A bill seeking to repeal Gambia's ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) was presented in the West African country's parliament on March 4 and will be discussed by lawmakers later this month.

Former president Yahya Jammeh banned the practice in 2015 and introduced steep fines and jail sentences for perpetrators. However, many Gambians still believe that FGM is a requirement of Islam, and the bill—introduced by lawmaker Almameh Gibba—argues that the current ban violates citizens' rights to practice their culture and religion.

The United Nations human rights chief has said that the apparent deliberate denial of safe access for humanitarian agencies within war-torn Sudan could amount to a war crime.

“Sudan has become a living nightmare. Almost half of the population—25 million people—are in urgent need of food and medical aid. Some 80 percent of hospitals have been put out of service,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said on March 1.

Thousands took to the streets across Kenya on January 27 following the gruesome slaying of more than a dozen women to denounce violence against women and demand action to end it. Protesters later gathered in Nairobi on February 14 for a Valentine’s Day vigil for the more than 30 women murdered in the country so far this year and to pressure the government to declare femicide and violence against women a national emergency and to establish a commission to address these crimes and thereby break the cycle of impunity. These efforts are laudable, if not inspiring. However, physical and sexual violence against women and femicide—at times perpetrated by law enforcement officers who are meant to protect them, as enshrined in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution—has persisted in Kenya for decades.  

The Israeli government has failed to comply with at least one measure in the legally binding order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in South Africa’s genocide case, Human Rights Watch said on February 26.

Citing warnings about “catastrophic conditions” in Gaza, the court ordered Israel on January 26, 2024, to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian aid,” and to report back on its compliance to the specific measures “within one month.”

The Czech lower house on February 28 agreed to give more rights to same-sex couples in a civil partnership, but disappointed campaigners by stopping short of calling their union a marriage or allowing joint adoption.

The Czech Republic allows same-sex couples to register their unions, but this status does not let them adopt children jointly, own property together, or receive widows' and widowers' pensions.

Pakistani journalist and video blogger Asad Ali Toor was arrested by federal authorities on February 26 on charges of orchestrating a malicious campaign against the state and its officials, with the “objective to coerce, intimidate, and incite violence” against them through his social media platforms.

Tens of thousands of Brazilians have rallied in support of former President Jair Bolsonaro amid a probe into allegations that he tried to orchestrate a coup following his election loss in 2022.

Bolsonaro, who called the rally in Sao Paulo after being targeted by a police raid earlier this month, denied the coup charges on February 25 and hit out an election ban that has seen him barred from seeking office for eight years.

The United States on February 28 pushed for the United Nations Security Council to take action to help end a nearly year-long conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The United States says the warring parties have committed war crimes and the RSF and allied militias have also committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The UN says that nearly 25 million people—half Sudan's population—need aid and some 8 million have fled their homes and hunger is rising.