UN addresses repression of Iranian LGBT for first time

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By Hossein Alizadeh, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

“For years, Iranian authorities have committed atrocities against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, incited violence by others, and refused to admit that LGBT Iranians exist,” said Hossein Alizadeh, Regional Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).

In the Concluding Observations [PDF] from its 3rd periodic review of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has made clear that the government’s conduct amounts to a violation of the international laws that it has agreed to uphold. “As a state that prides itself in tradition and morality, Iran must now take immediate action to ensure its definitions of tradition and morality are in accordance with the fundamental principles of international human rights law.”

“The UN Human Rights Committee has sent a powerful message to the government of Iran that its treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people constitutes systematic human rights violations that amount to failure to uphold its treaty obligations. The Committee has asked the Iranian government to widely circulate their Concluding Observations to the Iranian judiciary, government and civil society. After consulting with civil society, the government must submit a progress report about the implementation of the recommendations included in the Committee’s Concluding Observations. The Committee has specifically asked the Iranian government to include detailed information on the enjoyment of Covenant rights by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in its next periodic review."

“We at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission are both inspired and hopeful for continuing advances in human rights for everyone, everywhere. We are proud of the collaborative work of IGLHRC and our Iranian partners, the Iranian Queer Organization (IRQO), in contributing to this important advance through our joint Shadow Report entitled: Human Rights Violations on the Basis of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Homosexuality in the Islamic Republic of Iran and testimony before the UN Human Rights Committee.”

Key points from the UN Human Rights Committee Concluding Observations:

On November 3rd the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the sole authority within the United Nations system to evaluate and monitor states’ compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), informed the government of Iran that it must act immediately to eliminate the systematic discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

The Human Rights Committee has urged the government of Iran to repeal or amend legislation that “could result in the discrimination, prosecution and punishment of people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” There is a range of discriminatory laws in Iran, among them laws criminalizing homosexual sex and punishing it with death.

The Human Rights Committee has called on the government of Iran to unconditionally release “anyone held solely on account of freely and mutually agreed sexual activities or sexual orientation.” Due to Iran’s opaque and corrupt justice system, the exact number of people held in detention on the basis of homosexual acts is unknown, however even one person incarcerated on this basis constitutes a violation of fundamental rights to privacy and non-discrimination.

The Human Rights Committee has called upon the government of Iran to “take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to eliminate and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.” The Committee references different spheres of life, including “employment, housing, education and health care” and calls upon the state to ensure that LGBT people are “protected from violence and social exclusion.”

Background

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Report: The state of LGBT human rights in Malawi

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Shadow Report on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in Malawi

• Submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee by the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) and the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) and with the assistance of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). 

• For 25 October 2011 UN Human Rights Committee Meeting, Geneva.

The shocking events of the 20th and 21st of July 2011, when the Government of Malawi turned on its own people - harassing, beating and killing opposition demonstrators - clearly illustrates the climate of fear and rights abuse which currently exists within the State. There is an urgent need for meaningful action from the Human Rights Committee so that all people in Malawi can access and enjoy their most basic Covenant rights.

The current human rights situation in Malawi is extremely serious and possibly deteriorating. While Malawi is a signatory of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights ("the Covenant” or “the ICCPR") and has a relatively progressive constitution, egregious human rights violations are commonplace and the people of Malawi regularly experience discrimination, violence, and even death on numerous grounds, ranging from sex, sexual orientation, national origin, political belief, political expression, professional activity, prisoner status and/or HIV/AIDS status.

The most serious rights violator in Malawi is the President, Bingu wa Mutharika. His administration acknowledges, encourages and organises the intimidation and unlawful killing of individuals or groups which challenges the regime. He has incited his followers to take to the streets with arms, allowed the police to beat and kill members of the opposition, crushed media dissent, and broken up peaceful assemblies with deadly force. President Mutharika's regime ignores the authority of the national courts system, incites prejudice and hatred of vulnerable minorities and relegates women to the status of second class citizens.

The Parliament of Malawi, dominated by an overwhelming majority of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), uses the country’s legislative system to legitimize and extend the current climate of violence and oppression. Recent legislative acts include allowing the police to search property without a warrant, allowing the Minister for Information to arbitrarily ban media publications and prohibiting two consenting females from engaging in consensual sexual intercourse.

