News

Myanmar Enacts Discriminatory Population Control Law, Further Threatening the Rohingya

London, 10 June 2015

On 23 May 2015, the Law for Health Care Relating to Control of Population Growth (The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law 28/2015), which allows authorities the power to implement "birth spacing", was signed by President Thein Sein. The Law is one of four pieces of legislation that together make up the “Protection of Race and Religion Laws”, a package of bills reported to have been driven by nationalist Buddhist monks with an anti-Muslim agenda. The law permits the government to control population growth in certain areas by limiting how often women may have children. It has been widely condemned both for violating women’s rights and for its potential to be used as a tool for ethnic and religious discrimination against communities like the Rohingya.

Ireland Votes to Become Nineteenth State to Legalise Same-sex Marriage

London, 26 May 2015

On Friday 22 May 2015, Ireland voted 62.1% in favour of legalising same-sex marriage and is set to be the nineteenth country in the world to recognise an equal right to marry regardless of sexual orientation. The Equal Rights Trust strongly welcomes the ends, but issues caution on the means employed.

Malaysia Must Investigate Allegations First Made by the Equal Rights Trust in 2010

London, 27 May 2015 

The Equal Rights Trust has today called on the government of Malaysia to establish an independent and comprehensive investigation into allegations that immigration officials were actively involved in the trafficking of stateless Rohingya migrants. The Trust’s call follows the discovery on 25 May of 28 suspected human trafficking camps and 139 mass graves in northern Malaysia, close to the Thai border. 

The UN Must Intervene to End Persecution and Discrimination Against Rohingya

London, 21 May 2015

The Equal Rights Trust has today called for the establishment of an international Commission of Inquiry on the involvement of the government of Myanmar in the persecution of the Rohingya, stressing that the government’s persistent failure to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the Rohingya population is the root cause of the refugee crisis of the last two weeks. In the wake of the announcement, on 20 May, by Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand that they will offer temporary shelter to up to 7000 stateless Rohingya refugees and migrants from Bangladesh stranded in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, the Trust is concerned that the stateless Rohingya issue remains as far as ever from an acceptable solution.

Call for Papers for 15th Equal Rights Review

London, April 17 2015

The Equal Rights Trust is accepting papers for the fifteenth edition of its Equal Rights Review (ERR), an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal on equality. Launched in 2008 and released bi-annually, the journal is a resource for those seeking to combat discrimination or promote equality globally.

Equal Rights Trust Publishes 14th Equal Rights Review Focusing on Religion and Discrimination

London, 31st March 2015

"My line manager wrote in her referral, "K has reported that proprietary shampoos make the condition (eczema) worse and therefore she does not wash her hair very often. This is causing a significant odour and is not conducive to working within the team room" (...) The most malicious team member opened a window in a symbolic gesture, accused me of disrespecting the team, and said I had 'run out of excuses.'" - Testimony from a woman discriminated at work due to her association with Islam, The Equal Rights Review, Volume 14.

Equal Rights Trust Address Gender Inequality in Nationality Laws at UN Commission on the Status of Women Event

London, 11 March 2015

The Equal Rights Trust’s Dimitrina Petrova will address leading scholars and activists on how to achieve gender equality in nationality laws during a parallel event of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)'s annual meeting this week.

Equal Rights Trust Project in Kenya Assists in Successful Conviction for "Defilement"

London, 13 February 2015

On 10 January 2015, a member of the Migori County Assembly in Kenya was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for defiling (raping) a 13 year old girl. The Court found that Mr Lukas Masa Hura had abused the girl in May 2014, in a location within the County of which he was then a representative. The case is one of many examples of sexual abuse of women and girls that the Equal Rights Trust is seeking to address through its Comic Relief-funded Legal Assistance Scheme Project in Kenya. The victim in the case was supported by the community based organisation (CBO) Mira Residents Association, one of a number of CBOs across Kenya supported by the Equal Rights Trust and our partner, the Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya (FIDA Kenya) under the project.

Romania’s Investigation of Police Violence against Roma Violated Right to Non-Discrimination

London, 12 February 2015

On 27 January 2015, the European Court of Human Rights, in the case of Ciorcan and others v Romania, found that Romania violated the rights of a large group of Roma people who had been injured by police forces. The Court found violations of the rights to life (Article 2), freedom from inhuman treatment (Article 3) and freedom from discrimination (Article 14) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). These rights were violated by: (a) the “grossly excessive” deployment of special forces agents to carry out an arrest, agents who proceeded, amongst other things, to shoot “at random” into the crowd; and (b) the state’s failure to carry out an effective investigation, including its failure to comply with its obligation under Article 14 to investigate any racial motivation for the violence.

High Court Rules UK Government’s Planning Process Unlawfully Discriminates against Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers
London, 05 February 2015
 
On 21 January 2015, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales held that the conduct of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (the SSCLG) in relation to certain planning decisions amounted to indirect discrimination against Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers. The SSCLG had a policy of personally determining appeals by travellers to develop sites on certain areas of protected land which led to significant delays in the hearing of those appeals. The Court concluded that the SSCLG had failed to have any regard to the equality implications of this practice, failing to meet his Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The significant delays also amounted to a violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Pages