Institute of Commonwealth Studies: Around the world, outdated laws continue to penalize individuals not for their actions, but for who they are and what they lack. Minor infractions such as homelessness, loitering, begging, vagrancy, and informal trading, disproportionately target society’s most vulnerable. Instead of addressing the root causes of economic...

Invisible People: The UK’s repeal of the 200-year-old Vagrancy Act marks a historic shift away from criminalizing homelessness. Still, with rough sleeping at record levels, advocates say lasting change depends on listening to people currently living it. After two centuries, the UK repealed the 1824 Vagrancy Act on June 29,...

The Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) has launched a digital scorecard to monitor African countries' implementation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) Principles on the Decriminalisation of Petty Offences in Africa. The web-based Petty Offences Scorecard was unveiled during a virtual webinar held...

Petty offences that criminalise poverty-related and survival activities remain embedded in Kenya's legal framework despite constitutional guarantees on equality, dignity and socio-economic rights, findings highlighted by a new assessment done ahead of the launch of a new Petty Offences Scorecard show. The scorecard, an initiative by the Network of African...

Campaigner Kerri Douglas was arrested under an archaic law that criminalised rough sleeping and begging for 200 years. Her story inspired the government to finally axe the act. Like many 13-year-old girls, campaigner Kerri Douglas used to dream about being famous. By that age, she had already spent years moving...

In an official statement, the government will repeal the Vagrancy Act on Monday 29 June 2026, ending nearly two centuries of legislation that has criminalised rough sleeping and begging. Originally introduced in 1824, the Vagrancy Act has been found to punish people simply for not having a home. As a...

The proposed legislation, debated during plenary, seeks to curb street begging and establish a legal framework for addressing a persistent social problem affecting security, sanitation and the image of Nigeria's commercial capital, writes Folashade Ogunrinde. The Lagos State House of Assembly on Wednesday passed for second reading a bill seeking...

Ghanian Parliament has passed the Community Service Bill, 2026, introducing community service as an alternative sentence for people convicted of specified minor offences. The new law establishes a National Community Service Secretariat to oversee non-custodial sentencing, with the aim of reducing prison overcrowding, promoting offender rehabilitation, and encouraging restorative justice...

This year, Hungarians can celebrate Pride openly. For the first time in history, there are rainbow flags on the streets and bridges of the Hungarian capital.  The police have officially acknowledged this year’s Budapest Pride march on Saturday (27 June), marking a sharp departure from the previous government’s hostility. After...

While prostitution is legal in Nevada at licensed brothels in certain counties, and Maine decriminalized the selling of sexual services, no state has fully removed the criminal penalties for prostitution, writes Jesse Paul. Colorado would become the first state to fully remove criminal penalties for prostitution among consenting adults if...

ICJ Kenya: July 2, 2026 – The Kenya Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya), ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa, and the Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE), with the support of Amnesty International Kenya, welcomes the landmark ruling by the High Court of Kenya at Milimani, declaring key provisions...

Law professor Valena Beety, founder of the Indiana Innocence Project, has written a jarring account of the multiple ways that women and queer people—particularly if they are poor and/or of color—are being arrested, convicted, and jailed for miscarriages, accidents, and sexual behavior that is considered deviant. In Pink Crime: Fighting Against the Criminalization...

The Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC): VERMONT – Late last month, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed H.635, a bill eliminating the Vermont Department of Corrections’ supervisory fees. Supervision fees are recurring fees charged to people on probation or parole. They place unnecessary and unfair financial strain on people working to...

National Homelessness Law Center: On June 28th, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its decision in the most impactful case on homelessness in decades. In Johnson v. Grants Pass, the court ruled that cities and states could arrest, fine, and jail homeless people sleeping outside, even when they have nowhere else to...

Legal experts, business leaders and Pacific advocates are questioning whether a proposed law will improve safety or end up targeting rough sleepers. A proposed law giving police wider powers to move on people in public spaces is facing growing scrutiny, with Pacific advocates and legal experts warning it could punish...

Amnesty International: On 12 June, the four Palestine Action activists known as ‘the Filton 4’ – Charlotte Head, 29; Samuel Corner, 23; Leona Kamio, 30; and Fatema Rajwani, 21 – were told by Judge Mr Justice Johnson they would be sentenced as having a ‘terrorist connection’ following convictions for criminal...

Amnesty International: Georgia is undergoing one of the most serious erosions of human rights since independence, as the ruling party increasingly resorts to authoritarian practices to preserve its grip on power amid growing public discontent over its approach to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Georgia’s relationship with the European...

