A favor de despenalitzar l’homosexualitat, ja, a tot el món
La
comissària europea de Relacions Exteriors, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, va abonar ahir la
declaració que promourà avui França davant de l’ONU per reclamar la despenalització
universal de l’homosexualitat. Diversos eurodiputats hem manifestat reiteradament el nostre suport a l’esmentada iniciativa durant els els darrers mesos, i aquest suport va tenir una visibilització específica durant la sessió plenària d’abans d’ahir a Estrasburg, quan es discutia l’estat dels drets humans
d’acord amb l’informe anual del 2008 elaborat per la Comissió i el Consell de
la UE.
La Comissària va expressar clarament la seva postura, que aplaudeixo i a la qual dono suport, amb les següents paraules: “M’agradaria
confirmar el nostre suport a la iniciativa francesa sobre orientació sexual. La
Comissió està disposada a suscitar aquestes qüestions, inclosa la
despenalització de l’homosexualitat, en els seus contactes amb tercers països,
dins d’un esperit de mutu respecte i reconeixement dels costums de
cadascú“. (segueix…)
Per la seva banda, la secretària d’Estat de
drets humans francesa, Rama Yade, va recordar ahir a Estrasburg que
l’homosexualitat “es persegueix” com a delicte en 90 països a tot el
món, en sis dels quals es castiga amb la pena de mort, inclosos l’Iran i
l’Aràbia Saudita. “Això significa que hi ha homes i dones que no són
capaços de viure la seva identitat sexual amb llibertat, sense córrer el risc
de ser empresonats o de ser portats davant dels tribunals”, va lamentar.
Yade intentarà recollir
avui davant de l’Assemblea General de l’ONU el suport dels seus estats membre a
una declaració, jurídicament no vinculant, promoguda per França a favor de
despenalitzar l’homosexualitat i que, segons ha recordat avui Yade, part
d'”una iniciativa llançada per Noruega el 2006″.
“Demà (per avui)
aniré a Nova York per plantejar aquest projecte al qual donen suport moltes
nacions de la UE i que és una crida per despenalitzar universalment
l’homosexualitat”, va explicar. “Esperem avançar més en això del que
s’ha fet en dos anys i serà bo que un màxim d’Estats doni suport a aquesta
iniciativa”, ja recolzada per “moltes nacions de la UE”, va
afegir Yade. (informa Europa Press).
Adjunto a continuació la declaració que un grup d’ONG van presentar davant de l’Assemblea General de Nacions Unides el passat 11 de desembre, i que podeu trobar a la pàgina web d’ILGA:
UN: General Assembly to Address
Sexual Orientation
Statement affirms promise of Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
12/12/2008
(New York, December 11, 2008) – As the world celebrates
the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the
UN General Assembly will hear a statement in mid-December endorsed by more than
50 countries across the globe calling for an end to rights abuses based on
sexual orientation and gender identity.
A coalition of international human rights
organizations today urged all the world’s nations to support the statement in
affirmation of the UDHR’s basic promise: that human rights apply to everyone.
Nations on four continents are coordinating the
statement, including: Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, Gabon, Japan, the
Netherlands, and Norway.
The reading of the statement will be the first time the General Assembly has
formally addressed rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender
identity.
“In 1948 the world’s nations set forth the promise of
human rights, but six decades later, the promise is unfulfilled for many,” said
Linda Baumann of Namibia, a board member of Pan Africa ILGA, a coalition
of over 60 African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) groups. “The
unprecedented African support for this statement sends a message that abuses
against LGBT people are unacceptable anywhere, ever.”
The statement is non-binding, and reaffirms existing
protections for human rights in international law. It builds on a previous
joint statement supported by 54 countries, which Norway delivered at the UN Human
Rights Council in 2006.
“Universal means universal, and there are no
exceptions,” said Boris Dittrich of the Netherlands, advocacy director of Human
Rights Watch’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights program. “The
UN must speak forcefully against violence and prejudice, because there is no
room for half measures where human rights are concerned.”
The draft statement condemns violence, harassment,
discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization, and prejudice based on sexual
orientation and gender identity. It also condemns killings and executions,
torture, arbitrary arrest, and deprivation of economic, social, and cultural
rights on those grounds.
“Today, dozens of countries still criminalize
consensual homosexual conduct, laws that are often relics of colonial rule,”
said Grace Poore of Malaysia,
who works with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. “This
statement shows a growing global consensus that such abusive laws have outlived
their time.”
The statement also builds on a long record of UN
action to defend the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
In its 1994 decision in Toonen v. Australia, the UN Human Rights
Committee – the body that interprets the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), one of the UN’s core human rights treaties – held
that human rights law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. Since
then, the United Nations’ human rights mechanisms have condemned violations
based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including killings, torture,
rape, violence, disappearances, and discrimination in many areas of life. UN
treaty bodies have called on states to end discrimination in law and policy.
Other international bodies have also opposed violence and
discrimination against LGBT people, including the Council of Europe and the
European Union. In 2008, all 34 member countries of the Organization of
American States unanimously approved a declaration affirming that human rights
protections extend to sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Latin American governments are helping lead the way
as champions of equality and supporters of this statement,” said Gloria Careaga
Perez of Mexico,
co-secretary general of ILGA. “Today a global movement supports the rights
of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and those voices will not be
denied.”
