The criminal bigamy law criminalizes not just polygamous marriages but also an array of plural intimate relationships and associations of consenting adults. By criminalizing religious-based plural families and intimate relationships under the criminal bigamy law, Utah officials prosecute private conduct between consenting adults without requiring law enforcement officials to show harm to society or those involved. The disparate treatment of polygamists denies them the basic liberties and equal protection under the law guaranteed by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.

Polygamy, the practice of having more than one wife, is currently legal and recognized in much of Africa and the Middle East, while it is widely illegal in North and South America, Europe and China. Polygamy—called bigamy when illegal—is criminalized in every state in the US. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women [official website] in 2008 urged Saudi Arabia [JURIST news archive] to outlaw polygamy [JURIST report], which it said is by its very nature counter to gender equality. The year before Indonesia upheld marriage laws limiting polygamy [JURIST report], despite teachings in the predominantly Islamic country's largest religion allowing men to take up to four wives. However, in 2006, a Canadian study urged the Canadian federal government to legalize polygamy [JURIST report] to help protect women and children in those relationships.

The rebel authorities have a duty to protect civilians and their property, especially hospitals, and discipline anyone responsible for looting or other abuse. Opposition forces have an obligation to protect civilians and their property in the areas they control so people feel they can return home safely and rebuild their lives. Opposition forces say they are committed to human rights, but the looting, arson, and abuse of civilians in captured towns are worrying. This raises concerns about how civilians will be treated if rebels capture other towns where the government has support.

Both the rebel forces and government authorities have been chastised for mistreating civilians. In June, HRW expressed concern [JURIST report] over the arrests of dozens of civilians by Libyan opposition authorities, and called on the National Transitional Council (NTC), the opposition ruling body in Libya with de facto control over eastern Libya, to provide civilian detainees with full due process rights, access to counsel and the ability to challenge their detention before independent judicial authorities. On the other side of the conflict, a three-person commission for the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] appointed to investigate violence in Libya published a report Wednesday finding that Gaddafi's forces have committed crimes against humanity [JURIST report] and war crimes under orders from Gaddafi and other high-ranking officials. The commission's 92-page report said Libyan authorities have committed crimes against humanity such as acts constituting murder, imprisonment, and other severe deprivations of physical liberties, torture, forced disappearances, and rape "as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population with knowledge of the attack." Also last month, International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo [official websites] urged [JURIST report] personal aides of Gaddafi to implement the arrest warrants [JURIST report] issued against the leader and several government officials.

For more, see JURIST's Feature on the Libya Conflict.

Of course, we are soberly aware that China is a developing country, China's human rights is also a developing process. Unbalanced development and lack of coordination issues are still outstanding, such as resource and environmental constraints of economic growth, a greater gap in income distribution, inflation pressures, prices in some cities have risen too high, food safety issues are more prominent, higher quality education, a total lack of medical resources, uneven distribution of development between urban and rural areas, illegal land acquisition and other social conflicts caused by increased population. It should also be noted that in the protection of people's democratic rights, China is still insufficient. By natural, historical, cultural, economic and social development and constraints, China's human rights development still faces many difficulties and challenges, and enjoying full human rights to achieve the lofty goals remains to be done.

Since then, there have been continuous allegations of human rights in China. The Chinese government implemented measures aimed at suppressing lawyers pursuing human rights cases [JURIST report], Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] reported [text, PDF] last month. Chinese lawyers and law firms undergo "annual assessments" which, the government claims, are conducted by independent lawyers associations. AI contends, however, that the lawyers defending human rights disproportionately fail the assessment and expressed general concern with the treatment of human rights lawyers in China. In May 2010, two Chinese human rights lawyers who have represented Falun Gong [group website; BBC backgrounder] defendants were permanently disbarred [JURIST report] after being accused of disrupting courtrooms. AI criticized the disbarment hearing [press release] calling it "absurd" and claiming that "[g]overnment authorities in China continue to harass and disrupt the work of lawyers taking politically sensitive cases." In April 2009, the Information Office of the State Council [official website] published the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (NHRAP) [JURIST report], which aimed to protect ethnic minorities, promote gender equality, guarantee suspects the right to an impartial trial, and prohibit illegal detentions and the use of torture to extract confessions from suspects. In February 2009, the Chinese delegation to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] defended [JURIST report] China's human rights record while presenting a report [text, PDF] in compliance with the UNHRC's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) [official website] process. Ambassador Li Baodong said that China has been taking steps to improve its legal system, promote democracy, and encourage non-governmental organizations.

The findings of this report are troubling and reveal a need for the serious commitment of organizations, institutions, funders and policymakers towards research and the prevention of violence against LGBTQ and HIV-affected individuals. Our recommendations represent crucial steps for ending violence against LGBTQ and HIV-affected people in this country.