Malawi is a country where violence and fear increasingly pervades all areas of society, where human rights defenders are beaten and even killed, where individuals who attempt to affect change are met with swift and brutal force. The fact that the Government of Malawi has chosen not to submit a report to the Committee demonstrates the value which the country’s administration place on upholding human rights. There is an urgent need for the Committee to take strong, appropriate action so that the people of Malawi can enjoy their full Covenant rights to which they are entitled.

LGBT human rights in Malawi

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In Haiti, the United Nations finally pledges protections for LGBT

Rafael Renold, SEROvie Peer Educator providing HIV Prevention Counseling and Training at the SARTHE Displaced Persons Camp

By Paul Canning

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has won an important comittment for Haitian gay and HIV+ people, its Executive Director, Cary Alan Johnson, has said.

Johnson said that Nigel Fisher, humanitarian coordinator for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti has "pledged to help elevate the voices" of LGBT and HIV-Positive Haitians, "so their demands are met in the rebuilding process."

Fisher was speaking to hundreds of AIDS policy experts at the North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit, 22 September.

“People living with or affected by HIV and AIDS, or gay and transgender minorities, they are still left out in the cold,” said Fisher.

“So I can say to the summit organizers: You’ve already done two things in bringing me here. One, you’ve raised my awareness by inviting me. But, two, you’ve allowed me to meet with . . . Haitian advocates here. And we’ve already come up with some ideas about how we can work together once we return to Haiti.”

Following the January 2010 earthquake rhetoric blamed LGBT people for bringing the “wrath of God upon Haiti.”

IGLHRC worked with SEROvie, Haiti’s men who have sex with men (MSM) Community Organisation, extensively in the months after the earthquake to document the secrecy, isolation, discrimination and violence that Haiti’s already vulnerable LGBT population was facing. With them they produced a report titled 'The Impact of the Earthquake, and Relief and Recovery programs on Haitian LGBT People', which proposed guidelines for the UN, governments, civil society organizations, and human rights groups to protect the human rights of LGBT people in disaster situations.

In March last year Johnson wrote of a visit to Haiti:

"Many in this community have been left without food, shelter or identification—and more still have lost close family members and friends. SEROvie has distributed food and medication to LGBT people in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s devastated capital, and have begun to re-launch their important work in 5 regions (Le Nord, L’Ouest, Le Sud-Est, Artibonite, le Sud) around the country. They are also trying to help LGBT people in the makeshift camps for the displaced in Port-au-Prince, distributing condoms and lubricant (some of which was provided by Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) ) and by offering encouragement and understanding to a marginalized group of people that, in the span of 37 seconds, was rendered substantially more vulnerable."

In March this year, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held a thematic hearing on “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Haiti.” [See video of the hearing] Petitioners in the hearing included the IGLHRC and SEROvie.

Said Johnson of Fisher's pledge:

"We are happy to see this important pledge of support from the UN. As a supporter of our organization, I wanted to share with you this example of the real impact of our work and of your support."

Related articles

• Video: In Haiti, LGBT ignored post-earthquake (madikazemi.blogspot.com) 
• LGBT in Haiti, Three Months After the Quake (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

   

   

ILGA wins UN accreditation after years of battle

By Paul Canning

ILGA - the International Lesbian and Gay Association, one of the oldest international LGBT groups - this afternoon won accreditation as an NGO to ECOSOC, the UN Economic and Social Council.

ILGA has been fighting for recognition at the United Nations for many years.

Last year the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) won accreditation to ECOSOC.

In May ILGA lost a vote on recognition at the the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations.

The vote was:

In favour: India, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary.

Against: Iraq, Morocco, Namibia, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Egypt, Ghana.

Abstentions: Guatemala, Mauritius, Philipines, Rwanda, Bahamas, Ivory Coast.

In a press statement ILGA said:

ILGA was the first international LGBTI organisation to get ECOSOC consultative status in 1993, but lost it the following year due to the presence of groups advocating the abolition of laws of consent. ILGA has applied to regain the status ever since, following the expulsion of the above mentioned groups from its membership and after amending its constitution to state clearly its commitment against child abuse, but a small group of countries sponsoring homophobia had been able to influence the votes in the UN NGO Committee examining the applications for a long time. In the meantime, many ILGA members – like LBL Denmark, COC The Netherlands, FELGT Spain, LSVD Germany, ABGLT Brazil, IGLHRC US, and Ilga-Europe – were able to obtain the status by having the negative recommendation of the NGO Committee overturned in the ECOSOC Council, as it has happened in the case of ILGA today.

