The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) grants disability claims for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) caused by in-service sexual trauma at significantly lower rates than it has granted claims for PTSD arising from other causes, says a report released on Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) . According to the report, between the [...]
Alleged Rwandan genocide perpetrator Emmanuel Mbarushimana on Wednesday challenged a decision by Denmark’s Supreme Court to extradite him to Rwanda. Filing an application before the European Court of Human Rights , Mbarushimana claims that he will be unable to receive a fair trial if brought before a Rwandan court. Such a request could mean that [...]
The US Senate on Thursday approved a bill by a vote of 64 to 32 outlawing workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) outlaws workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The ENDA expands upon the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s Title VII protections, which [...]
The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a woman who donated an egg to her lesbian partner has parental rights to the child they conceived. The child in question was born to the couple in 2004. The women had agreed to conceive a child with the assistance of reproductive technology. The donor and the birth [...]
Vietnamese authorities are using repressive laws, unfair trials and harsh prison conditions against activists who oppose the ruling Communist government, according to a report released Thursday by Amnesty International (AI) . The report claims that those arrested include bloggers, labor and land rights activists, human rights defenders, and religious followers. Vietnam is a member of [...]
The US on Thursday became the first country to ratify the Minamata Convention , which seeks to bring down emissions and releases of mercury, prompting praise from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) . There are currently 93 signatories to the convention, but the US is the only country to have ratified the agreement, giving the [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Thursday that the exclusion of same-sex couples from civil unions under Greek law is a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights . The court held that the ban violates Article 8 (the right to respect for private and family life) and Article 14 (prohibition of [...]
UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women Rashida Manjoo and the chairperson of the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice Frances Raday on Wednesday urged the Sudanese government to stop the practice of threatening women with flogging for “honour-related offences.” According to Manjoo, the punishment is violative [...]
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled Thursday that gay people who live in African countries where they could be persecuted for their sexuality have grounds for asylum in the EU. The decision came after the Netherlands asked the ECJ for advice regarding three Sierra Leone, Uganda and Senegal citizens who were seeking asylum. Dutch [...]
Spanish officials on Wednesday told the UN that they will not reexamine the state’s action during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War and the Franco era. In 1977, Spain enacted a law that granted amnesty for political crimes committed during these periods. Spanish officials testified before the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) that the state’s [...]
