Global, Global Geopolitics, Headlines, Human Rights

HUMAN RIGHTS: Gay and Lesbian Rights Postponed Yet Again

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Apr 19 2005 (IPS) - For the third year in a row, discussion and voting on a Brazilian resolution addressing sexual diversity has been postponed at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which is wrapping up its 61st annual session this week.

The resolution, which asserts that sexual diversity is an integral aspect of universal human rights, was first presented in the Commission by the Brazilian delegation in 2003. On that occasion, and the following year, it was withdrawn before reaching a vote. This year, despite the backing of over 20 countries, mostly European, the resolution has been postponed once again.

The Brazilian delegation attributed its decision to withdraw the resolution to pressure from Islamic nations. The country is currently preparing for an Arab-South American Summit to be held in the capital, Brasilia, on May 10 and 11, which is to be attended by the heads of state and government of 22 Arab and 12 Latin American nations.

According to Kim Vance, director of ARC International – a Canadian-based non-governmental organisation that promotes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) equality – the Brazilian authorities admitted that they did not want to endanger their relations with these particular countries when they were about to host the summit.

Another reason offered by the Brazilians for pulling back on the resolution was its "divisive and contentious" nature in the context of the Commission, noted Vance, whose organisation is a member of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA).

Nevertheless, in a conversation with IPS, an official from the Brazilian mission to the United Nations in Geneva denied that the upcoming Arab-South American Summit was behind the decision to withdraw the proposition.

"This issue continues to be an important one for Brazil, although we don’t know when we will put it forward again," said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.

She maintained that Brazil’s decision was based on the fact that the resolution did not have the desired or expected support of other countries on the 53-member Commission. Moreover, she said, the current make-up of the Commission is not a propitious one for a resolution of this kind.

For its part, human rights watchdog Amnesty International reported that the Brazilian draft resolution had come up against solid opposition from the Organisation of Islamic Conferences (OIC), which proposed 55 amendments to the original text, in addition to less vocal protest from the Vatican.

At the Commission’s 2004 session, the Brazilian delegation announced in an official statement that it had requested the postponement of discussion on the proposition because "we have not been able to reach the necessary consensus."

The international GLBT community has mobilised in support of the resolution originally presented in 2003, and is still hopeful that a specific resolution will be presented and voted on at next year’s session, noted Vance.

"We will look to Brazil and to other countries within Latin America that have expressed support, like Argentina and Uruguay, and there are certainly many countries within the European group that will offer support, as well as Canada," she noted.

"We are hoping that countries such as South Africa, which has sexual orientation protection in their constitution, will be willing to at least promote the kind of ideas that they already have within their constitution domestically, at this Commission," she added.

The original Brazilian resolution does not establish the creation of a new category of human rights abuses. Rather, it expresses concern over violations that are committed on the basis of an individual’s sexual orientation.

Pedro Paradiso Sottile, a representative of the Argentine Homosexual Community (CHA), addressed the Commission last week about "the violations of human rights we face because of our sexual orientation and gender identity."

In many countries around the world, being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender means suffering discrimination and exclusion, he said.

Amnesty International has documented cases of abuse including torture and other mistreatment as a result of the real or perceived sexual orientation of detainees, as well as cases where GLBT rights defenders have been threatened, imprisoned, beaten or killed.

Vance noted that the situation of the GLBT community varies greatly across different countries and regions.

"Sometimes when there are advances in one region, it can have repercussions in other areas of the world, and at times these are negative repercussions. When issues of relationship rights are advancing in one part of the world, other countries may feel threatened by that and actually go further to restrict rights than they had previously, because they fear what may be coming," she explained.

"So it’s necessary for all our groups around the world to be in constant communication, to ensure that we’re trying to advance these causes together and that we’re working in cooperation," she stressed.

The continued postponement of a discussion on GLBT rights in the Commission on Human Rights has focused attention on the status within the U.N. system of organisations that work in this field.

ILGA was formerly a member of the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), but subsequently lost that status and has been unable to regain it because of a "groundswell of opposition", based on the same arguments being used to prevent the discussion of the Brazilian resolution, including the claim that it is not an appropriate forum for this issue, said Vance.