"This is a historic day for our organisation, which heals a 17-year-old wound – said co-Secretary General Renato Sabbadini, in Geneva for the occasion – and we want to thank all, really all UN Members who voted in our favour. A special thanks goes to Belgium, for its relentless efforts in building a consensus around us, together with the United States and Argentina."

• United Nations media release, including excerpts from the debate.

 

Related articles

• At the UN, ILGA loses again; In US, evangelicals train UN delegates (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Report: ILGA: progress seen in LGBT rights in 2010 (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Video: In Haiti, LGBT ignored post-earthquake

Source: The Human Rights Brief

By Mina Trudeau

• Commissioners: Dinah Shelton, Luz Patricia Mejía Guerrero, Rodrigo Escobar Gil.
• Petitioner: International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission
• State: State of Haiti

Update: The January 2010 earthquake in Haiti resulted in the deaths and injuries of 300,000 Haitians, and more than a million Haitians were left without shelter. The quake hit already-vulnerable communities, such as those living in poverty, especially hard. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are amongst the most vulnerable in Haiti, but their situation has been largely unrecognized and unaddressed in the aftermath of the disaster.

During its 141th period of sessions, on March 25, 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held a thematic hearing on “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Haiti.” Petitioners in the hearing included the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and SEROvie, a Haitian community organization addressing the concerns of sexual minorities, HIV-positive people, and their families, and the Respondent state of Haiti. IACHR President Dinah Shelton presided over the hearing, with Commissioner Luz Patricia Mejía Guerrero and Commissioner Rodrigo Escobar Gil.

Petitioners raise concerns regarding specific post-earthquake impacts on LGBT Haitians.

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International Day Against Homophobia events announced

The Intentional Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) has announced more events to take place on or around May17.

Fighting so-called 'reparative' therapies, aiming at "curing" sexual and gender diversity, is emerging as a theme.

A coalition of groups from Latin America and the Caribbean has launched a campaign called "Cures that kill". First signatories include the Brazilian Federal Council of Psychology, Mariela Castro and the Mayor of Lima.

• Read the full appeal and sign the petition

In Peru a week long programme in Lima includes a national seminar on 'reparative' therapies.

In Italy, Catholics will hold a Vigil of Prayer for the victims of homophobia.

The Latin Americans are seeking support from the international community and the wider public.

The IDAHO Committee has an online "As I Am" campaign which aims to "celebrate our individualities and to honor the collective spirit that binds us all, connecting us to universal, inalienable and interconnected human rights that all people share". It has invited submissions of creative videos, artwork, or written statements "about respecting a person for ALL of who they are".

May 17, the 20 national editions of the free daily METRO, read by 17 million people, will be edited by Lady Gaga. There is a contest for Gaga assistants.

Turkish LGBT group KAOS GL will launch a regional network against homophobia, as part of the sixth international IDAHO conference in Ankara. They said:

"The Conference for Middle East and Balkan Countries’ Homosexuals was a dream when we declared our foundation 16 years ago and shaped our liberation perspective. Liberation and survival struggles of LGBT in our region has always been a constant consideration for Kaos GL, one of the first LGBT organisations in Turkey. The reflections of all ethnic, religious and cultural diversity seen in the Middle Eastern, Caucasus and Balkan countries exist in Turkey’s society. Kaos GL has strived for this diversity to represent and express itself in the LGBT movement since its foundation."

"Homophobia is institutionalised in civil society and the public area by blending racism and nationalism in the countries of this region, including Turkey. Institutionalised homophobia integrates into historical animosities between the countries of our region and increases existing alienation between peoples. It is the LGBT organisations and the regional network between these organisations that will have to resist homophobic and sexist reflections of racist and nationalist policies in our region."

