In this, the 60th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on World Refugee Day, Amnesty International calls on states to reaffirm everyone’s right to seek and to enjoy asylum from persecution, as recognized in the words of article 14 of the UDHR.

Amnesty International revealed on Thursday that 12 bodies have been found in various areas of Zimbabwe. Most of the victims appear to have been tortured to death by their abductors. They were allegedly abducted by ZANU-PF supporters who, in some instances, were accompanied by armed men believed to be government agents.

The UN Security Council has voted unanimously in favour of a resolution classifying rape as a weapon of war. The document describes the deliberate use of rape as a tactic in war and a threat to international security. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said violence against women had reached "unspeakable proportions" in some societies recovering from conflict. The UN is also setting up an inquiry to report next June on how widespread the practice is and how to tackle it.

Sudan's Darfur crisis has exploded on many fronts violence, hunger, displacement and looting but United Nations peacekeepers say the biggest issue now affecting the region is the systematic rape of women and children. Thousands of women, as young as four are caught in the middle of the struggle between rebel forces and government-backed militias have become victims of rape, they say, with some aid groups claiming it is being used as a weapon of ethnic cleansing.

According to the Joint UN Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), there are 33.2 million people worldwide living with HIV. Of those, 15.4 million are women. In Africa, women account for between 59 and 61 per cent of all adults living with HIV. Gender violence is one factor that makes women more vulnerable to infection, and it also hampers treatment.