A landmark ruling that legalized gay sex between consenting partners in India was challenged Thursday in the country's high court, lawyers said. The supreme court issued a notice to the nonprofit Naz Foundation that had won a lower-court verdict after a seven-year legal fight to decriminalize gay sex. Notices also were issued to the federal government and the New Delhi high court, which ruled last week that consensual sex between partners of the same gender was legal. An astrologer filed ...

Illegal diamond mining by Zimbabwean troops is leading to bloodshed and attacks against civilians, said a global watchdog group formed to cut the flow of so-called "blood diamonds." Residents and workers contributed accounts of attacks detailed by the interim findings of the Kimberley Process after a weeklong investigation in Zimbabwe. The probe started days after a Human Rights Watch report accused the nation's armed forces of violently taking over the diamond fields in Marange district and killing about 200 people ...

The United Nations should "urge" Iran to release political prisoners rounded up during the recent unrest following last month's disputed presidential elections, a group of Nobel Peace Prize winners have declared. The group of 10 Nobel laureates, including former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, made the request in a letter to the secretary-general of the United Nations on Monday. They also cited a concern for fellow Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi. The Iranian lawyer ...

On January 9, the President-elect's spokesman Robert Gibbs gave a rare one-word answer. Asked if Barack Obama would "get rid" of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which prohibits gays from serving openly, Gibbs replied firmly, "Yes." Ever since, the relationship between the President and his gay and lesbian supporters has only gotten more complicated. Soldiers continue to be discharged from the military for being openly gay, and activists have voiced increasing concern over the administration's lack ...

Global economic troubles are fueling a human-rights crisis, Amnesty International warned as it released its "Report 2009: State of the World's Human Rights" on Thursday. "The economic downturn has aggravated abuses, distracted attention from them and created new problems," Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan said in a news release. "In the name of security, human rights were trampled on. Now, in the name of economic recovery, they are being relegated to the back seat." "Billions of people are suffering ...

Militants continue to use a material not designed for use as a weapon against people to strike international forces in Afghanistan, the U.S.-coalition said Tuesday. White phosphorus, a smoke-producing agent commonly used to hide military operations, can cause severe burns. Groups such as the Human Rights Watch and other watchdogs oppose its use in civilian areas. The coalition's assertions come on the heels of criticism of international military activities that affect civilians in Afghanistan and claims that coalition forces have ...

Sri Lankan officials on Sunday disavowed rebel claims that government troops had indiscriminately shelled a no-fire zone, killing many civilians Saturday night and Sunday morning. The accusations came after the government announced Thursday that it had "re-demarcated" the no-fire zone to encompass a new area 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) long and 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) wide. Earlier, the zone had encompassed more than 6 square kilometers (3.7 square miles). The zone had been designated to protect civilians trapped by fighting ...

Human rights groups in Bangladesh and abroad are calling for an investigation after 16 borders guards accused of participating in a bloody revolt in February died in custody in recent days. The Bangladesh military acknowledged the deaths of the Bangladesh Rifles paramilitary troops, or jawans -- but insisted they were the result of illness and suicide. "Given the history of abuses by security forces in Bangladesh, there is no reason to take at face value the claim that these detainees ...

Ravaged by rights groups and upbraided by the U.S. for failing to take measures against human trafficking, the Iraqi government has been quietly working on a draft law to tackle the scourge. Baghdad was prodded into action late last year, after the release of the U.S. State Department's "Trafficking in Persons Report," according to Human Rights Minister Wijdan Mikhail Salim. "Let's say it was a tough report about the situation in Iraq, and in so many cases it was right," ...

Israeli soldiers routinely and intentionally put children in harm's way during their 22-day offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza, according to a United Nations report made public Monday. The report said a working group had documented and verified reports of violations "too numerous to list." For example, on January 15, in a town southwest of Gaza City, Israel Defense Forces soldiers ordered an 11-year-old boy to open Palestinians' packages, presumably so that the soldiers would not be hurt if they ...