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Online, international LGBT activism steps up

Image by PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE via Flickr

Source: Campus Progress

By Jessica Mowles

In January the world mourned the death of David Kato, a prominent Ugandan LGBTQ rights activist. Social media deeply shaped Kato’s life and death. His name first became known when Ugandan magazine Rolling Stone, which isn’t the U.S. rock-and-roll magazine, published Facebook photos of him and other Ugandans, labeling them homosexuals and calling for their death. Online petitions sprang up around the world, pushing for the Ugandan government to penalize the publication, as Kato and others were threatened and harassed as a result of the article.

When Kato was beaten to death by an intruder into his home, who police say was Enock Nsubuga, vigils were quickly organized across the United States, Europe, and South Africa via Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets.

The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, addressed the role of the public in decriminalizing homosexuality in her remarks on Kato’s murder. “Today, with the presence of social media and internet-based campaigns, the potential impact of public education is greater than ever,” she said.

Around the world each year, thousands of LGBTQ people are murdered, sentenced to stoning, raped, threatened with deportation, or are otherwise harassed. Exact numbers are impossible to calculate worldwide, but in the United States alone, nearly 1,500 hate crimes against LGBTQ people were reported in 2009. Headlines of LGBTQ people undergoing everything from harassment to murder are far more prevalent than they did ten years ago. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that extreme violence and discrimination against LGBTQ folks still exists in every corner of the globe. Even so, recent increased attention to human rights abuses that target LGBTQ people reflects greater universal acceptance of LGBTQ rights. And the ways human rights organizations are advocating for LGBTQ rights increasingly relies on young people’s use of social media.

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Video: LGBT rights in Asia

Source: LGBTHumanRights

Courage Unfolds is a documentary film that forms a central part of the Courage Unfolds Campaign of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC).

The film, produced by IGLHRC's Asia program (partnered by Lesbian Advocates Philippines (LeAP)), is part of a call for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people to be protected by law, respected by society, and accepted by family. It is a call for the use of the Yogyakarta Principles as a tool to ensure the respect, protection and promotion by governments of the human rights of all people - including LGBT people. This set of international legal principles addresses the application of international law to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The film highlights the issues faced by LGBT people in Asia and how the Yogyakarta Principles are a relevant and effective tool that LGBT activists can use in their advocacy for human rights.



Film release date is 17 May 2011. It can be ordered by emailing courageunfolds@iglhrc.org.

Related articles

• Using the Yogyakarta Principles for LGBT Human Rights Activism (iglhrc.org)

Report: Blackmail, extortion the experience of LGBT in sub-Saharan Africa

Source: IGLHRC

Antiquated laws against same-sex sexual activity as well as deeply ingrained social stigma result in the all-too-frequent targeting of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Africa for blackmail and extortion, said the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) in a new report.

The report, 'Nowhere to Turn: Blackmail and Extortion of LGBT People in Sub-Saharan Africa', illustrates how LGBT Africans are made doubly vulnerable by the criminalization of homosexuality and the often-violent stigmatization they face if their sexuality is revealed. Based on research from 2007 to the present, the volume features articles and research by leading African activists and academics on the prevalence, severity and impact of these human rights violations on LGBT people in Cameroon, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.         

"The tragic reality is that blackmail and extortion are part of the daily lives of many LGBT Africans who are isolated and made vulnerable by homophobic laws and social stigma," says IGLHRC's Executive Director, Cary Alan Johnson. "The responsibility clearly lies with governments to address these crimes and the underlying social and legal vulnerability of LGBT people."

The report's authors vividly depict the isolation, humiliation and manipulation to which LGBT people are subjected by blackmailers and extortionists and describe the threats of exposure, theft, assault, and rape, that can damage and even destroy the lives of victims. Vulnerability to these crimes is faced on a regular basis and families and communities are not safe havens. For example, according to research conducted in Cameroon and featured in the report, "the bulk of blackmail and extortion attempts were committed by other members of the community - 33.9% by neighbors, 11.8% by family members, 11.5% by classmates, and 14.1% by homosexual friends. Police were often complicit in this - either by ignoring or dismissing it or, in 11.5% of cases, directly perpetrating it."

'Nowhere to Turn' explores the role the State plays in these crimes by ignoring blackmail and extortion carried out by police and other officials by failing to prosecute blackmailers, and by charging LGBT victims under sodomy laws when they do find the courage to report blackmail to the authorities.

IGLHRC urges States to take concrete steps to reduce the incidence of these crimes by decriminalizing same-sex sexual activity, educating officials and communities about blackmail laws, and ensuring that all people are able to access judicial mechanisms without prejudice.

