Tag Archives: Law & Politics

Ideology + Affiliation

Ethiopia News | Dissenters

Charges against Ethiopian journalists dropped ahead of Obama’s visit to country
  • Five of the Zone 9 bloggers jailed for their social and political criticism of the government were released as Ethiopia prepares for U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to address the African Union later in the month.
  • The Committee to Protect Journalists has indicated that 12 other journalists remain incarcerated, making Ethiopia one of the nations least friendly to press freedom in Africa.
  • The single-party rule of the People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front in the country has led to instances of criticism of the party being associated with terrorism, leading to the incarcerations.

Read the full story at the Guardian.

Sexual + Gender Minorities

E.U. News | LGBTI

European Parliament adds LGBTI rights to European relations policy
  • The European Neighbourhood Policy, which organizes relations between the European Union and its non-EU neighbors on the continent, now includes the LGBTI community in its promotion of minority rights.
  • Rights advocates lauded the move for giving a mandate for EU representatives to promote protections and inclusive policies in non-EU European countries.

“In a world where some countries make homophobia an active part of their domestic policy, I’m pleased to see Europe using the full clout of its economic power to counter these attitudes.”

Read the full story at PinkNews.

(Image Credit: Frederick Florin/AFP/Getty Images, via PinkNews)

Nationality + Migration

Turkey News | Uyghur Muslims

More than 170 Uyghurs resettled in Turkey following release from Thai detention camp
  • The 173 released–all Uyghur women and children–had been detained for more than a year by Thai immigration authorities.
  • The group is a part of a wave of ethnic Uyghurs fleeing their homeland in northwestern China because of the government’s crackdown on their culture and activities.
  • Those seeking exit from China rely on underground networks that take them through southeast Asia, where Thailand is a major node in smuggling routes.

“China deprives them of their human dignity, their human rights, and religious freedom in every possible way, so they head to Turkey to live like human beings.”

Read the full story at Radio Free Asia.

(Image Credit: Radio Free Asia)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Racial Symbols

Confederate flag removed from South Carolina capitol grounds
  • Governor Nikki Haley signed into law the bill calling for the removal of the flag from the statehouse following its passage by the state legislature.
  • The flag was placed in the South Carolina State Museum, which houses artifacts of the state’s history.
  • Originally hoisted in 1962 in response to the growing civil rights movement, the flag remained atop the dome of the statehouse until 2000, when it was moved to a pole next to a Confederate monument on the grounds.

“Twenty-two days ago, I didn’t know that I would ever be able to say this again. … But today I’m very proud to say that it is a great day in South Carolina.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed.

(Image Credit: nbcnews.com, via BuzzFeed)

Gender

Afghanistan News | Women

Afghanistan’s first female nominee to Supreme Court rejected by Parliament
  • Beyond a capitulation to conservative opposition, the rejection signals a deepening challenge to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s political agenda.
  • While women’s rights advocates hope for another female nomination, others fear more general rollbacks of rights and protections for women following the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.

Read the full story at Reuters.

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Myanmar News | Muslims & Interfaith

Myanmar passes controversial law restricting interfaith marriage
  • The law requires partners of different faiths to register their intent to marry with the government, after which they can marry only if there are no objections following public notice of the engagement.
  • Violation of the law could lead to imprisonment, which has led to an outcry from rights organizations who slam the law as discriminatory against ethnic minorities and women.
  • Proposed by the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion, the law claims to focus on the protection of Buddhist women from being coerced into interfaith marriages and losing their rights.

“This kind of law shouldn’t be issued by parliament because it is not an essential law for all ethnic [groups] in Myanmar; it is just a law that discriminates against ethnic people when it comes to religion.”

Read the full story at Radio Free Asia.

