IGLHRC granted consultative status in UN ECOSOC

United Nations Grants Official Status to US-Based International LGBT Rights Group

A victory against homophobic silencing of civil society

On July 19, 2010, the full United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted in favor of a US-led resolution to grant the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) consultative status. IGLHRC is only the tenth organization working primarily for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) human rights to gain such status at the United Nations.

"Today's decision is an affirmation that the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have a place at the United Nations as part of a vital civil society community," said Cary Alan Johnson, IGLHRC Executive Director. "The clear message here is that these voices should not be silenced and that human rights cannot be denied on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity."

The resolution passed with 23 in favor, 13 against, 13 abstentions and 5 absences.

This victory is particularly significant, coming as it does after a prolonged 3-year application process in the sub-committee that makes initial recommendations on status. Despite full compliance with all procedures IGLHRC faced deferrals, homophobic questioning, and procedural roadblocks in the ECOSOC NGO Committee.

Today's decision overturned a "no-action" vote in the NGO-committee that threatened to establish a dangerous precedent and the possibility of organizations deemed controversial being continuously denied the opportunity to have their application put to a vote even after undergoing the required review.

The vote also signals a recognition of the important role of a diverse and active civil society at the UN. In support of progress on IGLHRC's application, a group of over 200 NGOs from 59 countries endorsed a letter to all UN Member States, demanding fair and non-discriminatory treatment and supporting IGLHRC's goal of amplifying LGBT voices in the international arena.

"As human rights defenders and LGBT people living in countries where homophobic discrimination is a daily reality, we celebrate the accreditation of IGLHRC at the UN," said Frank Mugisha, Chairperson of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), one of 13 NGOs from Uganda to publicly call for IGLHRC to be accredited. "IGLHRC's access to the UN means that we too will have greater access to international human-rights mechanisms that can prove invaluable to LGBT people's lives."

The government of the United States stood strongly behind IGLHRC's application, calling for a vote in both the NGO Committee and ECOSOC. Ambassador Susan Rice, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, publicly supported IGLHRC's application. Additionally, 14 members of the US House of Representatives and 4 Senators sent letters of support for IGLHRC's application to all UN Member States. Among them were Senator John Kerry, Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and Congressman Howard Berman, Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The victory continues the upward trajectory for LGBT rights at the UN. It allows IGLHRC to participate in a more formal way through attending meetings, submitting statements and collaborating with the UN and governments in the international human-rights arena.

"We celebrate this decision," stated Toni Reis, president of the Brazilian LGBT group, Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis e Transexuais (ABGLT) - that in 2009 was the last LGBT organization to receive status. "It is crucial that LGBT NGOs have the opportunity to participate in the UN human rights debate - though in future, organizations should receive full and fair reviews before the NGO Committee itself."

Despite the limited opportunities offered to non-accredited NGOs, IGLHRC has a long history of advocating at the UN for the rights of all people, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. The organization advocated for sexual rights to be included in the official discussions at the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing; spoke at the first UN General Assembly meeting on HIV and AIDS in 2001; and in recent years has been part of a collaboration between NGOs and supportive States that resulted in the groundbreaking 2008 UNGA Declaration on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, signed by 67 UN Member States.

The votes on this resolution granting IGLHRC special consultative status were as follows:

Vote For - 23

• Argentina
• Australia
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Guatemala
• Italy
• Japan
• Liechtenstein
• Malta
• Norway
• Peru
• Poland
• Rep. of Korea
• Slovenia
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Uruguay

Votes Against - 13

• Bangladesh
• China
• Comoros
• Egypt
• Malaysia
• Morocco
• Namibia
• Niger
• Pakistan
• Russian Fed.
• Saudi Arabia
• Venezuela
• Zambia

Abstaining - 13

• Bahamas
• Cote D'Ivoire
• Ghana
• India
• Mauritius
• Mongolia
• Mozambique
• Philippines
• Rep. of Moldova
• Rwanda
• Saint Kitts & Nevis
• Turkey
• Ukraine

Absent - 5

• Cameroon
• Congo
• Guinea-Bissau
• Iraq
• Saint Lucia

[Posted by Ging Cristobal of IGLHRC, AP-Rainbow mailing list, 2010-07-20]

The Pink Toilet

[Referred from a post by Grace Poore, ap-rainbow, 11 November 2008.]

