Nations united to support global rights

Nations united to support global rights

In the days following July 19 2005, photographs of two teenage boys dangling by the neck in the ironically named Justice Square in Mashhad in north-eastern Iran permeated the internet.
The details behind the public executions are sketchy. According to the Iranian authorities, the teenagers participated in the rape of a 13-year-old boy. Article 110 of the Islamic Penal Code states, -œPunishment for sodomy is killing; the sharia judge decides on how to carry out the killing.
International organisations condemned the deaths, accusing Iran of fabricating the charges.
Peter Tatchell from the British activist group OutRage said, -œWhilst we are powerless here to directly affect what happens in Iran the least we can do is raise our voice against this unbelievable cruelty. We urge people not to be complicit in this through silence.
OutRage reported that 4000 gay and lesbian Iranians have been executed since 1979.
As Sydney prepares for its annual parade, celebrating freedom of expression and diversity, it is vital we remember that homosexual acts are not only punishable by death under statute in some countries, but these laws are enforced.
According to a report into homophobia commissioned by the International Lesbian and Gay Association in 2008, there are 82 countries where homosexuality is illegal. In seven of these countries, homosexuality is punishable by death. In a further seven countries, homosexual acts -œare not illegal as such, but not entirely legal either.
Of the 192 countries currently recognised by the United Nations, 46 percent prohibit homosexual acts.
In June 2004, a leading Jamaican LGBT activist, Brian Williamson, was stabbed at least 70 times in his Kingston apartment. The group Williamson founded, the Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays, believes 30 gay men were murdered because of their sexuality between 1997 and 2006.
In 2005 the European Union called on Jamaica -œto repeal sections 76, 77 and 79 of the Offences Against the Person Act, which criminalise sex between consenting adult men and are used as justification for unacceptable harassment, notably against HIV/AIDS educators; asks the Government of Jamaica to actively fight widespread homophobia.
Under Article 76, anyone convicted of anal intercourse can be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for up to 10 years. The Jamaican Government has not changed the law to date.
The United Nations
The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins with the lofty clause, Article 1, -œAll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
While there are currently no UN documents explicitly outlawing persecution based on sexuality, there have been two initiatives in recent times to rectify the situation.
In 2003 the Brazilian Government proposed to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights the -˜Brazilian Resolution,’ which called upon -œall States to promote and protect the human rights of all persons regardless of their sexual orientation.
Brazil was opposed by the Vatican and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, a Muslim bloc headed by Egypt and Pakistan who considered the resolution -œan insult to Muslims worldwide.
After much diplomatic manoeuvring and proposed amendments, the Commission deferred discussions. The resolution has not been put back on the agenda, effectively rendering the 2003 initiative a defeat.
The first time homosexuality was discussed on the floor of the UN General Assembly was last year, when France and the Netherlands co-sponsored a declaration calling upon the decriminalisation of homosexuality worldwide.
The Declaration read, -œWe reaffirm the principle of non-discrimination which requires that human rights apply equally to every human being regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The French Human Rights Minister, Rama Yade, drove the initiative. -œHow can we tolerate the fact that people are stoned, hanged, decapitated and tortured only because of their sexual orientation? she asked.
Fifty-seven countries, including the United States, opposed the declaration. The opposing statement, read by Syria, said the initiative could lead to -œthe social normalisation, and possibly the legitimisation, of many deplorable acts including pedophilia.
Sixty-six countries voted in favour. Although the declaration was non-binding, the initiative was viewed as a significant step forward.
Australia’s role
Is there anything we can do here in Australia, to help the gay and lesbian population in countries where there are both laws prohibiting homosexual acts and societies failing to recognise the basic human rights of gay people?
Simon Margan, spokesman for Community Action Against Homophobia said, -œIt is because we have right the right to be gay in Australia that we can speak for the people who don’t have that right in their own country. They can’t demand gay rights, because just being gay is a crime. We should fight for their rights.
Margan said it was CAAH who first alerted the Australian Government to the UN Declaration last December.
-œWe found that the Government didn’t even know about it, so we organised for individuals to send letters to parliamentarians, including the Attorney-General, lobbying for their support. In the end Australia enthusiastically supported the motion, he said.
Margan was recently accepted on to the board of the International Lesbian and Gay Association for the Australia/Pacific Region.
-œIt is by working with ILGA, which is recognised by the UN, that you can make a real difference in countries, he said.
Peter Furness, spokesman for Australian Marriage Equality, believes Australia would have more leverage on the world stage if Australia’s gay population had full legal rights.

-œHow can you urge other countries if you don’t have complete equality yourself? he asked.
-œOne advantage of our organisation is that we are focused on a single issue. Marriage confronts people and challenges them. I believe you’re either equal under the law or you’re not..
To escape persecution, gay refugees are seeking asylum in more accepting countries. Human rights lawyer Jenni Millbank said Australia first began accepting refugees who argued persecution on the basis of their sexuality in 1993.
-œAustralia is second only to Canada in this regard, she said. -œLesbians and gay men have a good chance of arguing their case here. Between 20 to 30 percent of cases are successful, which is a pretty good success rate compared with the overall average.
When making a decision, Millbank believes the decision makers aren’t always aware of the extent of the prejudice in foreign countries.
-œI urge all people to support the efforts of Human Rights Watch and the International Lesbian and Gay Association whose members have risked their own lives to travel into African countries to document the situation there, she said.
-œThese documents are vital for the decision makers because they provide the evidence for the persecution.
-œOur Government could be much stronger in applying diplomatic pressure on countries like Iran and Zimbabwe where state-sponsored violence is known.

You May Also Like

Comments are closed.