Human Rights Watch

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Would the Pope Fall Foul of Uganda’s Pending Anti-LGBTQ+ Law?

Ugandan lawmakers have passed extreme legislation, that includes the death penalty for repeat offenders, requires people to report anyone suspected of being gay or lesbian to the authorities, and could send activists to jail for 20 years. President Yoweri Museveni has 30 days to sign the bill for it to become law. This is an apt moment to recall Pope Francis’s recent statements that laws criminalizing homosexuality are “unjust,” and that the Catholic Church can and should oppose them. Recognizing that certain Catholic bishops support such laws, the Pope remarked on the need for change within the Church and emphasized the importance […]

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Sex Testing Rules Harm Women Athletes

Women track and field athletes will be subjected to tight surveillance based on gender stereotypes under a new set of global regulations, the latest in a series of arbitrary and increasingly restrictive policies, Human Rights Watch said today. World Athletics, the international body governing athletics competitions, approved a new version of its “Eligibility Regulations for the Female Classification” on March 23, 2023. The new rules, which go into force on March 31, require women with higher than typical testosterone, and certain diagnoses of variations in their sex characteristics and hormonal sensitivity to go through medical procedures to reduce their testosterone levels […]

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It is vital for South Africa to oppose Uganda’s dangerous anti-gay bill

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While South Africans were celebrating Human Rights Day on March 21, Ugandan lawmakers passed a sweeping bill that tramples on the basic human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Ugandans. Under this bill, sexually active gay men and lesbians could face the death penalty. South Africa’s constitution and the protection it provides offer a beacon of hope in this situation. South Africa has the leadership, experience and regional influence to advocate against it and should do so urgently, before this bill is signed into law.  Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has 30 days since its passage through parliament to sign this […]

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G7 Letter Highlights Japan’s LGBT Rights Gaps

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As the International Group of Seven (G7) prepares for its May summit in Japan, peer nations are encouraging Tokyo to enact non-discrimination protections for sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. Ambassadors from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union issued an official letter to Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio calling on him to take action. “Japan can match its international advocacy for human rights with a domestic agenda that includes steps to protect its own LGBTQI+ communities, including enacting legal protections for its LGBTQI+ citizens,” the letter read. In February, Fumio dismissed one of his aides for making disparaging remarks about same-sex relationships. The prime […]

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Uganda: New Anti-Gay Bill Further Threatens Rights

A bill introduced in Uganda’s Parliament criminalizing same-sex conduct and sexual and gender identity, if adopted, would violate multiple fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Among others, such a law would violate the rights to freedom of expression and association privacy, equality, and nondiscrimination. On March 9, 2023, Asuman Basalirwa, a member of parliament, introduced the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Parliament. The bill is a revised and more egregious version of the 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Act, which reinforced existing prison sentences for same-sex conduct and outlawed the “promotion of homosexuality,” but was struck down by a court on procedural grounds. https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbWl4ZWRfbWVkaWFfMTU4OTciOnsiYnVja2V0IjoidHJlYXRtZW50IiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19leHBlcmltZW50c19jb29raWVfZXhwaXJhdGlvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOjEyMDk2MDAsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZHVwbGljYXRlX3NjcmliZXNfdG9fc2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3ZpZGVvX2hsc19keW5hbWljX21hbmlmZXN0c18xNTA4MiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ0cnVlX2JpdHJhdGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2xlZ2FjeV90aW1lbGluZV9zdW5zZXQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijp0cnVlLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VkaXRfZnJvbnRlbmQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfX0%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=true&id=1633829249319854080&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrw.org%2Fnews%2F2023%2F03%2F09%2Fuganda-new-anti-gay-bill-further-threatens-rights&sessionId=2f53f503e4d671efd1db7bebfdc2fff6396767e9&siteScreenName=hrw&siteUserId=14700316&theme=light&widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&width=550px “One of the most […]

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Hungary Court Closes Door on Transgender Legal Recognition

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In the latest blow to trans people in Hungary, the country’s Constitutional Court issued a ruling that will continue to block new applications from transgender people for legal gender recognition. The judgment effectively creates two categories of trans people in Hungary: those who applied early enough to pursue gender recognition and those who did not. In 2020, Hungary’s parliament passed a law banning transgender or intersex people from legally changing their gender, putting them at risk of harassment, discrimination, and even violence when they need to use identity documents. In 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled the ban on legal gender recognition does not apply retroactively, so […]

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American Bar Association Backs Intersex Autonomy

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The American Bar Association (ABA), a membership organization for attorneys in the United States that develops professional ethics codes, has issued a resolution supporting the rights of children with intersex traits to consent to surgeries. The ABA’s resolution follows years of legal and policy progress recognizing that “normalizing” surgeries on people with variations in their sex characteristics should be chosen by the individual, not their parents or doctors. Around the world, since the 1950s, people born with variations in their sex characteristics, sometimes called “intersex,” have been subjected to harmful medically unnecessary “normalizing” surgeries. Surgeons popularized these cosmetic surgeries on infants to remove gonads, […]

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Peru Is Threatening Human Rights Education

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January 24 is the International Day of Education, which celebrates the key role that education plays in ensuring peace, development, gender equality, and human rights. For this year’s celebration, however, there is a dark stain on Peru’s education record: Law No. 31498, which purports to “promote the quality of educational materials and resources.” Congress passed this law in May 2022 effectively giving publicly registered parental organizations supervisory and veto powers over the Education Ministry’s learning materials for early childhood, primary, and secondary schools. These organizations can provide input about, for example, whether the materials respect “the religious liberty and moral convictions” of […]

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Egypt: A Year of Whitewashing Despite Dire Crisis

The Egyptian government failed to ease the ongoing repression campaign against critics in 2022 or repeal laws curtailing basic freedoms, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2023. Meanwhile, the government carried out a concerted whitewashing effort to improve the country’s image without enacting critical reforms, including issuing a presidentially sponsored national dialogue and hosting the COP27 UN climate conference in November. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared 2022 the “year of civil society,” but key members of civil society faced arbitrary travel bans, asset freezes, and criminal investigations in retaliation for their peaceful activism or criticism. Despite hosting COP27, the government has imposed arbitrary […]

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Poland: Veto Bill Targeting Sex Ed

President Andrzej Duda of Poland should veto a regressive and discriminatory bill that threatens sex education, including about sexual orientation and gender identity, Human Rights Watch said today. The proposed legislation is a revised version of a bill including similar provisions that Duda vetoed earlier this year, calling for unity at a time of crisis due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Duda should swiftly veto this harmful new bill,” said Kyle Knight, senior LGBT rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Accurate and inclusive age-appropriate sex education is a crucial element of the rights to health and education and is critical to promoting healthy relationships and reducing […]

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