16th session of the Human Rights Council

Geneva, 28 February – 25 March 2011

The four week long March session of the Council was a marathon for all involved. We were excited to see a large and diverse group of LGBTI/women’s/sexual and reproductive rights activists converge in Geneva, and were able to spend some valuable time working together, and learning from one another. Here is a handful of the results:

Panel event – ARC was pleased to support the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders (EHAHRD) project and others to co-host a panel event on ending violence and criminal sanctions based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The combined messages sent out by panellists Kasha Jacqueline of Freedom and Roam Uganda, Manisha Dhakal of Blue Diamond Society, Nepal, Patrick Eba of UNAIDS and (ARC’s very own) John Fisher left no room for ambiguity on the extent of violence to which LGBTI individuals around the world are subjected, the effects of criminal laws on the levels of violence and HIV/AIDS prevalence and treatment, and the responsibility of the Human Rights Council to step up its action in order to provide protection for the victims of human rights abuses and violations on these grounds, and hold perpetrators accountable.

High Commissioner addresses Council on SOGI Issues – Following presentation by High Commissioner Navi Pillay of her Annual Report, Adrian Jjuuko of the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum, Uganda, delivered a powerful intervention stressing the challenges faced by LGBTI defenders in Uganda, and expressing support for the HC and her office in their work. In her response to the Council, the HC stated:

“I also particularly wish to thank civil society representatives who were very clear and precise on all the issues that we should continue to address. … I am alarmed, as we should all be, at the prevalence of violence and discrimination directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons—including targeted killings, torture, rape, beatings and criminal sanctions. These constitute serious violations of human rights. … Achieving equality in this area will require laws to be changed, certainly, but it will also involve a change in attitudes, a change in people’s hearts and minds. Our first priority will be to argue for the decriminalization of homosexuality in those countries where it is still subject to criminal sanctions. I recognize that in some countries public opinion strongly supports the prosecution of homosexuals and transgender persons. I understand the difficult position in which Governments in these countries find themselves. But the answer is not further persecution. It is public information, education and dialogue, and I commit to advancing the education function of this office.”

Joint statement on ending acts of violence and related human rights violations based on SO/GI – On Tuesday 22nd March, the Ambassador of Colombia, on behalf of a wide cross-regional group of 85 States, delivered a groundbreaking statement urging the Human Rights Council to address violations and end criminal sanctions on these grounds. This is the first time that a State initiative on SO/GI issues has received so much support from such a wide regional range of States, including some States that maintain criminal laws for same-sex relations. Congratulations to everyone who lobbied their government to sign up to this statement and now let’s make sure that governments stand up to their word in protecting everyone from violence!

Two statements in support of the joint statement were also delivered: the first by a group of 19 National Human Rights Institutions, and the second, read by ARC Co-Director Kim Vance, on behalf of a group of 119 NGOs from over 60 countries.

Watch a video of the NGO statement here;

Read the text of the NGO statement here, and the NHRI statement here;

See the text of the Joint Statement and list of signatories here (français, español);

Read the joint NGO press release on the statement here (español).

Draft resolution on sexual orientation – Literally hours before the tabling deadline of the session, South Africa introduced an extremely troubling resolution which aimed to create an open ended inter-governmental working group to define and potentially limit how ‘new concepts’ such as sexual orientation fit into international human rights law, and which would have blocked consideration of the issues in any other UN forum. Thankfully, South Africa made an announcement (in the very last moments of the session) that they planned to defer consideration of the resolution until the June session of the Council, to provide more time for consultation on the text.

Traditional Values – The HRC unfortunately adopted its second resolution on “promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind”, which noted the “important role of family, community, society and educational institutions in upholding and transmitting the traditional values of dignity, freedom and responsibility”. Whilst it was positive that a preambular paragraph was added to the resolution affirming that tradition could not be used to justify violations of human rights, it was disappointing to see many States that are supportive of LGBTI rights vote in favour, after having heard ‘cultural’ and ‘traditional’ values being invoked throughout the session to justify curbing discussions on SO/GI issues. The resolution tasks the HRC Advisory Committee to look further into how traditional values can contribute to a better understanding of human rights.

UPR Report Adoptions – The 16^th HRC session also saw the adoption of UPR reports for Liberia, Malawi, Mongolia, Panama, the Maldives, Andorra, Bulgaria, Honduras, Lebanon, the Marshall Islands, Croatia, Jamaica, Micronesia, Mauritania and the United States. Whilst the Maldives, Jamaica, Malawi, Lebanon and Mauritania all rejected recommendations to repeal laws criminalising same sex relations, there were also some very positive outcomes. For example:

• Mongolia accepted various recommendations to address violence on the basis of SOGI;
• Panama accepted a recommendation to harmonize national legislation with the Yogyakarta Principles;
• Honduras accepted recommendations to review national law in order to ensure full enjoyment of human rights by all members of society including LGBTI persons;
• Jamaica accepted a recommendation to provide law enforcement officials with proper sensitivity training in relation to sexual orientation, gender identity and HIV/AIDS.

Excellent civil society statements in response to the report adoptions were delivered by Gift Trapence (Malawi), Otgonbaatar Tsedendemberel (Mongolia), COC Netherlands (Bulgaria), Nancy Zuniga (Honduras), Dane Lewis (Jamaica), and Darby Hickey (USA).

Other resolutions/outcomes – Amongst the many other outcomes of the session, the Council adopted resolutions renewing the important mandates of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Independent Expert on Minority Issues, and the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences. It also adopted a resolution on HIV and human rights, and appointed mandate-holders to the positions of UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly and Association and the newly-formed Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law and in Practice.

Advancing issues of sexual orientation and gender identity at HRC16