<br>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Vern Weitzel</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:vern.weitzel@gmail.com">vern.weitzel@gmail.com</a>></span><br>crossposted from: "[gender-cedaw-vn discussion group]" <<a href="mailto:gender-cedaw-vn@cairo.anu.edu.au">gender-cedaw-vn@cairo.anu.edu.au</a>>, <br>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br><br><br>*UN: General Assembly Statement Affirms Rights for All *<br><br>*66 States Condemn Violations Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender<br>Identity** *<br><br>/(New York, December 19, 2008)/ - In a powerful victory for the<br>
principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 66 nations at<br>the UN General Assembly yesterday supported a groundbreaking statement<br>confirming that international human rights protections include sexual<br>
orientation and gender identity. It is the first time that a statement<br>condemning rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender<br>people has been presented in the General Assembly.<br><br>The statement drew unprecedented support from five continents, including<br>
six African nations. Argentina read the statement before the General<br>Assembly. A cross-regional group of states coordinated the drafting of<br>the statement, also including Brazil, Croatia, France, Gabon, Japan, the<br>
Netherlands, and Norway.<br><br>The 66 countries reaffirmed "the principle of non-discrimination, which<br>requires that human rights apply equally to every human being regardless<br>of sexual orientation or gender identity." They stated they are "deeply<br>
concerned by violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms based<br>on sexual orientation or gender identity," and said that "violence,<br>harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization and prejudice are<br>
directed against persons in all countries in the world because of sexual<br>orientation or gender identity."<br><br></div>
<div class="Ih2E3d">You can download a high<br>resolution version of the image from IGLHRC's website.<br></div><<a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001op2cFOzvrm0YO0r5vKTjzbBhkOOEO0KpthOrUzOGgXzp0rboYTBehibtJBi70cUlJmOUtW1HpUFC5_FYIl7p7bACvaktu80OAFdaZI7-dsxqfgcyPjb3fElro4zJBleVJZ8EAw-jx4PnQemGzlcZpwdZcp0SvSLSLVTzWAc-6rXDFavNfKuIRK1OhiY6EqIU" target="_blank">http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001op2cFOzvrm0YO0r5vKTjzbBhkOOEO0KpthOrUzOGgXzp0rboYTBehibtJBi70cUlJmOUtW1HpUFC5_FYIl7p7bACvaktu80OAFdaZI7-dsxqfgcyPjb3fElro4zJBleVJZ8EAw-jx4PnQemGzlcZpwdZcp0SvSLSLVTzWAc-6rXDFavNfKuIRK1OhiY6EqIU</a>>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br><br>The statement condemned killings, torture, arbitrary arrest, and<br>"deprivation of economic, social and cultural rights, including the<br>right to health." The participating countries urged all nations to<br>
"promote and protect human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual<br>orientation and gender identity," and to end all criminal penalties<br>against people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.<br>
<br>According to calculations by ILGA (the International Lesbian, Gay,<br>Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association) and other organizations,<br>more than six dozen countries still have laws against consensual sex<br>
between adults of the same sex. The majority of these laws were left<br>behind by colonial rulers<br>(<a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/12/17/alien-legacy-0" target="_blank">http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/12/17/alien-legacy-0</a><br>
</div><<a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001op2cFOzvrm3jE7o_vG5E0n_qYDXRWRNjZK_T1H_sujOPkMcAPQG6_6epjUhIZdlPEPlaJm0I72DosD-NZh8fNk_RUImdqyDp9w5UYO7_kF37UPDfHzfgJl85pxBsVtLAoZs5hEdrQ3_HwfY98FI5Vip83l2d_ct8V09TVIgqxgk=" target="_blank">http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001op2cFOzvrm3jE7o_vG5E0n_qYDXRWRNjZK_T1H_sujOPkMcAPQG6_6epjUhIZdlPEPlaJm0I72DosD-NZh8fNk_RUImdqyDp9w5UYO7_kF37UPDfHzfgJl85pxBsVtLAoZs5hEdrQ3_HwfY98FI5Vip83l2d_ct8V09TVIgqxgk=</a>> <br>
<div>
<div></div>
<div class="Wj3C7c">). The UN Human Rights Committee, which interprets the International<br>Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a core UN treaty, held<br>in a historic 1994 decision that such laws are rights violations - and<br>
that human rights law forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation.<br><br>Human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity<br>happen regularly around the world. For example:<br><br> * In the *United States*, Amnesty International has documented<br>
serious patterns of police abuse against lesbian, gay, bisexual,<br> and transgender people, including incidents amounting to torture<br> and ill-treatment. The United States refused to sign the General<br> Assembly statement.<br>
* In *Egypt*, Human Rights Watch documented a massive crackdown on<br> men suspected of homosexual conduct between 2001-2004, in which<br> hundreds or thousands of men were arrested and tortured. Egypt<br> actively opposed the General Assembly statement.<br>
