ILGA delegation rallies support for UN statement
UN: 66 States Condemn Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender
Identity
http://ilga.org/index.asp
The statement read by Argentina and the counterstatement read by the Syrian
Arab Republic that immediately followed can be seen respectively at 2:25:00
and at 2:32:00 in the video archived on the UN website and marked as "18
December 08 General Assembly: 70th and 71st plenary meeting - Morning
session".
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga.html
______________________________ __________________
ILGA delegation rallies support for UN statement
UN: 66 States Condemn Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender
Identity
(New York, December 18, 2008) – In a powerful victory for the principles of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 66 nations at the UN General
Assembly today supported a groundbreaking statement confirming that
international human rights protections include sexual orientation and gender
identity. It is the first time that a statement condemning rights abuses
against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people has been presented in
the General Assembly.
The statement read by Argentina and the counterstatement read by the Syrian
Arab Republic that immediately followed can be seen respectively at 2:25:00
and at 2:32:00 in the video archived on the UN website and marked as "18
December 08 General Assembly: 70th and 71st plenary meeting - Morning
session".
http://www.un.org/webcast/ga.html
A delegation of international activists was present in New York to lobby UN
missions of various states. Thanks to the presence of the activists, it was
possible to rally more support for the declaration calling for
decriminalization of homosexuality. The presence of the delegation in New
York was made possible by the financial contributions of the Ministries of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Germany and the Netherlands to ILGA and
the cooperation with COC Netherlands.
The components of the delegation were:
Belissa Andia, ILGA Trans-secretariat, Instituto Runa (Peru)
Linda Baumann, Pan Africa ILGA, Rainbow Project (Namibia)
Gloria Careaga, co-secretary general ILGA, El Closet de Sor Juana (Mexico)
Beto de Jesus, ILGA-LAC, ABGLT (Brasil)
Anna Kirey, ILGA-Asia, Labrys (Kyrgyzstan)
Rev. Jide Macaulay, Pan Africa ILGA, House of Rainbow (Nigeria)
Pedro Paradiso Sottile, ILGA-LAC, CHA, Comunidad Homosexual Argentina
(Argentina)
Renato Sabbadini, co-secretary general ILGA, Arcigay (Italy)
The mission was coordinated by John Fisher and Kim Vance of Arc-
International with the help of Joyce Hamilton and Bjorn van Roozendaal of
COC Netherlands.
The statement drew unprecedented support from five continents, including six
African nations. Argentina read the statement before the General Assembly. A
cross-regional group of states coordinated the drafting of the statement,
also including Brazil, Croatia, France, Gabon, Japan, the Netherlands, and
Norway.
The 66 countries reaffirmed "the principle of non-discrimination, which
requires that human rights apply equally to every human being regardless of
sexual orientation or gender identity." They stated they are "deeply
concerned by violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms based on
sexual orientation or gender identity," and said that "violence, harassment,
discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization and prejudice are directed against
persons in all countries in the world because of sexual orientation or
gender identity."
The statement condemned killings, torture, arbitrary arrest, and
"deprivation of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to
health." The participating countries urged all nations to "promote and
protect human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation and
gender identity," and to end all criminal penalties against people because
of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
According to calculations by ILGA (the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender and Intersex Association) and other organizations, more than six
dozen countries still have laws against consensual sex between adults of the
same sex.
The majority of these laws were left behind by colonial rulers (see Human
Rights Watch report The UN Human Rights Committee, which interprets the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a core UN
treaty, held in a historic 1994 decision that such laws are rights
violations – and that human rights law forbids discrimination based on
sexual orientation.
Human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity
happen regularly around the world. For example:
• In the United States, Amnesty International has documented serious
patterns of police abuse against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
people, including incidents amounting to torture and ill-treatment. The
United States refused to sign the General Assembly statement.
• In Egypt, Human Rights Watch documented a massive crackdown on men
suspected of homosexual conduct between 2001-2004, in which hundreds or
thousands of men were arrested and tortured. Egypt actively opposed the
General Assembly statement.
• The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has documented
how, in many African countries, sodomy laws and prejudice deny rights
protections to Africans engaged in same-sex practices amid the HIV/AIDS
pandemic – and can actually criminalize outreach to affected groups.
The signatories overcame intense opposition from a group of governments that
regularly try to block UN attention to violations based on sexual
orientation and gender identity. Only 57 states signed an alternative text
promoted by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. While affirming the
"principles of non-discrimination and equality," they claimed that universal
human rights did not include "the attempt to focus on the rights of certain
persons."
At first, the Holy See had voiced strong opposition to the General Assembly
statement. Its opposition sparked severe criticism by human rights defenders
worldwide. In a significant reversal, however, the Holy See indicated to the
General Assembly today that it called for repeal of criminal penalties for
homosexual conduct.
This year is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, and the General Assembly statement reaffirms the reach and breadth
of UDHR principles. The statement is non-binding, but restates what UN human
rights bodies have repeatedly said: that no one should face rights
violations because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Navanetham Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, strongly
supported the statement. In a videotaped message, she cited South Africa's
1996 decision to protect sexual orientation in its Constitution. She pointed
to the "task and challenge to move beyond a debate on whether all human
beings have rights," to "secure the climate for implementation."
Since the Human Rights Committee's landmark decision in 1994, United Nations
experts have repeatedly acted against abuses that target lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender people, including killings, torture, rape,
violence, disappearances, and discrimination in many areas of life. UN
treaty bodies have called on states to end discrimination in law and policy.
Other international bodies have also opposed violence and discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including the Council of
Europe and the European Union. In 2008, all 34 member countries of the
Organization of American States unanimously approved a declaration affirming
that human rights protections extend to sexual orientation and gender
identity.
Earlier in the day, the General Assembly also adopted a resolution
condemning extrajudicial executions, which contained a reference opposing
killings based on sexual orientation. Uganda moved to delete that reference,
but the General Assembly rejected this by 78-60.
The signatories to the General Assembly statement are:
Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cape Verde, Central
African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Greece,
Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro,
Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Paraguay, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, Timor-Leste, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
For more information, please contact the following organizations issuing
this statement:
Amnesty International (in New York, Kate Sheill: +44-79-0439-8439)
ARC International (in Canada, Kim Vance: +1-902-488-6404)
Center for Women's Global Leadership (in New York, Cynthia Rothschild:
+1-917- 318-3593)
COC Netherlands (in New York: Björn van Roozendaal +31-62-255-8300)
Global Rights (in Washington, DC, Stefano Fabeni: +1-202-741-5049)
Human Rights Watch (in New York, Scott Long: +1-646-641-5655)
ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual and Intersex
Association (in New York, Renato Sabbadini: +39-335-60-67-158 – In Brussels,
+32-2-402-24-71)
Inter-LGBT France (in New York, Philippe Colomb: +33-68-985-3109)
International Committee for IDAHO (International Day Against Homophobia) (in
New York, Louis-Georges Tin: +33-61-945-4552)
IGLHRC (in New York, Hossein Alizadeh: +1-212-430-6016)
______________________________ _____________________________
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