(Image Credit: AFP, via Radio Free Asia)

Health + Ability

Zimbabwe News | Intellectual Disability

Zimbabwe organizations fight for sexual rights and education for people with intellectual disabilities
  • A recent panel in Harare focused on access to sexual reproductive health and HIV services for people with disabilities in Zimbabwe, who face marginalization due to lack of understanding about the spectrum of intellectual disability.
  • One leader of the Zimcare Trust, an organization focused on the empowerment of people with intellectual disabilities, noted that the legal and social infantilization of people with intellectual disabilities led to their being ill-informed about their own sexual health, increasing the likelihood of disease and pregnancy.
  • The National AIDS Council indicated it has established a special desk to ensure access to reproductive and HIV services.

“There is a thin line between Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act that regards a sexual encounter with a ‘mentally incompetent’ person as rape and a person with intellectual challenge choosing to have sex. … Persons with disabilities are regarded as perpetual minors no matter how old hence have no access to SRH [sexual and reproductive health] services.”

Read the full story at NewsDay.

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | People of Color

95% of elected prosecutors in the U.S. are white, exacerbating distrust in the legal system for minorities
  • The study commissioned by the Women Donors Network and undertaken by the Center for Technology and Civic Life also found that white males account for 79% of elected prosecutors in 2014 and two-thirds of states that elect prosecutors have no black people in those positions,
  • While much attention has been focused on police behavior and demographics, prosecutors wield a more heady influence on the justice system, driving important decision-making such as whether to bring charges, which charges are brought, and determining punishments in widely used plea bargains.
  • Redressing the imbalance will be difficult as 85% of incumbent prosecutors are reelected unopposed, according to one study.

“I think most people know that we’ve had a significant problem with lack of diversity in decision-making roles in the criminal justice system for a long time. I think what these numbers dramatize is that the reality is much worse than most people imagine and that we are making almost no progress.”

Read the full story at the New York Times.

(Image Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images, via The New York Times)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Turkey News | LGBT

LGB Turks facing outspoken opposition from political figures and call for their murder
  • The government crackdown on this year’s Istanbul Pride is the latest in a series of official condemnations of LGB organizing, advocacy, and inclusion.
  • A group called the Young Islamic Defense has been putting up posters around Ankara calling for the murder of LGB people.
  • Politicians including the president, prime minister, and MPs have denigrated the inclusive People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which won important victories in this year’s elections, and cast LGBT support as anti-Turkish and anti-Muslim.

“This country’s order might be secular, liberal democrat, etc. but no one should forget that the overwhelming majority of our society is Muslim, which accepts homosexuality as immoral, homosexuals who explain themselves cannot join the community of honorable and virtuous people, the ‘fault’ they have committed will be met with disgust as a shameful act. A Muslim cannot defend a regime that equates homosexuals with people of the faith.”

Read the full story at LGBTI News Turkey.

(Image Credit: via LGBTI News Turkey)

Gender

Sierra Leone News | Women

Sierra Leone backs women’s rights treaty, but faces uphill road to eradicating female genital mutilation
  • The country has become the latest to ratify the Maputo Protocol, which establishes political commitment to women’s rights issues such as violence against women, child and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation (FGM).
  • Rights organizations expect Sierra Leone’s ratification to bind it to criminalizing FGM.
  • With nine in ten girls cut across the country, the practice has continued through the support of traditionalist groups, though the government began levying fines against practitioners as its Ebola crisis spread.

“The FGM crackdown needs to reach out to people on the ground and women in villages across the country, and a government-led outreach program may be required. Sierra Leone must take a blanket approach to include politicians, health workers and communities, and even consider how to involve the cutters in the discussions to eliminate the practice.”

Read the full story by the Thomson Reuters Foundation at Reuters.

Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

Qatar News | Christian Immigrants

Evangelical mega-community in Qatar granted construction permission for church
  • The Evangelical Churches Alliance Qatar (ECAQ), home to a multi-ethnic community of 1,200, will construct its building outside of central Doha.
  • The granting of building permits to churches is a recent phenomenon, with the first officially sanctioned church since pre-Islamic times going up in 2008.
  • Only Abrahamic faiths are officially recognized in Qatar, and within Christianity, churches must belong to a select group of sects or receive sponsorship from one of the recognized sects.

“They have supported us throughout. … The government has been very supportive in providing us permissions to hold worship sessions, meetings and other celebrations like our Family Days over the years.”

Read the full story at Doha News.

Religion + Belief

Russia News | Muslims

Russian Muslim converts feel the sting of Islamophobia as the government cracks down on the community
  • Among Russia’s 16 to 20 million Muslims are ethnic Russians who have converted to Islam for reasons ranging from marriage to economics to theology.
  • Because converts are statistically more likely to convert to more conservative sects of Islam, the government cracks down on their activity, causing many to emigrate to Turkey, the UAE, and, for the radicalized, the Islamic State.
  • The deep historical roots of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country has led to a post-Soviet national identity centered on the faith, which has led to an association of religious conversion with anti-Kremlin activity.

“Lawyers who were to speak about our problem with the authorities, they said that the first thing to do was to explain to the Turkish government that there is a group of ethnic Russian Muslims, because no one has the slightest idea of this.  We know Tatars, Chechens; we know that Dagestanis of various ethnicities are killed, but that there are suppressed Russians and that you actually have a large ethnic group, we don’t know about this.”

Read the full story at the New York Times.

(Image Credit: Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.K. News | LGB

New poll indicates significant support in Northern Ireland for legalization of same-sex marriage
  • The latest Ipsos MORI poll indicates 68% of adults in Northern Ireland support same-sex marriage, even higher than the 62.1% in favor in the Republic of Ireland at the time of its recently passed marriage referendum.
  • Support is highest among 16- to 34-year-olds at 82%, while 75% of those between 35 and 54 and 47% of those over 50 expressed favor.
  • Northern Ireland remains the only country in the British Isles where same-sex marriage is still illegal, with the constituent components of the U.K. left to establish their own marriage laws.

“The people have spoken and it’s clear they don’t want Northern Ireland to be left behind on marriage equality. … Continuing resistance to bringing Northern Ireland in step with all our neighbours is unacceptable. It’s high time Northern Ireland said a big ‘we do too’ to equality.”

Read the full story at the Belfast Telegraph.

(Image Credit: Kevin Scott/Presseye, via The Belfast Telegraph)

Gender, Other

Palestine News | Women

Gender equality advocates campaign to remove marital status from Palestinian ID cards in the West Bank
  • Women testify to facing harassment and discrimination when presenting their cards, including intrusive questioning from landlords while searching for housing rentals.
  • Members of women’s rights groups launched a campaign in April petitioning for the removal of the status, with Sharia judges and other officials indicating openness to the change.
  • The Ministry of the Interior has expressed support for the idea, but deflected responsibility for change to the Palestinian Legislative Council, which would have to create legislation for the removal to take effect.

“I experienced difficulty in finding a home to rent as a divorced woman. Landlords kept telling me, ‘You’re a woman, where are we supposed to find you to collect the rent?’”

Read the full story at Al-Monitor.
(Image Credit: Ammar Awad/Reuters, via Al-Monitor)
Gender, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Spain News | Gay Men

A decade after same-sex marriage legalized in Spain, couple faces ongoing familial insecurity as legal challenges to their parental rights continue
  • The couple had twins via surrogacy in 2013, but Spain’s National Institute of Social Security (INSS) denied one of the fathers’ request for leave benefits specifically due to the method of conception.
  • The administration argued that surrogate parenting is excluded from leave benefits for fathers because it entails none of the burdens that childbirth, adoption, or foster care do.
  • Two years later, a court sided with the new parents, ordering the INSS to pay the couple the withheld benefits, and after an appeal led to an additional ruling in favor of the couple, the INSS is appealing to the Supreme Court.

«Está claro que yo no he parido ni adoptado a mis hijos, pero ¿cómo vamos a conciliar nuestra vida familiar y laboral? ¿Pretende el INSS que renuncie al cuidado de mis hijos o que renuncie a pagar mis facturas e hipoteca?»

Translation: “It’s clear that I haven’t given birth or adopted my sons, but how are we going to reconcile our family and work life? Does the INSS expect me to give up caring for my sons or give up paying my bills and mortgage?”

Read the full story at La Verdad (in Spanish).

(Image Credit: Pablo Sánchez/AGM, via La Verdad)