Nowhere to Turn: Blackmail and Extortion of LGBT People in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Update on stoning execution case in Iran

Image via Wikipedia 

Source: Gay Middle East

By Paul Canning and Dan Littaeur

Updated

Some facts involved with the case of two men from Piranshahr, in northwest Iran, whose death sentence was reported yesterday (see 'Stoning sentence for two boys for alleged same sex in Iran') have today been disputed.

A number of sources who are investigating the details of the case, and who are in touch with those at the heart of it within Iran, have today spoken with the Iranian Queer Orqanization (IRQO) and Gay Middle East. In addition the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has announced in a message publish by the Joe.My.God blog that they are also investigating details of the case.

Questions have been raised regarding the exact nature of the charges on which they have been given the death penalty. As reported in an update yesterday on the original report, those questions surround whether or not a rape occurred and whether this involved another person, a 15 or 17 year old minor.

As noted yesterday, the Iranian government, as reported by Human Rights Watch, maintains in response to international pressure regarding reported executions of homosexuals that they mostly involve “individuals [who] have been charged for forcible sodomy or rape”.

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In Turkey, more charges against transgender activists

Source: International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)

Prosecutors must investigate the second arbitrary arrest of transgender rights defenders in Ankara in as many months and drop all charges against the women, three human rights organizations have said. In a letter to the Turkish Interior and Justice Ministries [PDF], the rights organizations called for an end to police harassment of transgender people and expressed concern over the possible targeting of members of the organization Pembe Hayat LGBTT Dayanışma Derneği.

On June 19, 2010, three human rights defenders were arbitrarily detained by police officers while driving through the Seyranbaglari Mah neighborhood in Ankara. Although the human rights defenders filed an official complaint with the Public Prosecutor the Prosecutor dismissed their complaint and instead permitted charges against them of resisting the police and damaging public property.

If convicted, they face up to three years in prison and limitations on their rights of parental guardianship. They could also be barred from public office or leadership within any political, public, or non-profit organization. The next hearing will be on 29 December 2010.

"To be transgender in Turkey means that the police assume that you are a criminal," said Hossein Alizadeh, Middle East and North Africa regional coordinator at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. "As long as the Turkish government refuses to change discriminatory laws and fails to provide sensitivity training to police, there can be little hope of equality and justice for transgender people in Turkey."

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Video: USA reintroduces sexual orientation to UN anti-violence resolution

Video of the UN special event 'Ending violence and criminal sanctions on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity', 10 December 2010. Includes powerful remarks by UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon.

By Paul Canning

The United States has reintroduced an amendment at the UN General Assembly reinstating a reference to sexual orientation as a suspect motive for extrajudicial killings. The reference, which had previously been included in a list of suspect motives for extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions specifically condemned by the resolution, was removed by a UN vote last month. If passed, the amendment will make clear that the international community does not condone extrajudicial killing based on sexual orientation.

Neil Grungras, Executive Director of ORAM (Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration) said:

“We are gratified that the US government heard the international outcry over last month’s vote and is taking a stand against the extermination of LGBTs worldwide.  At a time when oppression, hatred and scapegoating of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people is mushrooming, it is more important than ever that LGBTs receive all the support possible from enlightened nations.  In another positive development, we are also very pleased that this week, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees expressed the agency’s commitment to protect those who are forced to flee due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“As we celebrate International Human Rights Day we are given renewed hope that all people – including LGBTs – will one day be able to live free from fear and safe from harm.”

The American announcement was made at a side event at the United Nations yesterday. Present were UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon; Permanent Representative of the US to the UN, Susan Rice; Assistant Secretary-General, Ivan Šimonović, and three panelists from civil society. The event was hosted by the Permanent Missions of Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, France, Gabon, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, The United States of America and the Delegation of the European Union and co-organized with International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), which recently received observer status at the UN, as well as other international LGBT human rights organizations.

Rice said she was "incensed" by the recent vote in a General Assembly committee that left out any mention of sexual orientation from a resolution condemning the extrajudicial killing of vulnerable people worldwide. Previous resolutions had included the mention.

The American ambassador said that the United States will sponsor a UN amendment to restore the reference to killings based on sexual orientation. "We're going to stand firm on this basic principle," she said.