Asia: The Tale of the Pink Toilet: Transgender Rights in Thailand
Date: November 3, 2008

In 2007, sexual rights activists in Thailand came together as a coalition to demand that their rights be included in the new constitution being drafted by the Constitution Drafting Assembly. Their demands included the rights to non-discrimination, same-sex marriage, and inheritance rights for same-sex couples, as well as the right of gay men and transgender individuals to seek and receive legal redress for rape. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission wrote to the Thai National Assembly (parliament) in support of our Thai colleagues and urged Assembly members to recognize sexual diversity and sexual rights in Thailand. Unfortunately, despite the strong backing of Thailand’s Human Rights Commission, the vote on the proposal to include these rights in the new constitution was narrowly defeated in the National Assembly. Eventually, the political upheavals in Thailand altogether delayed the adoption of the new constitution. For Thai activists the fact that the parliamentary debate on the new constitution was nationally televised is worth celebrating since, for the first time, issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity received a level of serious scrutiny.

Within this context, IGLHRC was interested in examining the implications of designating separate toilets for katoey college and high school students in Thailand. The term, katoey is used broadly for transgender identified people, transsexuals, cross-dressers, or effeminate men in Thai society. In 2004, a private vocational college in Chiang Mai, Thailand offered its katoey population of 15 students the option of using separate toilet facilities. In 2008, a public high school set up a separate toilet for katoey students. What do these gestures signal for Thailand’s katoeys who are considered inferior even as they are acknowledged in Thai society?

Thai gay activist and newspaper columnist, Paisarn Likhitpreechakul provides this report and analysis for IGLHRC.

[Read the rest of the article HERE.]

Announcement: Action alert for Bangalore

[Consolidated from several posts by Manohar Elavarthi, Paula Ettelbrick and Grace Poore, ap-rainbow, first posted on 08 November 2008.]

Action Alert: Demand action against Bengaluru (India) Police, who brutally assaulted sexual minorities and human rights defenders

The incident: On 20th October, Bengaluru police brutally attacked five sexual minority activists and arrested them on false charges when they tried enquiring about the illegal detention of five hijras (working class male-to-female transgenders). Police illegally detained and assaulted a large number of human rights defenders when they held a peaceful protest against the illegal police actions. Police also arrested 31 human rights defenders on false charges.

Action: Coalition for Sexworkers and Sexual Minorities (a coming together of social movements and human rights groups in Bengaluru to resist police violence and to defend sexual minority human rights) requests you send emails or faxes to Indian authorities demanding action against guilty police for the crimes committed against human rights defenders. More information about the incident and the pretest actions is available HERE.

Please send a copy of your letter to advocacysangama@gmail.com.

VIEW ACTION ALERT HERE. [PDF file of Action Alert can also be downloaded HERE.]

Iran halts death penalty for juveniles

[Posted by Grace Poore, ap-rainbow, 18 October 2008.]

Iran: IGLHRC Welcomes Moratorium on the Death Penalty for Juveniles

For Immediate Release, October 17, 2008
Media Contact: Hossein Alizadeh, 212-430-6016, halizadeh@iglhrc.org

(New York, October 17, 2008) - The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) welcomed the announcement this week by the Deputy Attorney General of Iran that judicial authorities would put a moratorium on the death penalty for juveniles. The moratorium will take effect immediately, with plans to seek final parliamentary approval.

"The ban on juvenile execution is an important human rights development for sexual minorities, particularly those perceived to be gay," said IGLHRC executive director Paula Ettelbrick. "All too frequently, young Iranian men have been executed as juveniles after being charged with sodomy and other sexual crimes. This is a positive step toward improving human rights in Iran."

Over the past several years, IGLHRC has documented cases in which juveniles were executed based on allegations including sodomy charges. In July 2005, two teenage boys, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni, were hanged in public, allegedly for sodomy and rape. Both teenagers were juveniles at the time when the events happened, and one was believed to have been a juvenile at the time of his execution. In December 2007, Iran executed Makvan Mouloodzadeh, a 21-year-old who was accused of committing anal rape (ighab) with other young boys when he was 13 years old.

Historically, Iranian Courts have interpreted Article 49 of the Islamic Penal Code in a way that allows them to impose the death penalty on children. Although Article 49 states that children are not criminally liable, judges often use existing laws to define the age of adulthood as 15 for boys and just 9 for girls. Last June, prominent Iranian lawyer Mr. Mohammad Mostfaii reported that there were close to 100 young people in Iranian jails waiting to be executed for crimes they committed as juveniles.

But this week's announcement by judicial authorities defines juveniles as those under age 18, and says that the maximum penalty for all crimes committed by juveniles is life in prison, which can be reduced to 15 years in jail with parole.

