there were signs that one of the suspects, Zaur Dadayev, had been tortured into making a confession.

He quoted officers from Russia’s Investigative Committee as telling him that he may no longer visit suspects in the case because he is a witness.

Nemtsov was gunned down near the Kremlin on February 27.

With reporting by Interfax

The UN rights investigator on Iran has hailed "some limited improvements" in the country since the 2013 election of President Hassan Rohani but warned "the overall situation has worsened."

The UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, spoke to reporters in Geneva on March 16 before presenting his latest report on the human rights situation in Iran to the UN Human Rights Council.

He said more than 200 people have been executed in Iran so far this year after 753 known executions last year, which was the highest annual figure since 2002.

Shaheed said Iran has also introduced a number of laws putting pressure on dissidents, rights activists, and journalists.

But the UN expert expressed hope a possible resolution of Iran’s nuclear dispute with the international community will improve the human rights situation.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP