New York, N.Y. In 2017 the J. Luce Foundation awarded HIV & AIDS educator, activist and human rights defender-in-exile Ghislain Joël Nkontchou Honorable Mention for his work with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people in his native country of Cameroon, Central Africa where he was forced to confront homophobia and eventually flee into exile to […]
Tag Archives: human rights
Landmark Verdict in India Scraps Law Criminalizing Homosexuality
New York, N.Y. In India, the Supreme Court has struck down a 19th century law criminalizing gay sex, bringing to a close a long drawn out battle to overturn a controversial law that was a remnant of the country’s colonial past. Calling the British era law “irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary,” Chief Justice Dipak Misra said […]
Human Rights Experts Denounce Trump’s Attacks On Media
New York, N.Y. The United Nations expert on free expression has condemned President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the press, warning that the U.S. leader’s rhetoric is eroding public trust in the media and could spark violence against journalists. Journalists being briefed during Intra-Syrian talks at the U.N. Office at Geneva in 2017. U.N. Photo/Violaine Martin. . “His attacks […]
U.N. Denounces Grave ‘Assaults’ on Palestinian People
New York, N.Y. From arbitrary detentions and deliberate deprivation, to attacks against civilians and forced displacements, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, expressed “acute concerns” on Monday over the current human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Briefing the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, […]
U.N.: Women’s Rights Face Global Pushback from Fanaticism
New York, N.Y. Women’s rights are under threat from a “backlash” of conservatism and fundamentalism around the world, a United Nation panel warned on Friday. “Alarming pushbacks have been progressing across regions of the globe”, through what the Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice described as “alliance of conservative political ideologies […]
Calls for China to Face Ghosts of its Past on Tiananmen Anniversary
Beijing, China. The United States has added its voice to international calls for China’s communist-led government to give a full public accounting of those who were killed, detained or went missing during the violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations in and around Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. In a bold statement from Washington to mark […]
Myanmar: UN Warns of ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Rakhine State
New York,N.Y. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today expressed alarm over reports of serious rights violations in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state that cite allegations of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and sexual violence, and a renewed spike in hate speech – including on social media. […]
LGBT expert urges partnership to end violence and discrimination
New York, N.Y. Global partnership is needed to end discrimination and violence against the worldwide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, a United Nations human rights expert has told an international conference in Bangkok, Thailand, outlining five key steps that should be taken. […]
