The members of the United Nations’ LGBT Core Group held a ministerial
level meeting yesterday – the highest level UN meeting ever held
concerning LGBT issues - to discuss violence and discrimination against
the LGBT community throughout the world.
According to the
Human Rights Campaign blog, Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
reminded Ministers at the meeting that in some places, conditions for LGBT people are deteriorating, not improving.
“They say that same-sex relationships and transgender
identities go against their culture, religious beliefs or traditional
values. My answer is that human rights are universal,” Pillay said.
“Our campaign on behalf of marginalized communities will meet
resistance, even opposition. We must not be discouraged. We must stay
engaged. Let us keep voicing our concerns, let us keep finding new
allies, sharing good practice and standing fast alongside local human
rights defenders on the front lines of this struggle.”
High level members from Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, The European
Union, France, Israel, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and
the U.S. who gathered behind closed doors, issued this
joint declaration, guaranteed to displease Russia:
End Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.
United Nations, New York, 26 September 2013
1. We, ministers of Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, Israel,
Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and United States, and the
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and
Security Policy – members of the LGBT Core Group at the United Nations –
hereby declare our strong and determined commitment to eliminating
violence and discrimination against individuals based on their sexual
orientation and gender identity.
2.In so doing, we reaffirm our conviction that human rights are the
birthright of every human being. Those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender (LGBT) must enjoy the same human rights as everyone
else.
3.We welcome the many positive steps taken in recent decades to
protect LGBT individuals from human rights violations and abuses. Since
1990, some 40 countries have abolished discriminatory criminal sanctions
used to punish individuals for consensual, adult same-sex conduct. In
many countries, hate crime laws and other measures have been introduced
to combat homophobic violence, and anti-discrimination laws have been
strengthened to provide effective legal protection against
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in
the workplace and other spheres, both public and private.
4. We also recognize that countering discrimination involves
challenging popular prejudices, and we welcome efforts by Governments,
national human rights institutions and civil society to counter
homophobic and transphobic attitudes in society at large, including
through concerted public education campaigns.
5. We assert our support for, and pay tribute to, LGBT human rights
defenders and others advocating for the human rights of LGBT persons.
Their work, often carried out at considerable personal risk, plays a
critical role in documenting human rights violations, providing support
to victims, and sensitizing Governments and public opinion.
6. We commend the adoption by the United Nations Human Rights Council
of resolution 17/19 on human rights, sexual orientation and gender
identity, and we welcome the efforts of the Secretary-General and the
High Commissioner for Human Rights to raise global awareness of human
rights challenges facing LGBT individuals, and to mobilize support for
measures to counter violence and discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity.
7. Nevertheless, we remain gravely concerned that LGBT persons in all
regions of the world continue to be victims of serious and widespread
human rights violations and abuses.
8. A landmark 2011 study by the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
which drew on almost two decades worth of work by United Nations human
rights mechanisms, found a deeply disturbing pattern of violence and
discriminatory laws and practices affecting individuals on the basis of
their sexual orientation and gender identity.
9. It is a tragedy that, in this second decade of the 21st century,
consensual, adult, same-sex relations remain criminalized in far too
many countries – exposing millions of people to the risk of arrest and
imprisonment and, in some countries, the death penalty. These laws are
inconsistent with States’ human rights obligations and commitments,
including with respect to privacy and freedom from discrimination. In
addition, they may lead to violations of the prohibitions against
arbitrary arrest or detention and torture, and in some cases the right
to life.
10. In all parts of the world – including in our own – LGBT
individuals are subjected to intimidation, physical assault, and sexual
violence, and even murder. Discriminatory treatment is also widely
reported, inhibiting the enjoyment of a range of human rights –
including the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful
assembly, and work, education and enjoyment of the highest attainable
standard of health.
11. We are fully committed to tackling these violations and abuses –
both at the domestic level, including through continued attention to the
impact of current policies, and at the global level, including through
concerted action at the United Nations.
12. We recognize the importance of continued dialogue between and
within countries concerning how best to protect the human rights of LGBT
persons, taking into account regional initiatives. In this context, we
welcome the outcome of a series of recent regional consultations on the
topic of human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity that took
place in March and April 2013, and encourage the holding of further such
meetings at regional and national levels.
13. Key to protecting the human rights of LGBT individuals is the
full and effective implementation of applicable international human
rights law. Existing international human rights treaties provide legally
binding guarantees of human rights for all – LGBT people included. But
for these guarantees to have meaning they must be respected by
Governments, with whom legal responsibility for the protection of human
rights lies.
14. Cognizant of the urgent need to take action, we therefore call on
all United Nations Member States to repeal discriminatory laws, improve
responses to hate-motivated violence, and ensure adequate and
appropriate legal protection from discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation and gender identity.
15. We strongly encourage the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights to continue its efforts to increase understanding of the
human rights challenges facing LGBT people, advocate for legal and
policy measures to meet these challenges, and assist the United Nations
human rights mechanisms in this regard.
16. We agree with the United Nations Secretary-General’s assessment
that combating violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation
and gender identity constitutes “one of the great, neglected human
rights challenges of our time”. We hereby commit ourselves to working
together with other States and civil society to make the world safer,
freer and fairer for LGBT people everywhere.
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