Amnesty International: Last News

cracking down on homosexuality, essentially making it illegal to identify publicly as LGBTQ — or even express support for the LGBTQ community.The bill builds upon the country’s existing colonial-era laws criminalizing consensual same-sex activity, which is punishable by life imprisonment, targeting a host of free speech-related activities in order to discourage LGBTQ visibility in any form.Under the bill, individuals or institutions that support or fund LGBTQ-related groups or organizations, or publish or distribute pro-gay media or literature, can be prosecuted and imprisoned.Media groups, journalists, and publishers who similarly broadcast or distribute LGBTQ-related content that “promotes homosexuality” also face imprisonment, reports CNN. Property owners can potentially be jailed if they allow their properties to be used as a “brothel,” which is so broadly defined that it can include any gathering space where people are planning or advocating on behalf of the LGBTQ community, or where same-sex sexual activity can potentially take place — regardless of whether such acts actually occur.Cisgender allies of the LGBTQ community can be prosecuted and imprisoned for advocating or expressing support for LGBTQ rights.Friends, family members, and neighbors can also be penalized for failing to inform on individuals they know are engaged in same-sex relationships or LGBTQ advocacy — effectively creating a de facto police state where individual beliefs or free speech rights are under surveillance.The law also imposes the death penalty for those found guilty of “aggravated homosexuality,” a term referring to people who engage in homosexual conduct with another person who cannot or does not consent, or commits such acts under

Reuters.Last Thursday, in a 5-4 ruling, the court said that allowing same-sex relations between individuals could undermine military discipline and impede readiness — arguments that have been used in other countries, including the United States, to justify banning LGBTQ individuals from serving.LGBTQ activists had urged the court to overturn an “outdated and bad” law following a Supreme Court decision last year that overturned a military court’s conviction of two soldiers for a consensual same-sex relationship.The two defendants — an army lieutenant and sergeant from different units — had been charged by military prosecutors for having sex during off-duty hours at an off-base residence in 2016.Both were among nine soldiers indicted in a crackdown against gay soldiers in 2017.

ruled that the government of Bulgaria violated European human rights law by failing to legally recognize same-sex marriages, reports Human Rights Watch.Liliya Babulkova and Darina Koilova, two Bulgarian women who were legally wed in the United Kingdom in 2016, brought the case to the court three years ago, after Bulgarian authorities refused, multiple times, to recognize their marriage.The couple claimed, in their complaint, that the refusal to recognize their marriage is discriminatory and violated their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.The court found that the Bulgarian government violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to private and family life.The court — as it previously did with similar cases from Ukraine and Romania — ruled that Bulgaria must take some action to recognize same-sex relationships or remove discriminatory portions of its laws, although it did not require the country to take specific actions, such as legalize same-sex nuptials. It also ordered the government to pay 3,000 euros to the couple to cover legal costs.“The decision is fundamental for the development of Bulgarian legislation in the field of equality and LGBT rights,” a lawyer for the couple said in a statement.

Amnesty International — which is protesting the man’s prosecution — the 20-year-old was arrested along with a 41-year-old man after the two were allegedly found half-naked around midnight on August 15 at the Soroti Sports Ground in the eastern part of the country.Initially, both men were going to be charged with engaging in sexual relations with a person of the same sex.The charge carries a penalty of 10 years in prison for attempting to engage in same-sex conduct and life imprisonment for those found guilty of engaging in same-sex conduct.However, the 41-year-old, who is reportedly “disabled” — a claim for which no evidence was provided — was released because he could not provide consent due to his “mental status.” As a result, the 20-year-old was charged with “aggravated homosexuality,” which the law defines as instances in which a person engages in same-sex relations while living with HIV, or with a partner who can either not legally consent or has been coerced or seduced into sex.Such offenses are punishable by death under the law, which was signed into effect by President Yoweri Museveni in May.

Conversion practices survivors and Amnetsy International have called on the governments of Western Australia and South Australia to ban harmful and unscientific conversion practices. They have pointed to Victoria’s “ground-breaking legislation” as an example of how states can “address conversion ideology and practices in a fair and equitable way.” “10% of LGBTQA+ Australians are at risk of conversion practices. For decades, conversion practices have been responsible for causing irreparable harm to LGBTQA+ people,” said Amnesty International on its campaign page. Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan had last year promised the LGBTQI community that if reelected his government would enact a law to ban conversion practices. Amnesty International Australia, SOGICE Survivors and Ending Conversion Practices WA said they have requested a meeting with the WA Premier, Health Minister, and Attorney General, to discuss the issue. The WA government proposed to ban so-called conversion therapy by introducing legislation for a national code of conduct for unregulated health workers last year.