Rights groups welcomed Rice's announcement, and called on all U.N. member states to support the amendment.

"Words do have a meaning at the U.N.," said Boris Dittrich of Human Rights Watch. "Reintroducing the reference to sexual orientation in the resolution could help put an end to the hateful killing of people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity."

Other statements presented at the UN Side Event (all PDF):

• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
• Mr. Ivan Šimonović, Assistant Secretary-General, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Linda Baumann, (Namibia) Interim Director of Out-Right Namibia
• Buse Kilickaya, (Turkey) Founder of Pembe Hayat (Pink Life) (Read by Justus Eisfeld at the event)
• Vidyaratha Kissoon, (Guyana) Founding member of the Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)

Using international bodies against homophobia: Ugandan experience

Image via Wikipedia  

Source: IGLHRC

By Sara Perle

The discrimination faced by the LGBT community in Uganda has captured the headlines in various ways over the last year – from the 2009 proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill to the recent publication of names and incitement of hate and violence against activists and community members in a tabloid newspaper. Activists in Uganda have been consistently engaged in thwarting these efforts including through working to hold Uganda accountable to its human rights commitments at the international level.

Over the past several months IGLHRC has had the opportunity to work with activists in Uganda on efforts to ensure the government’s compliance with its commitments in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Convention).

IGLHRC works with local partners to share learning and experiences on developing reports and advocacy regarding their government’s compliance with CEDAW and in conjunction with activists developed the tool: “Equal and Indivisible: Crafting Inclusive Shadow Reports for CEDAW.”

• Part One: “Why CEDAW?” and Crafting an Inclusive Shadow Report »
• Part Two: Advocacy in Geneva and the CEDAW Committee’s Recommendations »

Related articles

• In Uganda, not just gays oppose 'kill the gays' bill (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Uganda: UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (iglhrc.org)

New report details oppression of LGBT in Cameroon

Image via Wikipedia   

Source: IGLHRC

Cameroonians are attacked by police, politicians, the media, and even their own communities if they are suspected of having sexual relations with a person of the same sex, four human rights organizations said in a joint report released today.

The government should take urgent action to decriminalize such consensual conduct and to ensure the full human rights of all Cameroonians, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, said Alternatives-Cameroun, l’Association pour la défense des droits des homosexuels, Human Rights Watch, and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

The 62-page report, “Criminalizing Identities: Rights Abuses in Cameroon Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity,” details how the government uses article 347 bis of the Penal Code to deny basic rights to people perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). The report describes arrests, beatings by the police, abuses in prison, and a homophobic atmosphere that encourages shunning and abuse in the community. The consequence is that people are not punished for a specific outlawed practice, but for a homosexual identity, the groups said.

“The poor and the young, who often have no way to get legal assistance, suffer the most from Cameroon’s abusive atmosphere,” said Steave Nemande, president of Alternatives-Cameroun. “Even after they get out of jail, families and friends often reject them. They are denied education, jobs, even a place to live. Their lives are ruined.”

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At the United Nations, Arab and African nations get gay reference cut from violence measure

Correction: The final vote is here [PDF]. The United States abstained. Here is the explanation offered for that:

The resolution as worded only contributes to legal uncertainty about how these two important bodies of law [international human rights law and international humanitarian law] apply to an array of factual circumstances

Something to do with the Iraq war?

Source: International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and ARC International are deeply disappointed with yesterday’s vote in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly to remove a reference to sexual orientation from a resolution on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. The resolution urges States to protect the right to life of all people, including by calling on states to investigate killings based on discriminatory grounds. For the past 10 years, the resolution has included sexual orientation in the list of discriminatory grounds on which killings are often based.

The removed reference was originally contained in a non-exhaustive list in the resolution highlighting the many groups of people that are particularly targeted by killings - including persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, persons acting as human rights defenders (such as lawyers, journalists or demonstrators) as well as street children and members of indigenous communities. Mentioning sexual orientation as a basis on which people are targeted for killing highlights a situation in which particular vigilance is required in order for all people to be afforded equal protection.

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Case dismissed against transgender activists in Turkey

Source: IGLHRC

A Turkish judge has dismissed the case against 5 transgender activists from Pembe Hayat LGBT Solidarity group – an Ankara-based transgender rights organization, citing the lack of evidence against the defendants.

