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INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
UN: General Assembly to Address Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Statement affirms promise of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(New York, December 11, 2008) - As
the world celebrates the 60th anniversary of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR), the UN General Assembly will hear a
statement in mid-December endorsed by more
than 50 countries across the globe calling
for an end to rights abuses based on sexual
orientation and gender identity. A coalition
of international human rights organizations
today urged all the world's nations to
support the statement in affirmation of the
UDHR's basic promise: that human rights apply
to everyone.
Nations on four continents are
coordinating the statement, including:
Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, Gabon,
Japan, the Netherlands, and Norway. The
reading of the statement will be the first
time the General Assembly has formally
addressed rights violations based on sexual
orientation and gender identity.
"In 1948 the world's nations set forth the
promise of human rights, but six decades
later, the promise is unfulfilled for many,"
said Linda Baumann of Namibia, a board member
of Pan Africa ILGA, a coalition of over 60
African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) groups. "The unprecedented
African support for this statement sends a
message that abuses against LGBT people are
unacceptable anywhere, ever."
The statement is non-binding, and
reaffirms existing protections for human
rights in international law. It builds on a
previous joint statement supported by 54
countries, which Norway delivered at the UN
Human Rights Council in 2006.
"Universal means universal, and there are
no exceptions," said Boris Dittrich of the
Netherlands, advocacy director of Human
Rights Watch's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender rights program. "The UN must
speak forcefully against violence and
prejudice, because there is no room for half
measures where human rights are concerned."
The draft statement condemns violence,
harassment, discrimination, exclusion,
stigmatization, and prejudice based on sexual
orientation and gender identity. It also
condemns killings and executions, torture,
arbitrary arrest, and deprivation of
economic, social, and cultural rights on
those grounds.
"Today, dozens of countries still
criminalize consensual homosexual conduct,
laws that are often relics of colonial rule,"
said Grace Poore of Malaysia, who works with
the International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission. "This statement shows a
growing global consensus that such abusive
laws have outlived their time."
The statement also builds on a long record
of UN action to defend the rights of lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender people. In its
1994 decision in Toonen v. Australia, the UN
Human Rights Committee - the body that
interprets the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), one of
the UN's core human rights treaties - held
that human rights law prohibits
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Since then, the United Nations' human rights
mechanisms have condemned violations based on
sexual orientation and gender identity,
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 against
LGBT people, 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.
"Latin American governments are helping
lead the way as champions of equality and
supporters of this statement," said Gloria
Careaga Perez of Mexico, co-secretary general
of ILGA. "Today a global movement supports
the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender people, and those voices will not
be denied."
So far, 55 countries have signed onto the
General Assembly statement, including:
Andorra, Armenia, Australia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Canada, Cape Verde, the Central
African Republic, Chile, Ecuador, Georgia,
Iceland, Israel, Japan, Liechtenstein,
Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, San Marino,
Serbia, Switzerland, the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Uruguay, and
Venezuela. All 27 member states of the
European Union are also signatories.
"It is a great achievement that this
initiative has made it to the level of the
General Assembly," said Louis-Georges Tin of
France, president of the International
Committee for IDAHO (International Day
against Homophobia), a network of activists
and groups campaigning for decriminalization
of homosexual conduct. "It shows our common
struggles are successful and should be
reinforced."
"This statement has found support from
states and civil society in every region of
the world," said Kim Vance of Canada,
co-director of ARC International. "In
December a simple message will rise from the
General Assembly: the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights is truly universal."
The coalition of international
human rights organizations that issued this
statement include:
Amnesty International; ARC International;
Center for Women's Global Leadership; COC
Netherlands; Global Rights; Human Rights
Watch; IDAHO Committee; International Gay and
Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC);
International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender and Intersex Association (ILGA);
and Public Services International.
For more information, please
contact:
- In New York for Human Rights Watch,
Scott Long (English):
- +1-212-216-1297; or +1-646-641-5655; or
longs@hrw.org
- In London for Amnesty International, Kate
Sheill
- (English: +44-20-7413-5748; or
ksheill@amnesty.org
- In Halifax, for ARC International, Kim
Vance (English, French):
- +1-902-488-6404
- In Geneva for ARC International, John
Fisher (English, French):
- +41-79-508-3968; or
arc@arc-international.net
- In Amsterdam for COC Netherlands, Bjorn
van Roozendall (Dutch, English):
- +31-6-22-55-83-00; or
bvanroozendaal@coc.nl
- In Washington for Global Rights, Stefano
Fabeni (English, Italian, Spanish):
- +1 202-741-5049; or
stefanof@globalrights.org
- In New York for IGLHRC, Hossein Alizadeh
(English, Persian):
- +1-212-430-6016; or
halizadeh@iglhrc.org
- In Brussels for ILGA, Stephen Barris
(English, French, Spanish):
- +32-2-502-2471; or
stephenbarris@ilga.org; or in New York, +39
33-5-606-7158, or media@ilga.org (December
14-18)
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The International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission (IGLHRC) is a leading human
rights organization solely devoted to
improving the rights of people around the
world who are targeted for imprisonment,
abuse or death because of their sexuality,
gender identity or HIV/AIDS status. IGLHRC
addresses human rights violations by
partnering with and supporting activists in
countries around the world, monitoring and
documenting human rights abuses, engaging
offending governments, and educating
international human rights officials. A
non-profit, non-governmental organization,
IGLHRC is based in New York, with offices in
Cape Town and Buenos Aires. Visit
http://www.iglhrc.org for more information
Reproduced with permission - "INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (IGLHRC)"
INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (IGLHRC)
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