More than half of the world"s remaining "sodomy" laws –criminalizing consensual homosexual conduct – are relics of British colonial rule.

As the world celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the UN General Assembly will hear a statement in mid-December endorsed by more than 50 countries across the globe calling for an end to rights abuses based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Burundian National Assembly adopted important human rights advances in a penal code voted in on November 22, 2008, including abolishing the death penalty and making torture, genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity punishable under Burundian law. But three changes to the code are detrimental to human rights. These changes would make consensual homosexual conduct a criminal offense, decriminalize arbitrary detention by state agents, and limit the responsibility of the state to address spousal violence.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is in a crucial position to bring overdue attention to the violations and abuses that women’s human rights defenders face in the Americas, four rights organizations said today after a historic hearing that raised these issues before the commission for the first time.

Indian authorities should investigate the mass arrests and ill-treatment of activists working on sexual orientation and gender-identity issues in Bangalore and punish those responsible.

Lesbian and bisexual women and transgender men face violent abuse, including rape, in Kyrgyzstan, both in family settings and from strangers on the street, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued today. The report calls on the Kyrgyz government to acknowledge the problem and protect the victims, and on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other European institutions to step up their response to violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.