At the start of the two-hour court session, the presiding judge made it clear that his decision in the case would "not be given based on our prejudices about sexual identities " of the defendants. During the court session, the judge also reprimanded police officers - who were the plaintiffs in this case- for their mistreatment of the transgender activists, stating that the style of their intervention "against these five people was totally wrong."

The activists had been indicted by Ankara's public prosecutor and charged with resisting authorities after an incident on May 17, 2010 during which the Turkish police arbitrarily detained and brutally attacked the five activists. Pembe Hayat, IGLHRC and other organizations wrote to Turkish authorities to protest this abuse and to call for the charges to be dropped.

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Human rights groups protest treatment of transgender people by Turkey

Image by emingus via Flickr  

Source: Human Rights Watch

Letter to Turkish ministers in regards to treatment of human rights defenders from Pembe Hayat LGBTT

Dear Minister Ergin and Minister Atalay,

On behalf of five international human rights organizations1[1], we are writing to express our deep concern over the treatment of five Turkish human right sdefenders from the transgender human rights organization Pembe Hayat LGBTTDayanışma Derneği:[2] Yesim (legal name Duru) Tatlıoğlu[3], Buse (legal name Bülent)Kılıçkaya[4], Turkan (legal name Deniz) Kücükkoçak[5], Selay (legal name Derya) Tunç [6] and Eser (legal name Nehir) Ulus[7]. The five members of Pemba Hyatt were arbitrarily arrested and brutally assaulted by the Ankara police on May 17, 2010, and on June 18, they were indicted for alleged crimes arising from the events of that day. [8] We believe that the evidence available suggests both that the police use of force was unnecessary and therefore illegal and that no evidence has been produced to warrant criminal charges against the five.[9] In a year that began with the murder of two other transgender women, this attack is only the latest development in the ongoing persecution of transgender people in Turkey.[10] We urge the government of Turkey to take concrete steps to provide protection for these and other transgender individuals who are regularly subjected to violence and harassment, including by the police.

The five human rights defenders were driving along Bağlar Street on May 17 at10:30 p.m. when four police officers from the Esat Police Station pulled them over in front of the Seyranbağları Post Office. The police officers accused the activists of intending to commit sex work and informed them that they would be taken to the police station[11]. The activists immediately phoned other activists as well as their lawyers. At around 11p.m., approximately twenty‐five human rights observers from Pembe Hayat and Kaos GL, another national organization working for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights arrived at the scene to support the five trans activists and act as human rights observers. Police reinforcements also arrived, bringing the total number of officers to approximately sixty. As witnessed by the human rights observers, police officers turned on the assembled human rights observers to beat them with batons and spray them with tear gas. According to an independent eyewitness interviewed by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), police made statements such as "Faggots, next time we will kill you!"

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Gay Baghdad: final thoughts and a Call to Action

Source: Gay City News

By Michael T Luongo

Final In a Four-Part Series / A Perspective:

“I push for this because of who I am. This hits me harder,” my friend from the US Embassy in Baghdad said about why the gay killings have so moved him, why he reached out to me when they peaked last year.

We were surrounded by men in shorts and Capris, tight tank tops on toned bodies, rainbow flags adorning every doorway. Clearly, we were not in Baghdad. It was Chelsea in the midst of New York’s 2009 Gay Pride Week. He was home on vacation, helping me strategize for my upcoming six-week trip.

Gay Americans obsess about Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — and rightly so — but legions of gay civilians are in the war zones: in the State Department, the United Nations, non-profits from many nations, and even among the gun-toting contractors. Many of them work with gay and lesbian soldiers who are not officially out.

Gays and lesbians — especially thoes who are single and have no children — are the perfect war-zone demographic. The change we can enact behind closed doors on international LGBT issues has long been overlooked, but it’s part of the premise behind former State Department employee Mark Bromley’s group, the Council for Global Equality.

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Action alert: call on Peruvian authorities for justice in murder of HIV/AIDS & Gay activist

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Join the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) with Boletín Diversidad and VIHDARTE in an urgent call for letters to Peruvian authorities and demand from them: a condemnation of homophobic hate crimes, a full and fair investigation into Alberto Osorio's murder, for all perpetrators to be brought to justice and action to prevent such crimes.

