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UN: General Assembly Statement Affirms Rights for All
66 States Condemn Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
(New York, December 19, 2008) - In
a powerful victory for the principles of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 66
nations at the UN General Assembly yesterday
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 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."
LGBT Activists at the
UN General Assembly's Historic Session, Dec
18, 2008. Back row, left to right: Charlotte
Bunch (Center for Women's Global
Leadership/CGWL), Kate Sheill (Amnesty
International/AI), Jelena Postic (IGLHRC
international advisor), Susana Fried (UNDP),
Kim Vance and John Fisher (ARC
International), Philippe Colomb (Inter-LGBT
France), Renato Sabbadini (ILGA), Rev. Jide
Macaulay (Metropolitan Community Churches
Nigeria), Second row, left to right: Ariel
Herrera (AI), Cynthia Rothschild (CWGL),
Paula Ettelbrick (IGLHRC), Vanessa Jackson
(International Service for Human Rights),
Bruce Knotts (Unitarian Universalist), Joyce
Hamilton (COC Netherlands), Todd Larson
(IGLHRC). Photo Credit: Adrian Coman, IGLHRC.
You can download a high resolution version of
the image from IGLHRC's
website.
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 (http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/12/17/alien-legacy-0
). 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 (IGLHRC) 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 (UDHR),
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. The Full Text of the French Statement and
the Webcast of the UN Session
The French, who initiated the statement,
have created a website (http://www.droitslgbt2008.fr/)
about it with an attached document (PDF
format, which can be downloaded from http://www.droitslgbt2008.fr/documents/?mode=download&id=2)
that contains the statement in French (pages
1-2), Spanish (pages (3-4) and English (pages
5-6).
The entire day's proceedings at the United
Nations-the General Assembly Session, a
subsequent panel discussion on "human rights,
sexual orientation and gender identity," and
a press conference - were recorded and may be
watched via the United Nations' webcasting
archive. Please note: the General Assembly
Session lasted for 2 hours and 45 minutes but
the statement condemning human rights abuses
against LGBT people was read in the last
15-20 minutes. The following links are to the
video files on UN website. You need to have
Real Player on your computer in order to view
the webcast:
You can also read coverage of yesterday's
events by the Associated Press,
including a comment by IGLHRC's Executive
Director, Paula Ettelbrick, here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h1rNjQnbi3UUwYn7JGfk4pLIO6DgD955IQK80.
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
- 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 (International Gay and Lesbian
Human Rights Commission)
- In New York, Hossein Alizadeh:
+1-212-430-6016
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email: executive_director@iglhrc.org
phone: 212-430-6054
web: http://www.iglhrc.org
The Mission of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is to secure the full enjoyment of human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation or expression, gender identity or expression and/or HIV status.
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Reproduced with permission - "INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (IGLHRC)"
INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (IGLHRC)
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