* The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)<br> has documented how, in many *African countries*, sodomy laws and<br> prejudice deny rights protections to Africans engaged in same-sex<br>
practices amid the HIV/AIDS pandemic - and can actually<br> criminalize outreach to affected groups.<br><br>The signatories overcame intense opposition from a group of governments<br>that regularly try to block UN attention to violations based on sexual<br>
orientation and gender identity. Only 57 states signed an alternative<br>text promoted by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. While<br>affirming the "principles of non-discrimination and equality," they<br>
claimed that universal human rights did not include "the attempt to<br>focus on the rights of certain persons."<br><br>At first, the Holy See had voiced strong opposition to the General<br>Assembly statement. Its opposition sparked severe criticism by human<br>
rights defenders worldwide. In a significant reversal, however, the Holy<br>See indicated to the General Assembly today that it called for repeal of<br>criminal penalties for homosexual conduct.<br><br>This year is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human<br>
Rights (UDHR), and the General Assembly statement reaffirms the reach<br>and breadth of UDHR principles. The statement is non-binding, but<br>restates what UN human rights bodies have repeatedly said: that no one<br>should face rights violations because of their sexual orientation and<br>
gender identity.<br><br>Since the Human Rights Committee's landmark decision in 1994, United<br>Nations experts have repeatedly acted against abuses that target<br>lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, including killings,<br>
torture, rape, violence, disappearances, and discrimination in many<br>areas of life. UN treaty bodies have called on states to end<br>discrimination in law and policy.<br><br>Other international bodies have also opposed violence and discrimination<br>
based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including the Council<br>of Europe and the European Union. In 2008, all 34 member countries of<br>the Organization of American States unanimously approved a declaration<br>
affirming that human rights protections extend to sexual orientation and<br>gender identity.<br><br>Earlier in the day, the General Assembly also adopted a resolution<br>condemning extrajudicial executions, which contained a reference<br>
opposing killings based on sexual orientation. Uganda moved to delete<br>that reference, but the General Assembly rejected this by 78-60.<br><br><br> The signatories to the General Assembly statement are:<br><br>Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium,<br>
Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cape Verde,<br>Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech<br>Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia,<br>
Germany, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel,<br>Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,<br>Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand,<br>Nicaragua, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Sao<br>
Tome and Principe, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,<br>Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste,<br>United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela.<br><br><br> The Full Text of the French Statement and the Webcast of the UN<br>
Session<br><br>The French, who initiated the statement, have created a website<br>(<a href="http://www.droitslgbt2008.fr/" target="_blank">http://www.droitslgbt2008.fr/</a><br></div></div><<a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001op2cFOzvrm1JCFaYzymnOwXOXCDMdueSxD_Q1x6X6FLA9T0u1MPu9y833HwwvRkTJ80UuImDpn1I8LorwaOLceNBZg4n_R7gkilutnqqBix4w3DQ-Sc8Ci3kxdyszZ8S" target="_blank">http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001op2cFOzvrm1JCFaYzymnOwXOXCDMdueSxD_Q1x6X6FLA9T0u1MPu9y833HwwvRkTJ80UuImDpn1I8LorwaOLceNBZg4n_R7gkilutnqqBix4w3DQ-Sc8Ci3kxdyszZ8S</a>>) <br>
<div class="Ih2E3d">about it with an attached document (PDF format, which can be downloaded<br>from <a href="http://www.droitslgbt2008.fr/documents/?mode=download&id=2" target="_blank">http://www.droitslgbt2008.fr/documents/?mode=download&id=2</a><br>
</div><<a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001op2cFOzvrm3IJOEboAZLRbydj4hj-_RD9S8arwV45zPOvy0hGX8_gfKpo4C5lKMT_wEDrn0tgw17ZPoOElPLfSAEueqG1B9BvzvX9uRxfLAFf84H5tMVV8RM7y2XqUntF6QWpW35ajWRhY-ruC8yAbmD_GjJ7rDkKSdIRJFisE8=" target="_blank">http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001op2cFOzvrm3IJOEboAZLRbydj4hj-_RD9S8arwV45zPOvy0hGX8_gfKpo4C5lKMT_wEDrn0tgw17ZPoOElPLfSAEueqG1B9BvzvX9uRxfLAFf84H5tMVV8RM7y2XqUntF6QWpW35ajWRhY-ruC8yAbmD_GjJ7rDkKSdIRJFisE8=</a>>) <br>
<div class="Ih2E3d">that contains the statement in French (pages 1-2), Spanish (pages (3-4)<br>and English (pages 5-6).<br><br></div></div>