The change comes after significant opposition to the death penalty for minors was voiced in Iran itself. Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has been an outspoken critic of child executions, speaking up against this inhumane practice at national and international forums and representing juvenile defendants in court. Another Iranian group, the Stop Child Execution Campaign, developed an Internet campaign with the goal of ending juvenile execution. In addition, many Iranian women's groups have been active in the campaign against the death penalty because most of those who have been executed for alleged sexual crimes are women.

"This decision is a great victory for human rights activists-both inside and outside Iran-who have spoken out against the state-sanctioned murders of minors," said Hossein Alizadeh, IGLHRC's Middle East Specialist, "We hope that Iranian authorities will put an end to all forms of capital punishment, especially for same-sex relations and other sexual crimes."

Statement to new High Commissioner for human rights

[Posted by Grace Poore on ap-rainbow Yahoo! Group, 16 September 2008]

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, 9th SESSION
ITEM 2: UPDATE BY THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Joint statement by: International Lesbian and Gay Association-Europe, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD), COC Netherlands, Danish National Organisation for Gay Men and Lesbians (LBL), Center for Women’s Global Leadership, Global Rights-Partners for Justice, Federación Estatal de lesbianas, gays, transexuales y bisexuales, Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL)[1]

- delivered by John Fisher, September 9, 2008

Thank you Mr. President, Madam High Commissioner, Excellencies, distinguished delegates,

I am pleased to take the floor on behalf of 9 ECOSOC-accredited NGOs working to address human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as a number of supporting NGOs which do not yet enjoy ECOSOC status.

We join with all those who have expressed their strong support to you, Madam High Commissioner, as you assume your new office. We share your vision of a world in which every person can live in dignity, and enjoy all human rights free from discrimination. And yet, even today there remain all too many groups and individuals who continue to struggle for recognition of their most basic rights to dignity, equality and non-discrimination.

In her final report to the last session of this Council, for example, your predecessor identified sexual orientation and gender identity issues as human rights concerns of ongoing priority, stating:

“Let me also point out that the perpetuation of prejudices continues to deny equal rights and dignity to millions worldwide on the basis of nothing more innocuous than their sexual identity or orientation ... international human rights law cannot be pigeon-holed to deny protection to those whose discriminatory exclusion is real, and who are entitled to turn to the law for their protection.”

Numerous UN Special Procedures have documented extensive human rights violations on these grounds in all regions of the world, including violence, sexual abuse, denials of rights to peaceful assembly and expression, arbitrary detentions, torture, killings, discrimination and denial of economic, social and cultural rights.

Particularly as we celebrate this 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is critical to ensure that there is no erosion of the principle of universality, which requires that all human beings are entitled to the full enjoyment of all human rights. In this regard, we commend to your attention the Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity, recently developed by a group of distinguished international human rights experts. These Principles provide a sound jurisprudential framework for addressing these issues, and include constructive recommendations to your Office.

One of the challenges faced by any High Commissioner is to rise beyond the political and regional tensions that so often inhibit the capacity of the international community to adequately respond to serious human rights violations, particularly in sensitive areas such as sexual orientation and gender identity that have often gone unaddressed or not yet received due consideration. We agree that the common commitment to ending human rights violations against all persons can serve as the basis for a developing consensus in favour of applying the principles of universality and non-discrimination to all marginalised groups.

In this regard, we note the advances that have already been realised, both internationally and in regions around the world. We join with you, Madam High Commissioner, in welcoming the progressive nature of the South African Constitution, the first in the world to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. As then South African Minister of Health stated at the Beijing 4th World Conference on Women:

“To show that we do not have a short memory regarding matters of discrimination, our Constitution has a non-discriminatory clause and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is prohibited. Though the number of people may be small, we do not discriminate against them, as we do not discriminate against anyone.”

We welcome the fact that during the recent UPR, States from all 5 UN regions committed to the principle of non-discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation. At an ECOSOC meeting, just six weeks ago, States from all 5 UN regions voted in favour of granting UN consultative status to NGOs working on sexual orientation and gender identity issues, including those taking the floor for the first time with this statement.

As High Commissioner for Human Rights, you have a crucial role to play in promoting and protecting the human rights of the most marginalised. It is a role that we know you will fulfil with dignity, integrity, commitment and independence, and we look forward to working with you, Madam High Commissioner, throughout the years ahead.

