UN official condemns rape law

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has condemned a recently-signed law in Nigeria's Kaduna state that introduced tough penalties for convicted rapists. BBC News reports that the law states that males convicted of raping a victim under the age of 14 should be surgically castrated and given the death penalty. Bachelet said the penalties ‘will not resolve any of the barriers to accessing justice, nor will it serve a preventive role’.