Although a taboo subject, same-sex relations had not been a criminal offence in Muslim-majority Niger. General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of the military government, has pushed an anti-Western agenda since seizing power in July 2023, criticising some Western values. Under Niger's new law, same-sex relations will be punishable by a...

Lawyers for Human Rights: We, the Undersigned Organisations, Individuals, Groups, Movements and Communities welcome President Cyril Ramaphosa’s unequivocal condemnation of xenophobia, and unlawful attempts by private individuals and groups to enforce immigration laws. The President’s affirmation that immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the state, and not private actors, is an important reaffirmation...

For years, there has been a progressive effort to criminalize parody and political humor, a push that hit a low point in 2023 when satirist Douglas Mackey was sentenced to seven months in prison for engaging in “conspiracy against rights” over an Internet meme. Fortunately, a unanimous appellate court overturned...

When South Carolina’s abortion abolitionist bill, the Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1095), was voted out of committee and onto the full Senate floor in late April—“an unprecedented move toward locking up women who have an abortion,” according to Dana Sussman in Slate—it raised a question: How much influence have abortion abolitionists gained within the broader...

Content warning: This article deals explicitly with issues relating to transgender sexual assault and reports of official guidance which may be expressed in language that readers may find upsetting. In the first of a proposed series of articles looking at the impact of anti-trans changes of legislation or guidance in...

Ghana’s LGBTQ community is living in fear after the country’s parliament approved a sweeping bill that criminalises the promotion of LGBTQ+ activities and identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer, rights groups have warned. The legislation, which was passed on Friday, mandates prison sentences of three to 10 years....

Sir Ian McKellen has joined activists and LGBTQIA+ refugees in London to protest the continued criminalisation of LGBTQIA+ people across much of the Commonwealth. The veteran actor and long time equality advocate launched the “Commonwealth Walk of Shame” on May 30 outside the Nigerian High Commission. The demonstration highlighted the ongoing impact of colonial...

Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC): From Harare to Dar es Salaam to Mbabane to Lusaka, governments have learned they no longer need a guilty verdict to silence critics. They need a cell, a charge sheet, and a calendar they control. When the cell will not do, there is the bullet and, for...

Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) and Organisation for Promoting Human Rights : By forcing the poor out of public view, the council is creating a cruel illusion of order for wealthy residents and investors while leaving the underlying causes of suffering unresolved. Kinondoni Municipal Council’s on May 28, 2026, through...

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ): On 22 May 2026, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)—together with the Senate Committee on Political Development, Public Participation, Human Rights, Freedoms and Consumer Protection; UNDP Thailand; and GreenNews (Thai Society of Environmental Journalists)—co-hosted a seminar titled “Anti-SLAPPs: Justice Lost—Stop Using Laws to Silence” at...

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the President of the Thai Supreme Court’s Recommendations, published in the Government Gazette on 29 May 2026, on the adjudication of cases filed in bad faith. The Recommendations address the longstanding vagueness of Section 161/1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, one of Thailand’s...

Hope Behind Bars Africa: In December 2024, Destiny Ekhorutomuen, a TikToker from Edo State, was arrested for allegedly using multiple social media accounts to spread “false and inciting content” against the Nigeria Police Force. He was formally charged with cyberbullying and cyberstalking under the Cybercrimes Act. Bail was set at...

Forty-six organisations and individuals condemn xenophobia and the brutal and unlawful treatment of migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS): We, the undersigned organisations and individuals, express our deep outrage and condemnation at the recent heavy-handed conduct of state officials in addressing the plight...

Amnesty International: Responding to the news that Egyptian activist and writer Ahmed Douma has been convicted and sentenced to one year in prison following an unfair trial, Amnesty International’s Regional Researcher, Mahmoud Shalaby said:   “The renewed unjust imprisonment after an unfair trial of Ahmed Douma is a devastating assault on the right to freedom of expression.  The weaponization of the criminal justice system against Ahmed Douma and other activists lays bare president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government’s relentless campaign...

Lawyers, politicians and activists have called for the release of one of Sierra Leone’s best-known celebrities, who they said was unjustly imprisoned as part of a government crackdown on free speech and political dissent. Zainab Sheriff, a singer and reality-TV show contestant who became a political opposition figure, was sentenced...

Women Beyond Walls is creating the first open-source global map of civil society groups supporting women who have been arrested, are on trial, are incarcerated, or have been released, as well as their children and families. The map will launch in September 2026. Across the world, organisations doing vital work with criminalised...

