Friday, Feb 06th
Last update03:53:38 AM GMT
Human Rights Glance
The Department of Housing and Urban Development unveiled a series of proposed rules on Thursday designed to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals from discrimination when applying for federal housing assistance.
The HUD proposal marks the latest in a string of Obama administration attempts to enhance gay rights through federal regulation, which may offer a way forward for advocates who worry that legislative efforts have little hope of success this year.
An Israeli human rights group Wednesday urged the government to launch an independent probe into a three-week Israeli offensive in Gaza which killed some 1,400 Palestinians, more than half of them non-combatants.
"Better late than never: even two years since Operation Cast Lead, an independent Israeli investigation is crucial to achieve accountability and prevent future violations," B'Tselem said in a statement, issued on the anniversary of the end of the Gaza War, which took place in the winter of 2008-09.
Former Haitian leader Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier is being sued for torture and other crimes against humanity, days after his surprise return to the country after 25 years in exile.
A lawsuit was filed by a former United Nations spokeswoman, Michele Montas, and three Haitians who were jailed during Mr Duvalier's 1971-1986 rule. It comes a day after state prosecutors charged him with corruption and embezzlement.
A federal appeals court today ruled that the government can continue suppressing transcripts in which former CIA prisoners now held at Guantánamo Bay describe abuse and torture they suffered in CIA custody.
The ruling came in an ACLU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit to obtain uncensored transcripts from Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) used to determine if Guantánamo detainees qualify as "enemy combatants."
The Jewish state has decided; we will let you be a Jew as long as you are willing to kill for us.
The Knesset recently passed a bill allowing the State to approve IDF conversions without the permission of the Chief Rabbinate.
I guess that for some, it is much easier to become a Jew riding a Merkava Tank over a Palestinian village than learning Halakha law for seven years.
Rabbi Dov Lior says Jewish Law prohibits sterile couples from conceiving using non-Jew's sperm, as it causes adverse traits. On subject of single mothers he says, 'Child cannot be 100% normal'
According to Lior, a baby born through such an insemination will have the "negative genetic traits that characterize non-Jews." Instead, he advised sterile couples to adopt.
The State Department's recent decision to make passport applications more gender neutral is the latest in a series of victories for gay rights organizations pushing to change several elements of federal policy considered unfavorable to gay Americans.
The change - unveiled quietly in late December and widely reported over the weekend - came quietly on the same day that President Obama gathered with gay rights advocates to sign legislation ending the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, a well-publicized and symbolic moment in the decades-long gay rights movement.
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