Iggy Pop For Amnesty International

Another ad features a similarly beaten Karl Lagerfeld with the caption: "A Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops are the height of elegance."

Coalition Of Human Rights Groups: Sochi's Top Corporate Sponsors Must Speak Out

A coalition of 40 human rights groups have issued a joint letter to the top ten corporate sponsors of the Sochi Olympics which demands that they denounce Russia's abuses against LGBT people. Via press release:

Corporate sponsors of the Sochi Winter Olympics should act now to urge Russia to halt the rising tide of discrimination, harassment and threats against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, 40 of the world’s leading human rights and LGBT groups said today, in an unusual joint open letter. The letter to all of the leading sponsors of the Sochi Olympics asks them to use their leverage as underwriters of the 2014 Winter Games in a variety of concrete ways.

The groups urged sponsors to speak out against Russia’s anti-gay “propaganda” law, which violates the Olympic Charter’s principle of non-discrimination, and to ask the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to undertake systemic reforms to monitor and prevent human rights abuses in future host countries. “Time is running out for the sponsors to take a clear stand in defense of Olympic values,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “These companies are sponsoring an Oympics marred by ugly discrimination and serious rights abuses. They should speak out forcefully for equality and human rights.”

The joint letter is addressed to the 10 TOP Sponsors of the Sochi Games (members of “The Olympic Partner” (TOP) Program)--Atos, Coca Cola, Dow Chemical, General Electric, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, Samsung, and Visa. The Human Rights Campaign, Human Rights Watch and several other groups have engaged with the sponsors for nearly a year to urge them to act on abuses.

Among the groups in the coalition: Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Human Rights Campaign, Athlete Ally, GLAAD, Family Equality Council, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Including in the requests for action, the letter asks that Sochi's top corporate sponsors address LGBT rights in their Olympic advertising.

Kuwaiti MP Slams Amnesty International

"The decision to bar homosexuals from entering Kuwait is a sovereign decision. Amnesty International should take care of lofty and noble goals for which it was established, leave aside homosexuality and deviations and stop defending delinquents. The organisation should heed the annual rates of births outside the institution of marriage in Europe and abortions as well as the high rates of underage mothers and other moral crimes forbidden by all divine religions." - Kuwaiti MP Abdul Rahman Al Jiran, returning fire at Amnesty International, who last week strongly condemned Kuwait's plan.

ZAMBIA: Two Men Face 15 Years In Prison For "Acts Against The Order Of Nature"

Two Zambian men are about to go on trial for committing homosexual acts. Amnesty International reports:

Philip Mubiana, a hair dresser and James Mwape, a brick layer, were charged with committing acts “against the order of nature”. They have been in custody for more than four months after being denied bail. If convicted they face a minimum of 15 years in jail. Laws prohibiting consensual, private, same-sex sexual activity criminalise the legitimate exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, conscience, expression and privacy. These are protected in numerous treaties ratified by Zambia including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.

It's also a crime in Zambia to advocate for LGBT rights and in a separate case, a local activist is under arrest for giving an interview with the local press.

RELATED: Zambia, which gained independence from Britain in 1964, declares itself to be a Christian nation in its constitution. According to the Pew Forum, 97% of the population identifies as Christian.

Rights Groups Jointly Demand That Canada Arrest George W. Bush For War Crimes

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have issued to a joint call for Canadian authorities to arrest former president George W. Bush on war crimes charges. Duyba is scheduled to visit a British Colombia economic summit next week.

There is overwhelming evidence that Bush and other senior administration officials authorized and implemented a regime of torture and ill-treatment of hundreds of detainees in US custody,including at least two Canadian citizens. Under the Convention against Torture, Canada is obligated to prosecute individuals suspected of committing torture found in its territory if other countries have failed to do so. The Obama administration has failed to investigate allegations of involvement in torture by Bush or other senior administration officials, and none are expected.

The Vancouver Sun reports that Canada plans to ignore the demands.

"Amnesty International cherrypicks cases to publicize based on ideology. This kind of stunt helps explain why so many respected human rights advocates have abandoned Amnesty International," Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said. Kenney noted in an email that in the past, Amnesty had not asked for Canada to bar former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, even though the rights organization itself said he had presided over "arbitrary arrests, detention, and criminal prosecution."

50 Years Of Amnesty International

Amnesty International: Irish Civil Partnerships Are Second-Class Citizenship

Amnesty International is issuing a stern condemnation of the Ireland's plan to offer civil partnerships for gay couples, saying the unions are for "second-class people."

Amnesty International Ireland executive director Colm O'Gorman is to describe civil partnerships as "a second-class form of marriage for what the government clearly feels is a second-class group of people" in a speech tonight in Belfast. In a statement, O'Gorman said: "At a time when countries around the world are moving forward, ending inequalities, we are enshrining discrimination in Irish law. This is not about the right to marry; it is about the right not to be discriminated against because of who you love. Failure to provide full marriage equality means that same-sex couples will not have full protection under the law." Describing the decision as "cowardly", he pointed to scare stories about "gay bogeymen" stealing children and also cited a recent newspaper columnist arguing that women will be more likely to have abortions rather than have children adopted out of fear they could end up with a gay couple.

The Irish government says it will not consider same-sex marriage as it would require a change in the national constitution.