Sonke Gender Justice: It's International Sex Workers' Day, and we still call for an end to discrimination, stigma, violence, and the criminalisation of sex work. Sex workers deserve dignity, safety, access to healthcare, labour protections, and the full enjoyment of their human rights. Decriminalising sex work is not only a...

Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF): For several years now, President Kais Saied’s regime has steadily undermined the rule of law: dismissing judges, imprisoning political opponents, intimidating the media, and instrumentalizing the judiciary. The signs of increasing authoritarianism are now multiplying at an alarming pace. A clear pattern is emerging: silencing critical...

Amnesty International: Authorities across Gulf states have arrested more than 1,000 people in a sweeping, war-related crackdown on expression, including for sharing online content or expressing views related to the US-Israeli war with Iran and Iran’s attacks on the Gulf, Amnesty International said today. In Kuwait and Bahrain, authorities have...

We, the undersigned women’s rights organisations, human rights defenders, civil society organisations, and advocates for justice and democratic freedoms in Somalia, express our deep concern regarding the arbitrary detention of Ms. Sadia Moalim Ali, a tuktuk driver, social activist, and outspoken advocate for social justice, who was arrested in Mogadishu...

Belarusian PEN has published a new analytical report summarizing the state of Belarusian culture in the first quarter of 2026. In Belarus, the politically motivated persecution of cultural figures, the criminalization of cultural activities in general, and literary work in particular continue. The release of another group of political prisoners,...

When the Law Becomes a Weapon Hope Behind Bars Africa: Across Nigeria’s civic space, a pattern is emerging that deserves closer attention. Increasingly, legal and quasi-legal processes are being used in ways that extend beyond their intended purpose, creating sustained pressure on individuals engaged in public interest work. These cases...

The Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC): NEW YORK – Today, Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC) released The Cost We No Longer Pay, a report  detailing the overwhelming amount of financial relief that has been brought back to families and communities through the work of FFJC and its partners, resulting...

Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC): When the High Court on 22 July 2022 delivered its landmark ruling on police “sweeping exercises,” it did more than condemn unlawful arrests; it issued a clear directive for reform. The Court recognised that rogue and vagabond laws were being misused to justify arbitrary arrest....

Military-connected social media accounts target activists with disinformation Online slurs precede intimidation and violent attacks against dissidents Meta, TikTok, X and YouTube allow harmful content to spread rapidly Amnesty International: Coordinated disinformation campaigns portraying government critics as “foreign agents” are silencing dissent and fueling intimidation and violence under Indonesian President...

In the aftermath of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, there has been increased movement toward criminalization of abortion. The Fifth Circuit Court recently ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to rescind guidance permitting the use of telemedicine for mifepristone, one of the two medications...

The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS on 15 May 2026 delivered its judgment in Case No ECW/CCJ/APP/05/25 brought by a non governmental organisation alleging violations of rights of awaiting-trial inmates in Nigeria’s correctional facilities. In its judgment, the Court held that the prolonged detention of a substantial number of awaiting-trial...

Geneva – The continued detention of Kuwaiti-American journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin since 2 March, while visiting family in Kuwait, constitutes a serious violation of freedom of expression and press freedom. It reflects a troubling escalation in the use of national security laws and vague penal provisions to punish reporting on public affairs,...

The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) condemns the Draft Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Amendment Bill, 2026 as a dangerous, regressive and unconstitutional attack on the working class and the poor. This Bill must be rejected in its entirety; it is not a housing...

National Homelessness Law Center The Louisiana House Judiciary Committee voted 12-4 on April 9 to advance a controversial bill that could force homeless individuals into unpaid labor.  House Bill 211, authored by Rep. Debbie Villio (R-Kenner), would prohibit unauthorized camping on public property, defined as “the intentional use of any tent, shelter, or bedding constructed or...

After years of campaigning, England and Wales have officially decriminalised abortion for women in a “landmark moment” as part of proposed changes to the Crime and Policing Bill. The government has now formally done away with the ancient Offences Against the Person Act from 1861 and the Infant Life (Preservation) Act of 1929,...

There is something deeply unsettling about the way harm can become normalised when it is bureaucratised. When it is written into policy, absorbed into infrastructure, and managed through daily routine, it stops looking like violence, even as it continues to shape every aspect of a person’s life. That is what...

To our community, We are devastated to be writing to you instead of gathering together as planned and we know we’re not alone. The frustration and disappointment stemming from the loss of RightsCon 2026 is felt deeply by all of us, especially our partners in the region who worked tirelessly...