Russian lawmakers introduced the bill [JURIST report] in March. The proposed legislation calls for fines of up to 500,000 rubles (USD $16,500) for promoting the homosexual lifestyle and appears to be aimed at media outlets which lawmakers blame for "promoting gay lifestyles as 'normal behavior.'" Earlier that month, the City Hall of St. Petersburg in Russia announced that the city's governor signed into law [JURIST report] a similar bill that would impose fines against people convicted of promoting homosexuality, including gays or lesbians who are open about their sexuality. The St. Petersburg bill was introduced in November 2011 [JURIST report], and sponsors claim it is necessary because homosexual propaganda "threatens" Russia and "sexual deviation" negatively impacts Russian children. Several advocacy groups has challenged the bills as discriminatory. In January, Human Rights Watch called on authorities to veto the Moscow legislation [JURIST report], which they called a "discriminatory and dangerous initiative." However, Russian legal scholars have asserted that the Russian Constitution may allow limitations to be placed on the rights of homosexuals due to the constitutional ability to balance the interests of society and limit rights of a social group if they infringe upon the rights of another social group.

[T]he rule would amend the criteria for the religious employer exemption to ensure that an otherwise exempt employer plan is not disqualified because the employer's purposes extend beyond the inculcation of religious values or because the employer serves or hires people of different religious faiths. [Also], the rule would establish accommodations for health coverage established or maintained by eligible organizations, or arranged by eligible organizations that are religious institutions of higher education, with religious objections to contraceptive coverage.

In December the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit [official website] temporarily enjoined [JURIST report] the enforcement of the PPACA's contraception mandate for an Illinois construction company, serving as the first time that a federal court had done so for a company operated by strongly religious owners. This ruling came on the heels of several businesses, including Hobby Lobby, Inc. and Mardel, Inc. [corporate websites], refusing to comply with a US Supreme Court [official website] order denying an injunction [JURIST reports] against the contraceptive coverage mandate. In June the Supreme Court upheld [JURIST report] PPACA, focusing on the "individual mandate" provision [text] of the act which requires every person, with some exceptions for religious and other reasons, to purchase some form of health insurance by January 1, 2014, or be subject to a fee equal to either a percent of that individual's income or flat rate of $695.

Bahrain has imprisoned numerous activists in the wake of the 2011 protests and banned all protests [JURIST report] effective October 2012. In January a court in Bahrain released [JURIST report] human rights activist Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafda on bail pending trial for charges of spreading false news to harm security. Also in January the highest Bahraini appellate court upheld the convictions [JURIST report] of 13 prominent pro-democracy protestors convicted by military tribunal in 2011 on charges of plotting to overthrow the monarchy. In December Bahrain's High Criminal Court of Appeals commuted death sentences [JURIST report] for two protesters, instead sentencing them to life imprisonment. Earlier in December the prison sentence for outspoken Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab was reduced by one year [JURIST report]. In November Amnesty International released a brief detailing how Bahrain had failed to meet its obligations [JURIST report] and promises to ensure respect for human rights and prevent further torture within the country. In October the Bahrain appeals court upheld verdicts against two teachers [JURIST report] for organizing a teacher's strike to support anti-government protests. Earlier in October the Bahrain Court of Cassation upheld jail sentences [JURIST report] issued to nine medics convicted for their involvement in Bahrain's pro-democracy uprising in February and March of 2011.

UN Women calls upon the Government and people of Egypt to take a firm stand against all forms of violence against women and girls, and to promote human rights for all, including the rights of women to live free of violence and discrimination and to participate fully in social, economic and political life.

Violence against women has been a long-standing issue around the world. Last month UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged India's government [JURIST report] to strengthen critical services for rape victims, expressing sympathy for the family of the 23-year-old medical student who died from injuries sustained in a gang-rape in December. Police in New Delhi charged six men [JURIST report] with rape and murder of the woman. In December the UN released a report declaring that women in Afghanistan [JURIST report] are still suffering abuse at the hands of men. In November the UN urged countries to implement policies that will end violence against women [JURIST report]. Also in November the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly approved a resolution calling for a global ban on female genital mutilation [JURIST report]. At the same time, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] released a report detailing violence and obstacles women are facing in Colombia [JURIST report], where the legal framework is often not properly applied despite the government's progress in enacting legislation to protect violence against women.

Recently the OHCHR, among other work, has released a statement on the turmoil in Mail, and expressed concern about the ongoing violence in Syria and Colombia's proposed constitutional reform to their military justice system [JURIST reports]. According to the OHCHR's Annual Report for 2011 [text, PDF], the OHCHR had 58 field presences: 13 country/stand-alone offices, 15 human rights components of peace missions, 12 regional offices and 18 human rights advisers within United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs). OHCHR's 2012 report will be available in May 2013.

It is found and determined by the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas that abortions are currently being performed in Arkansas on unborn children with detectable heartbeats; and that this act is immediately necessary because to protect the lives of unborn children with detectable heartbeats.

Numerous states have changed their abortion laws to restrict the availability of abortion recently, usually leading to legal challenges. In December a state judge in Georgia enjoined a law [JURIST report] banning doctors from providing abortions for women pregnant beyond 20 weeks. In November Montana voters passed a referendum [JURIST report] requiring facilities and doctors to inform parents of minors 16 to 48 hours before a planned abortion procedure. Also last month the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] heard oral arguments [JURIST report] on a challenge to Arizona's law which, like Georgia's law, bans abortions after 20 weeks. Planned Parenthood also sued Texas [JURIST report] in October claiming that its law preventing state funding from going to any clinics affiliated with providing abortions violates another state law.

Earlier this week International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda [official profile] warned [JURIST report] the Malian government over reports of human rights abuses by Malian forces. In the statement, Bensouda urged Malian authorities to put an immediate stop to the alleged abuses and to investigate and prosecute those responsible. Bensouda announced last week that her office has launched an investigation [JURIST report] into possible war crimes committed in Mali. Mali has drawn increased international scrutiny recently regarding political violence and alleged human rights abuses. Last week the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a report saying that the tumultuous situation in Mali has led to human rights violations [JURIST report]. Earlier in January the interim president declared a state of emergency [JURIST report].

On Wednesday, the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled [JURIST report] that Samsung did not willfully infringe Apple patents. If Samsung was found to have willfully infringed Apple's patents, the $1.05 billion jury verdict [JURIST report] against it could have been increased up to triple that amount [35 USC § 284 text]. The judge's ruling partially abrogates the jury verdict, which had found that Samsung willfully infringed five of Apple's seven asserted patents. Last month Apple agreed to withdraw claims [JURIST report] against a Samsung product that Samsung asserts has never been sold in the US in the second of the two patent infringement cases [case materials] taking place in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Controversy continues to surround Guantanamo military trials. Earlier this month Pohl denied [JURIST report] a defense motion requesting a finding that the US constitution was "presumed to apply" in the proceedings and that the prosecution must bear the burden of proving that any particular provision did not apply. Last month a US military judge upheld [JURIST report] a request to censor 9/11 conspirators' testimony. In September a judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia rejected [JURIST report] new restrictions on lawyers representing Guantanamo Bay detainees who have had their habeas corpus challenges denied or dismissed. The Department of Defense announced in 2011 that it had sworn charges against the five men [JURIST report] accused in the 9/11 attacks. In April 2011 US Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four others would be tried by a military commission [JURIST report] after the Obama administration abandoned attempts to have the 9/11 suspects tried in civilian courts.