Similar trends have been reported internationally. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] warned in May that hate crimes against LGBT individuals are on the rise worldwide [JURIST report] by pointing to statistics showing that homophobic-based crimes are increasing [UN News Centre report], and urging that states act to stop this trend. In the US, some measures have been taken to stop hate crimes against LGBT individuals. In March, US Representative Jared Polis (D-CO) and Senator Al Franken (D-MN) [official websites] introduced legislation to protect LGBT students [JURIST report] in federally funded public elementary and high schools from bullying. In 2009, US President Barack Obama signed into law [JURIST report] a bill that contained a measure extending the definition of federal hate crimes to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. Homosexuality remains a crime in many countries including Uganda, which has been harshly criticized throughout the international community since the introduction [BBC report] in October 2009 of its Anti-Homosexuality Bill [text, PDF], which has since been stalled in the Parliament. The bill would impose harsh penalties for homosexuality, including death in some circumstances, and imposes punishments of up to three years in prison for individuals, including family members, who fail to report offenders. Uganda currently criminalizes homosexual behavior [BBC report] with up to 14 years in prison. Last year, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon [official website] called for countries around the world to abolish laws discriminating against gay and lesbian individuals [JURIST report].

The Mexican military has come under criticism from rights groups for failing to hold its members accountable for alleged human rights abuses. In 2009, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] published a report saying the use of the military to fight drug cartels has resulted in human rights violations [JURIST report] by soldiers, including killings, torture, rapes, and arbitrary detentions. The report states that these abuses have gone unpunished, with no convictions resulting from any investigations. The report underscores the importance of holding human rights violators accountable saying, "such horrific abuses directly undermine the goal of stopping drug-related violence and improving public security. The army is currently deployed in the areas of the country most torn by drug-related violence. It would be in the military's best interest to act and be seen to act in a manner that is professional and respectful of civilians and human rights."

The barbaric practice of using convict porters has been a feature of armed conflict in Burma for at least 20 years, exposing them to the hazards of armed conflict with complete disregard for their safety. The army forces other civilians to work as porters as well, but since civilians often flee conflict areas, the use of prisoners continues. Recent accounts from former convict porters show that the Burmese army's abusive tactics have not changed since last year's sham elections. The brutal treatment of porters is just one facet of army atrocities against civilians in ethnic conflict areas.

Continued ethnic violence in Myanmar presents "serious limitations" [JURIST report] to the government's transition to democracy, according to Tomas Ojea Quintana [official profile; JURIST news archive], the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar. In May, Myanmar began releasing close to 15,000 prisoners, but many human rights groups claim the government is still holding many more political prisoners. Quintana urged Myanmar's military government to release 2,202 political prisoners [JURIST report] last December. Quintana called for the release of the "prisoners of conscience," many of whom, he says, suffer from health problems as a result of the harsh detention conditions. Quintana claims the release is necessary to promote democracy. In March, Myanmar underwent a transfer of power [BBC report] from a military regime to a civil system after holding its first elections in 20 years. However, critics argue that the new regime is merely a sham since it is made up of military generals with the military party winning 80 percent of the vote.

In January, Lifland approved a settlement [JURIST report] with the estate of Jeffry Picower, a friend and investor of fraudulent financier Madoff. As part of the approved settlement, Picower's widow, Barbara, agreed to forfeit $7.2 billion to Picard [LAT report] to be returned to victims of the multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme. Barbara Picower agreed to return all profits received from the Madoff firm but insists that her husband was unaware of Madoff's fraudulent activities and was never charged with a crime. The month before, Picard filed close to 60 lawsuits in an attempt to recover more than $40 billion [JURIST report] from numerous banks, hedge funds and individuals, coinciding with the two-year deadline for seeking compensation. In November 2009, David Friehling, former outside accountant for Madoff, pleaded guilty to fraud charges [JURIST report] in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, but denied knowledge of Madoff's Ponzi scheme. In June 2009, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison [JURIST report] on securities fraud charges stemming from his multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme, the largest in US history.

HRW had sent a letter [JURIST report] to the Bangladesh government, in May, praising the establishment of the ICTB to to prosecute those responsible for atrocities committed during the 1971 struggle for independence, but urged the government to ensure that the trials are carried out in accordance with international human rights expectations. The letter, sent to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, did praise the parliament's passage of amendments to its International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973 (ICA) [text, PDF], including instituting civilian judges rather than military judges and mandating independence for the tribunal's judicial functions. In July 2010, the ICTB issued four arrest warrants [JURIST report] for the leaders of Jamaat e Islami, including Sayedee, for alleged crimes committed during the Liberation War.