461. JAL 16/10/2015 Case no: UKR 5/2015 State reply: none to date

Physical assault of and threats against defender of rights of LGBTI persons, Mr. Nick Carter.

463. The Special Rapporteur expresses his concern in relation to the threats to and harassment of defenders of LGBTI persons rights in Ukraine, as per the communication sent in October. He is concerned with the intimidation and attack suffered by Mr Nick Carter, a human rights defender who works to defend the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons and to raise awareness on the subject of discrimination against members of the LGBTI community in Ukraine. The Special Rapporteur fears the attack may be related to his sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, and in particular the public nature of his work in defence of their rights, and the exercise of his legitimate right to freedom of expression and opinion. The Special Rapporteur further expresses concern at what appears to be a lack of an investigation on the part of the authorities into the alleged attack on Mr. Carter. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to combat negative stereotypes that LGBTI persons endure, and which result in discrimination, and also to contribute to improving the social acceptance of LGBTI persons within the Ukrainian society.

464. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the recently approved bill that bans discrimination against gay people at work, after being rejected four times. However, there still remains more work to be done in order to obtain non-discrimination against all LGBTI people. Transgender people have to take a number of additional steps in order to be listed on documents in their preferred gender. The Special Rapporteur laments that such requirement violates fundamental rights and creates a barrier for instance for transgender persons seeking employment.

Link to full text of the report: Report-SRHRD-Communications and replies-2016-eng-fra-esp

Link to Special Rapporteur’s correspondence with the State: Correspondence-SR-Ukraine-5-2015-eng