Egyptian media is reporting that the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights has endorsed the recent administrative court's ruling to forbid suspected homosexuals from entering Egypt.
In a report published by the Egyptian newspaper Youm-Sabe, Dr. Salah Salam, a member of the Egyptian NCHR was quoted saying that he respects the decision of the administrative court authorizing the Ministry of Interior to deport "alien homosexuals," and ban them from entering the country. Dr. Salam said the decision is in line with Egyptian religious beliefs and traditions, reiterating that the Egyptian NCHR opposes anything that violates religion.
Dr. Salam told the paper that he believes that "homosexuality is legally, religiously, and strategically unacceptable." Further, he said that Egyptian NCHR rejected all UN Human Rights Council recommendations [during the UPR review of the country] that are incompatible with Muslim faith.
Legal experts have come out publicly against the ruling. Mohammad Zare, human rights lawyer and President of the Arab Organization for Penal Reform, called the ruling unenforceable and noted that this type of decision will tarnish Egypt's international image. Read More
World Bank President: Our Efforts Have Slowed Rise Of Anti-LGBT Laws
The World Bank’s decision to block a $90 million loan to Uganda in response to a sweeping anti-homosexuality law has helped slow passage of anti-LGBT laws in other countries, implied President Jim Yong Kim in an interview.
“Everyone knows now that I will do this and so everyone is watching very carefully,” said Kim. Kim confirmed that the loan, which was “delayed” last February, is officially dead and that “the Ugandans have withdrawn their request” for the funding.
Kim reflected on the loan while discussing a proposal for updated “safeguards” for human rights and the environment that are being drafted to guide the Bank’s lending. These include evaluating the impact on LGBT people, the first Bank policy to identify them as a vulnerable minority. Kim said that there was unanimous support from the Bank’s board that anti-LGBT discrimination was unacceptable during a discussion of his decision to block the loan to Uganda last year, even from countries that have their own laws against homosexuality. Read More
IGLHRC criticizes Iran's refusal to accept international community's demands to respect LGBT rights
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) today expressed deep dismay over the Iranian government’s rejection in whole or in part of 13 recommendations on sexual orientation and gender identity put forward during the United Nation’s second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Iran.
Among the recommendations rejected by the Islamic Republic of Iran are requests by Argentina, Uruguay, Iceland, Luxembourg, Chile, Canada, Italy, Israel and Spain to end legal discrimination and prosecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation as well as ending the criminalization of consensual same-sex relations.
Iran meanwhile, without a full explanation, partially accepted recommendations by Denmark, the Netherlands, and Iceland that had components related to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. Read More
Iran indicates a move toward ending anti-LGBT torture
The Islamic Republic of Iran has decided to accept 139 of the 291 recommendations and to partially support 59 recommendations put forward by the 28th session of the Human Rights Council. Despite the limitations, this is the first time the Islamic Republic has acknowledged ill-treatment and torture of the LGBT community. Iran states sterilization, sex change operations and reparative therapies that are either forced or coerced due to absence of a free and informed decision-making process, will be made illegal.
However, Iran’s refusal to accept recommendations to fully decriminalise ‘same-sex sexual relations, remove the death penalty and flogging for offences relating to consensual same-sex relations between adults’ on the one hand, and making illegal torture due to sexual orientation with some reservations on the other, raise serious concerns regarding Iran’s will to implement the recommendations. Read More
Russia fails in bid to stop U.N. staff benefits for all gay couples
Russia failed on Tuesday in a bid to stop the United Nations extending staff benefits to all same-sex couples after a U.N. General Assembly budget committee voted 80 to 43 against the proposal.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in July that the United Nations would recognize all same-sex marriages of its staff, allowing them to receive U.N. benefits. The U.N. now recognizes all same-sex couples married in a country where it is legal, regardless of their nationality. Russia wanted the General Assembly Fifth Committee to overturn Ban's decision and had been threatening to put the measure to a vote since December.
"We must speak plainly about what Russia tried to do today: diminish the authority of the U.N. Secretary-General and export to the U.N. its domestic hostility to LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) rights," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said in a statement after the vote. Read More
Kenya: Ugandan LGBTI refugees camping at UNHCR
On Zero Discrimination Day, UN urges tolerance for diversity
The United Nations Programme leading the world's HIV/AIDS response - UNAIDS has kicked off the 2015 global edition of Zero Discrimination Day as part of the Organization's wider effort to spur solidarity towards ending discrimination.
"Committing to making our world free of stigma and discrimination is not an option, it's a duty." said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe.
This year's theme Open Up, Reach Out encourages all members of the international community to unite under the banner of diversity and celebrate each other's difference in an authoritative rejection of discrimination in all its forms. Read More
Russia Tries to Block Benefits for Families of Gay U.N. Employees
Last June, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued an administrative ruling that offered marital benefits for the first time to all of the United Nations’ LGBT employees who had entered legally recognized domestic partnerships.
During a UN budgetary meeting, Russian diplomat Sergey Khalizov is opposing those changes: “We will insist that the secretary-general urgently revoke the administrative bulletin” expanding benefits to same-sex couples." Read More
Asia and Pacific LGBTI advocates call for human rights for all
A landmark regional dialogue convened by the United Nations Development Programme this week in Bangkok provided a unique platform for advancing rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.
Some 200 participants from over 30 countries gathered for the three-day Dialogue on LGBTI Human Rights and Health in Asia-Pacific, including civil society, people living with disabilities, government and human rights experts, the private sector, and development partners.
“Equal rights are not special rights. The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights promised a world that is just and inclusive of all, including LGBTI people,” said Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator. Read More
The Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, speaks about his advocacy for the human rights of LGBTI people
"As Secretary-General i have to lead by example and sometimes actions speak louder than words." The Secretary-General said that his most important mandate is to end all discrimination and human rights abuse.
He went on to say that he wants to make the United Nations the best workplace for LGBTI staff to work freely with no discrimination, regardless of who you love. Watch his comments here
U.N. Forum Praises LGBT Rights Advances in Developing Nations
Marking 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz and the end of WWII, the United Nations reflected on some of the “lesser known victims” of the Nazi regime – the LGBT community – and how gay rights may be further advanced into the future.
Charles Radcliffe, Chief of Global Issues with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said global progress toward better protections for the LGBT community has been steady. He also said it was important to continue strengthening protections for LGBT people, citing recent “worrying trends” including criminalization of gay relationships or the silencing of LGBT activists in some nations.
“We need to change attitudes, challenge stereotypes, and get people talking about these issues especially in communities and cultures where it is still taboo,” he said. “It’s not enough to change laws and institutions. We have to change people’s minds.” Read More
Leaving no one behind in the Asia-Pacific HIV response
Government delegates, leading civil society voices, and UN partners gathered in Bangkok to review progress in responding to the HIV epidemic in the Asia Pacific region. The meeting will produce a new regional framework of cooperation.
In his opening remarks, Nicholas Rosellini, Director of UNDP's Bangkok Regional Hub, highlighted that the HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific continues to be concentrated among key populations who face the burden of being marginalized not only socially but also through counter-productive legal frameworks. Read More