Human rights … and wrongs in the Commonwealth

• More than 40 Commonwealth member states still criminalise homosexuality, which is punishable with lengthy jail sentences in Trinidad, Tobago, Malaysia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh and Guyana.

• Serious human rights abuses and war crimes are alleged to have been committed during Sri Lanka's armed conflict. The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, told the Commonwealth last month that it "should not bury its head in the sand and ignore Sri Lanka's serious human rights problems".

• Claims of executions by the security forces in Nigeria are cause for international concern. Child sexual exploitation, lack of freedom of speech and discrimination against women are among other human rights issues in the country. Some of the country's states enforce sharia law.

• Ghana's industry of human trafficking, especially of women and children, has been highlighted by human rights campaigners.

• The attempted killing of the schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai drew the world's attention to the dire state of women's rights in Pakistan. The country's blasphemy laws and discrimination against certain religious minorities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Bahais, have also raised alarm.

• Rights campaigners in Swaziland complain about restrictions on freedom of expression and the right to establish political groups. They are also concerned about state control of the media.

(2013-10-09/theguardian)