So far, 55 countries have signed onto the General Assembly
statement, including: Andorra,
Armenia, Australia, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Canada,
Cape Verde, the Central African Republic, Chile, Ecuador,
Georgia, Iceland, Israel,
Japan, Liechtenstein, Mexico,
Montenegro, New Zealand, San
Marino, Serbia,
Switzerland, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Uruguay, and Venezuela. All 27 member states of
the European Union are also signatories.
“It is a great achievement that this initiative has
made it to the level of the General Assembly,” said Louis-Georges Tin of
France, president of the International Committee for IDAHO (International Day against Homophobia)
, a network of activists and groups campaigning for decriminalization of
homosexual conduct. “It shows our common struggles are successful and should be
reinforced.”
“This statement has found support from states and
civil society in every region of the world,” said Kim Vance of Canada,
co-director of ARC International. “In December a simple message will rise
from the General Assembly: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is truly
universal.”
The coalition of international human rights
organizations that issued this statement include:
Amnesty International; ARC International; Center for
Women’s Global Leadership; COC Netherlands; Global Rights; Human Rights Watch;
IDAHO Committee; International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
(IGLHRC); International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex
Association (ILGA); and Public Services International.
*Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of
people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Amnesty
International works to improve human rights through campaigning and
international solidarity. It has more than 2.2 million members and subscribers
in more than 150 countries and regions and coordinates this support to act for
justice on a wide range of issues.
*ARC International is a project-driven
organization, based in Canada
and Geneva, Switzerland, designed to make a
contribution to the development of a strategic international lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender human rights agenda. ARC works cooperatively with
existing domestic and international organisations on LGBT and related issues,
and seeks to foster positive communications and networks between existing
groups on targeted goals.
* The Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL)
develops and facilitates women’s leadership for women’s human rights and social
justice worldwide. CWGL works from a human rights perspective with an emphasis
on violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and socio-economic
well-being.
*The Dutch Federation for the Integration of
Homosexuality, COC Netherlands,
is a Dutch federation working on LGBT issues in the Netherlands and abroad. Founded in
1946, COC Netherlands has now 22 local member groups.
*Global Rights is a human rights advocacy group
that partners with local activists to challenge injustice and amplify new
voices within the global discourse. With offices in countries around the world,
Global Rights helps local activists create just societies through proven
strategies for effecting change.
*Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading
independent organization dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By
focusing international attention where human rights are violated, Human Rights
Watch gives voice to the oppressed and holds oppressors accountable for their
crimes.
*ILGA, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender and Intersex Association is a world-wide federation of national
and local groups dedicated to achieving equal rights for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people everywhere. Founded in 1978,
it now has more than 600 member organizations in over 111 countries in every
continent and region of the world.
*The International Committee for IDAHO (the International Day Against
Homophobia) represents activists and groups in dozens of
countries
worldwide who organize annual events to combat homophobia
every May 17,
and who seek to build global awareness of homophobia and
its effects.
*The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights
Commission (IGLHRC) is a leading human rights organization solely devoted
to improving the rights of people around the world who are targeted for
imprisonment, abuse or death because of their sexuality, gender identity or
HIV/AIDS status. A non-profit, nongovernmental organization, IGLHRC is based in
New York, with offices in Buenos
Aires, and Cape Town.
*The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) is
a service organisation that supports, encourages, and facilitates the work of
others with and within the United Nations system and regional human rights
systems. ISHR seeks to promote the development, strengthening, effective use
and implementation of international and regional law and mechanisms for the
protection and promotion of human rights.
*Pan Africa ILGA is the African Region of the
International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association
(ILGA). It gathers over 60 organizations throughout the African continent
working for human rights and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
and intersex people.
*Public Services International is a global
federation of public sector unions, representing over 20 million members in
over 160 countries around the world. PSI is a member of the Council of Global
Unions.
For more information, please contact:
In New York for Human Rights Watch, Scott Long (English):
+1-212-216-1297; or +1-646-641-5655; or longs@hrw.org
In London for Amnesty International, Kate Sheill
(English: +44-20-7413-5748; or ksheill@amnesty.org
In Halifax, for ARC International, Kim Vance (English,
French): +1-902-488-6404
In Geneva for ARC International, John Fisher (English,
French): +41-79-508-3968; or arc@arc-international.net
In Amsterdam for COC Netherlands, Bjorn van Roozendall
(Dutch, English): +31-6-22-55-83-00; or bvanroozendaal@coc.nl
In Washington for Global Rights, Stefano Fabeni (English,
Italian, Spanish): +1 202-741-5049; or stefanof@globalrights.org
In New York for IGLHRC, Hossein Alizadeh (English,
Persian): +1-212-430-6016; or halizadeh@iglhrc.org
In Brussels for ILGA, Stephen Barris (English, French,
Spanish, Italian): +32-2-502-2471; or stephenbarris@ilga.org; or in New York,
+39 33-5-606-7158, or media@ilga.org (December 14-18)
Coalition of NGOs
Font foto: ILGA
Nice interview. Waiting for another one…