Gambia’s National Assembly passed a bill on Monday that imposes life imprisonment for some homosexual acts. The bill amends the criminal code to bring life sentences for “aggravated homosexuality,” which encompasses repeat offenders, those living with HIV/AIDS, and where a minor is involved. The bill will become law pending the signature of President Yahya Jammeh [...]

Three UN human rights experts urged the Australian state of Tasmania on Tuesday not to adopt legislation against protests that disrupt businesses. The experts expressed concern that the new law would silence legitimate and lawful protests. The government argues the proposed bill is necessary to protect businesses from disruption by protesters. The bill prohibits protests [...]

The Federal court of Australia has upheld a ruling allowing US-based genetic testing company Myriad Genetics to retain its patent for genetic material (DNA and RNA) it has isolated from human cells. Patient advocacy group Cancer Voices Australia (CVA) appealed a February 2013 court ruling that approved the patentability of nucleic acids that the company [...]

A senior UN human rights official said on Monday that the death toll in Ukraine has risen above 3,000, and pleaded for peace to spare more bloodshed. Ivan Simonovic , the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, stated that the confirmed deaths due to the fighting that began in April was now at 2,729, and [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments Monday in three cases involving same-sex marriage in Idaho, Nevada and Hawaii . The three-judge panel consists of judges Stephen Reinhardt , appointed by Jimmy Carter, and Marsha Berzon and Ronald Gould , appointed by Bill Clinton. Reinhardt has a particularly noteworthy history [...]

The UN General Assembly on Monday met to discuss “the responsibility to protect” adopted by world leaders in 2005, with UN officials stressing the urgency of this responsibility as crises rage around the world. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the assembly , saying that the world now faces a number of conflicts that involve acts that [...]

Amnesty International (AI) said Sunday that both Ukrainian militia and separatist forces may be responsible for war crimes , with all sides of the conflict showing disregard for civilian lives. AI Secretary General Salil Shetty called on the involved parties to stop all violations of the laws of war and respect their international obligations. Evidence [...]

Soldiers from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have been sexually exploiting and assaulting Somali women, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Monday. The abuses have allegedly occurred on two AMISOM military bases in the Somalian city of Mogadishu. According to the report, Ugandan and Burundian soldiers have used their positions of power to sexually [...]

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used torture methods beyond waterboarding on suspected terrorists, according to a report published by the Telegraph Sunday. The UK-based news outlet spoke to an unnamed “security source” who alleged that the “CIA brought top al-Qaeda suspects close ‘to the point of death’ by drowning them in water-filled baths during [...]

A group of Thailand human rights activists denounced the country’s state of martial law on Monday, accusing the ruling military junta of imposing a judicial “twilight zone.” The rights group has called for an end to martial law which was instituted on May 20, two days before the coup that ousted the former Thai government [...]