At least 16 other gay or transgender people have been murdered under similar circumstances in Peru since 2009, and we call upon Peruvian authorities to act decisively to prevent such crimes and to protect the Peruvian LGBT community.

• Send a message to Peruvian authorities »

On the morning of 20 September 2010, the body of Alberto Osorio, 44, journalist and activist for the human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, was found by his mother, Esther Castillo. Mrs. Castillo found her son's body in his apartment in the district of San Martin de Porres in northern Lima. He had been tied to his bed with a cable and bruises on his body indicated that he was beaten before being strangled.

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Gay rights in Africa: now for the good news

Source: The Guardian

By Paul Canning

If all you ever read about gay people in Africa is in the western media (including gay media), you would be forgiven for thinking it's one endless horror story.
This year, we've had the anti-gay riot in the Kenyan town of Mtwapa, the arrest and subsequent pardoning of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga in Malawi and, of course, the "gay executions" bill in Uganda.

Largely unnoticed amid all that has been the quickening development of gay communities and movements in many parts of Africa.

In Kenya, for instance, David Kuria – a gay man – is standing for the senate. If elected, he'll be the second openly gay politician in Africa (the first is South Africa's Ian Ollis). Kuria, who is director of the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK), is already well known to Kenyans from frequent TV appearances. His prominence has also resulted in him being targeted by American evangelicals.

Kuria's candidacy for the senate is the latest development in GALCK's "gradualist" strategy, which involves building alliances with civil society groups and talking with religious leaders. This showed its worth in the successful deflation of an anti-gay backlash following the February riot.

The strategy seems to be paying off. "We have to accept [gay] people the way they are and embrace them in the society," the Kenyan special programmes minister Esther Murugi told an HIV/Aids conference last month. Her words ignited a storm but, despite various Christian and Muslim leaders calling for her head, she has refused to resign. Defending her, justice minister Mutula Kilonzo called discrimination in HIV/Aids services a "gross violation of human rights".

Elsewhere – in Zambia and Malawi, for instance – governments are increasingly recognising that tackling HIV/Aids means recognising that gay people exist. The new visibility in Kenya was seen last month when gay people openly joined a march in Nairobi demanding improvements to the Kenyan health system. They were well received, says Kuria.

"Increasingly the movement is becoming mainstreamed as legitimate stakeholders in the civil society," he added. "It is not uncommon to hear people now talk on the issues of sexual minorities in the same sentence with other minorities – this coming from people who only a couple of years, even months ago would not have even listened to such issues."

Here in Britain, it is only relatively recently that we have moved from repression to acceptance, and it took 38 years from the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, through the Thatcher government's Section 28, to arrive at civil partnerships 38 years later. Africa, now, is going through the same process we went through. Increased visibility = increased awareness = increased repression = eventual acceptance?

In Uganda, civil society groups and prominent figures including Bishop Christopher Senyonjo have rallied to defend LGBT rights in the face of a barely disguised genocidal push. In July, the former president of Botswana, Festus Mogae, called for the repeal of sodomy laws. In Cameroon, gay leader Steave Nemande says media coverage of homosexuality is fast improving.

In South Africa two weeks ago a massive march in Soweto said no to the epidemic of "corrective rape" of lesbians. "Anti-gay mob violence remains a problem, but the post-apartheid ANC government has trailblazed," Peter Tatchell says of South Africa. He describes the country's legislative gains (which include gay marriage) as "a beacon for LGBT rights all across Africa".

Pan-African movements like the Coalition of African Lesbians and African Men for Sexual Health and Rights are growing, and now an East African network is under formation. Kuria says: "We have numerous listserves and increasingly we are meeting at the African Commission on Human and People's Rights."

Tatchell points out: "The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights – with its guarantees of universal equal treatment and non-discrimination – offers a legal framework for the securing of LGBT equality legislation."

Cary Alan Johnson of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission describes the progress of African LGBT movements as astounding:

"Movements are more professionally run, politically smarter, more accountable and transparent, and more diverse. In almost every country, there are emerging organisations and political spaces for queer women, transpeople, those who want to be political, those whose interests are more social. Community centres and safe spaces are emerging continent-wide.

"In the face of much adversity and homophobia, it's actually quite a heady moment."