Africa: How New Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills in Africa Expand Crackdown On Rights

[ad_1] LONDON, Jan 29 (Openly) - Despite the decriminalisation of same-sex relations in Mauritius in 2023, rights groups warn that new laws being considered in several African countries risk eroding LGBTQ+ rights by creating new offences and targeting new groups. Many of the new bills resemble Uganda's draconian Anti-Homosexuality Act, which was signed into law last May and which includes the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality". Sexual minorities in the east African nation say they have faced a wave of […]

January 29, 2024

Africa

Africa: European Demand Driving $1 Trillion Spending On Gas Production Worldwide This Decade

[ad_1] $223 billion of this to be spent on new gas production to supply Europe *** Brussels, January 29 - The fossil fuel industry is forecast to spend more than one trillion dollars globally over the next decade on producing gas for European markets, according to Global Witness analysis of Rystad Energy data. Despite climate and energy experts' warnings that any new fossil fuel production will push the world beyond 1.5°C heating, $223 billion of this trillion dollar sum is […]

January 29, 2024

Africa

Africa: How Both Health and Safety Are Compromised for People Living With Long Covid and Intimate Partner Violence

[ad_1] What happens when a person is experiencing long COVID and intimate partner violence at the same time? There has been no attention paid to this question anywhere in the world since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. This is staggering, given previous research shows women who are victim-survivors of intimate partner violence are twice as likely to develop long-term illnesses, including chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. The World Health Organisation defines long COVID as the continuation, or development […]

January 25, 2024

Africa

Africa: Meta – Protect LGBT People From Digital Targeting

[ad_1] Beirut — New #SecureOurSocials Campaign Urges Transparency from Facebook, Instagram Meta should do more to protect the safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and all its users, in particular on Facebook and Instagram, Human Rights Watch, Social Media Exchange (SMEX), INSM Foundation for Digital Rights, Helem, and Damj Association said in the #SecureOurSocials campaign opened today. The campaign, building on the work of various human rights organizations, is based on a February 2023 Human Rights Watch […]

January 23, 2024

Africa

Africa: What Is Genocide? Six Western Countries Want a Broader Application of Genocide – Experts Unpack Why It Matters

[ad_1] In November 2023, six western states filed a joint application before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) arguing for an ample and expansive understanding of genocide. This intervention, as it is legally termed, was made by Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK in relation to the genocide case The Gambia filed against Myanmar in 2019. The still on-going case revolves around the violent expulsion of Rohingya people from Myanmar into Bangladesh. Our research focus is on […]

January 19, 2024

Africa

Africa: Palestine – Nothing Can Justify Genocide, It’s Not the Time for Silence

[ad_1] Johannesburg — Far from the mayhem, destruction, and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the South African government argued in the International Court of Justice in the Hague that it had an obligation and a right to bring a case to halt a genocide by the Israeli government and its military. The top legal team, composed of both South African and international human rights lawyers, spent over two and a half hours arguing that it had an obligation as a signatory […]

January 12, 2024

Africa

Africa: Where Does the International Criminal Court Stand On Charges of Mass Killings in Gaza?

[ad_1] United Nations — The continued devastation of Gaza by Israel has triggered widespread charges of war crimes, genocide, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, starvation as a weapon of war and mass killings of civilians - over 22,000 at last count--compared to 1,200 killings by Hamas. These accusations have prompted growing demands for intervention by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which has remained silent while its Prosecutor Karim Khan is accused of double standards and playing politics. The […]

January 12, 2024

Africa

Africa: Explainer – What Is the Genocide Convention?

[ad_1] South Africa has set out its case accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention, pointing to the current situation in the bombarded, besieged Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians. Filed with the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ), a UN court, on 29 December, South Africa's case stated that Israel, particularly since 7 October, "has failed to prevent genocide and has failed to prosecute direct and overt incitement to genocide". So, what is the Genocide Convention? The basics […]

January 12, 2024

Africa

African Catholic Bishops Reject Vatican’s Same-Sex Blessings

[ad_1] The Roman Catholic bishops of Africa and Madagascar on Thursday issued a statement refusing to follow Pope Francis' declaration permitting priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples. Signed by Congolese Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo on behalf of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, or SECAM, the statement said such unions were "contrary to the will of God." The move comes after Francis on December 18 approved a declaration allowing priests to offer blessings to same-sex couples, which […]

January 12, 2024

Human Rights