On 24 February 2010, Albanian President Bamir Topi signed Law No. 10 221 “On Protection from Discrimination” adopted by the Albanian parliament earlier this month. The entry into force of this law is a significant step forward for the protection of equality and non-discrimination in Albania.
News
London, 22 February 2010
Today, The Equal Rights Trust published Volume Four of The Equal Rights Review (ERR), an interdisciplinary biannual journal intended as a forum for the exchange of legal, philosophical, sociological and other ideas and practical insights for those who are promoting equality. This volume also contains a special section on the issue of sexual orientation.
The volume is available in print as well as online.
Nairobi, 29 January 2010
The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) yesterday joined the Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya (FIDA) in calling on Kenya’s parliamentarians to put the rights to equality and non-discrimination at the heart of the country’s new Constitution.
On 27 January 2010, The Equal Rights Trust submitted an expert opinion to Mihai Ghimpu, Acting President of the Republic of Moldova and Chairperson of the Moldovan Commission on Constitutional Reform, arguing that Article 16 (Equality of Rights) of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova (the Constitution) falls short of international human rights standards. In its letter, ERT also made recommendations for amendments which would better reflect the Republic of Moldova’s commitment to human rights.
The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) has called on US President Barack Obama to release 103 potentially stateless detainees who have been cleared for release from Guantanamo Bay, but remain in detention solely because it is not possible to resettle them. Research undertaken by the Trust indicates that between them, the 103 detainees may have spent more than 700 years in detention
London, 5 January 2010
On 10 December - international Human Rights Day - The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) invites new endorsements of the Declaration of Principles on Equality, a set of key principles drafted and signed by 128 leading experts and launched by ERT in October 2008. With this renewed appeal, ERT responds to the initiative of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights to declare discrimination as the theme of Human Rights Day 2009.
The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) has submitted a legal brief to Ugandan President Yowere Museveni outlining how adoption of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill currently being debated would breach both Uganda’s Constitution and its international treaty obligations.
ERT’s submission calls on President Museveni and Ugandan parliamentarians to reject the Bill in its entirety, and to review the constitutionality of section 145 of the Ugandan Penal Code, which is currently used to prosecute homosexual conduct.
On the occasion of Human Rights Day 2009 – which the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recently declared would focus on non-discrimination – the Equal Rights Trust (ERT) will issue a series of specific appeals to nine governments and parliaments to act on discrimination.
In advance of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting this weekend, the Equal Rights Trust (ERT) has called on the Heads of Government to condemn an Anti-Homosexuality Bill recently introduced in the Parliament of Uganda and to take urgent action to repeal existing homophobic laws across the Commonwealth.