[1] This statement is also supported by the following non-ECOSOC accredited NGOs: ARC International, International Lesbian and Gay Association, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Heartland Alliance.

Action Alert: Uganda

Condemn the Arrest and Torture of LGBT Human Rights Defender

On July 25, 2008, at 3:00 p.m., Ugandan police arrested and tortured a key Ugandan human rights activist--one of three who had been detained slightly more than a month ago while peacefully demonstrating for access to HIV services. Usaam Mukwaaya was on his way back from Friday prayers when he was stopped by a police patrol car and taken off a motorbike taxi that he had hired to transport him. Three men in police uniform and a fourth in civilian attire put Mukwaaya in the patrol car. He was driven to a building where he was led through a dark hall to an interrogation room, and aggressively questioned about the Ugandan LGBT movement. Mukwaaya was cut around the hands and tortured with a machine that applies extreme pressure to the body, preventing breathing and causing severe pain.

Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG)--a coalition of 3 LGBTI organizations in Uganda--and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) searched unsuccessfully for Mukwaaya from 3:00 p.m. on July 25 to the morning of July 26, 2008, inquiring as to his whereabouts at five police stations in Kampala. On July 26, 2008, at about 11:40 a.m., Mukwaaya was driven from the building where he'd been held for about 30 to 45 minutes and dumped. Shaken and bruised, he boarded a motorbike taxi to the city center and telephoned colleagues from SMUG who found him weak, filthy and without shoes and some of his clothing.

[More details here.]

Indonesia LGBT celebrate IDAHO

Indonesia: LGBT Network Celebrates IDAHO

IGLHRC works to establish freedom of speech, assembly, association and expression for LGBTI people and organizations. In many countries these rights are non-existent or exercising them is associated with severe penalties. As part of our commitment to build and strengthen alliances with other social justice colleagues, IGLHRC frequently disseminates information about activist organizations and allies from around the world. In Indonesia, LGBT activists came together to put a public and human face on the diversity of LGBT people, claiming their place in Indonesian society during that country’s first observance of International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) on May 17. Members of the Indonesian LGBT Network chose the theme, "Homophobia: The Unfinished Story" for their events. Banners with this year’s theme were unfurled simultaneously in several major cities—Jakarta, Surabaya, Purwokerto, Yogyakarta and Makassar. Each city had its own activities to address homophobia, including an LGBT film screening, art exhibition, interactive radio talk show, and street actions such as marches and rallies where 100 roses and leaflets were distributed to passers-by. There were also discussions on sexual orientation, heteronormativity, hate crimes and the Yogyakarta Principles. The Indonesia LGBT Network is a coalition of five LGBT groups, which believes that communication is the “best way to establish an understanding and friendship between LGBT people and the heterosexual community.” There are plans to hold more public events in the future.

CEDAW debates equality

http://www.iglhrc.org/site/iglhrc/section.php?id=5&detail=880

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) takes seriously the opportunity to engage with various United Nations processes such as the Universal Periodic Review where we bring our perspectives on the need to decrimininalize sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and the need to establish free speech, assembly, association and expression for LGBT peoples and organizations. IGHLRC is particularly committed to making visible the rights and struggles of the more marginalized groups in the LGBT community, namely lesbians and transgender people. We have followed closely the work of Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to make sure that issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity are included in discussions about equality for women.

On July 16, 2008, the CEDAW Committee called for a meeting with NGOS to hear recommendations relating to Article 2 of the CEDAW Convention. Article 2 deals with equality and is considered central to the Convention. The Committee is in the process of developing its recommendations on how to use, interpret, administer and implement Article 2 for governments that have ratified CEDAW.

Adrian Coman, Program Director, and Grace Poore, Regional Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific Islands, participated in the July 16 meeting at the United Nations. They presented a statement to CEDAW on behalf of IGLHRC and ILGA-Europe. The following report by Grace Poore captures their experience.

Malaysia: "In this country, an accusation of sodomy is defamation of character"

Decriminalization is one of the main goals of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). The impact of criminalizing non-heteronormative behavior and sexual relationships has far-reaching consequences -- violence and discrimination against LGBT people; vulnerability to abuse and extortion; living conditions that are at best isolating and at worst lethal. This regional update is written by IGLHRC's Regional Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific Islands, Grace Poore in an effort to unpack the impact of anti-sodomy laws like 377, which in this instance, has been used during political rivalries to engage in criminal and legal persecution of opponents. An electronic version of this publication is available on our website: www.iglhrc.org.

[Note: The full text of this material is located here.]