Geneva  - Diplomats believe they have come up with a suitable compromise draft final declaration ahead of next week's controversial racism conference in Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday.

The conference, known as Durban II, has been plagued with disagreement, with Canada and Israel boycotting the event over fears Muslim nations will focus exclusively on the Jewish state's treatment of Palestinians.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said agreement from all member states had been received, and that all disputed points such as references to the Middle East had been deleted.

Geneva - The United Nations human rights chief thanked Tuesday the witnesses who came forth and gave testimony during the war crimes tribunals for the genocide in Rwanda 15 years ago.

"I would like to pay homage to the witnesses," said Navi Pillay, who was a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She said the "truth fosters reconciliation."

Pillay was speaking at an observance ceremony at the UN's Geneva headquarters, before an inauguration of an exhibition called A 100 Nights, which focused on the period of the genocide.

Geneva - The situation in northern Sri Lanka is "desperate," United Nation's top human rights official Navi Pillay said Friday, criticizing both the government and the Tamil rebels.

"The current level of civilian casualties is truly shocking, and there are legitimate fears that the loss of life may reach catastrophic levels, if the fighting continues in this way," Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said.