7. During the reporting year, the Special Representative participated in numerous events organized by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including the World Social Forum in Karachi, Pakistan, the Carter Center Conference in Atlanta, United States of America, the World Forum of Human Rights in Nantes, France, the First International Conference on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights in Montreal, Canada, and the 2nd Human Rights Defenders’ Forum in Asia, held in Bangkok.
II. THE WORK OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN THE FIELD OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
A. Legal context for activities for the promotion of economic, social and cultural rights
(…)
17. The economic, social and cultural rights, discussed further in section B below in the context of various activities of defenders, are protected by the following provisions in the ICESCR: article 6 (the right to work); article 7 (the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favourable conditions of work); article 8 (the right of everyone to form trade unions and join the trade union of his choice, including, inter alia, the right to strike); article 9 (the right to social security); article 10 (widest possible protection to be accorded to the family; marriage with the free consent of intending spouses; special protection to be accorded to mothers during a reasonable period before and after childbirth; special measures of protection and assistance for all children and young persons); article 11 (the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing); article 12 (the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health); article 13 (the right to education); and article 15 (the right of everyone, inter alia, to take part in cultural life). Furthermore, States parties have an obligation to guarantee that all ESCR are exercised “without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status” (art. 2 (2)) and must be applied equally to men and women (art.
3). It is in the context of this provision that in chapter III below, the Special Representative focuses on defenders who are at particular risk, namely those who defend the rights of indigenous people and minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons and women human rights defenders.
B. Human rights defenders and their work on economic, social andcultural rights
(…)
6. The right to health
(…)
74. (…) In August 2004 a communication was sent to the Government of Nepal concerning members of the Blue Diamond Society, an NGO that provides outreach work for LGBTI persons and campaigns to combat HIV/AIDS. A private writ had been filed to close down the organization on the grounds that it “promoted homosexuality” and 39 members were arrested on the street without charge and held without food or water for 15 hours. Three members were alleged to have been beaten and raped by the police. In December 2005, a communication was sent to the Government of Jamaica, concerning Lenford “Steve” Harvey who was killed allegedly because of his activities in the defence of the rights of marginalized people in Jamaican society, including persons living with HIV/AIDS.
III. DEFENDERS AT PARTICULAR RISK {{37}}
B. Defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons
93. Both ICESCR (art. 2 (2)) and ICCPR (art. 2 (1)) contain non-discrimination clauses, and article 7 of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders specifically provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others to develop and discuss new human rights ideas and principles and to advocate their acceptance”. The 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action confirmed that “(a)ll human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. […] While the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms” and thus, to ensure that the protection of international human rights norms is universally applied.
94. Since the establishment of the mandate, the Special Representative has acted on 36 cases of alleged attacks and threats against defenders of LGBTI rights in all regions.
95. Communications have been sent to Belarus, the Holy See, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Nigeria, Uganda, India, Nepal, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Jamaica and Iran. Defenders have been threatened, had their houses and offices raided, they have been attacked, tortured, sexually abused, tormented by regular death threats and even killed. A major concern in this regard is an almost complete lack of seriousness with which such cases are treated by the concerned authorities.
96. In numerous cases from all regions, police or government officials are the alleged perpetrators of violence and threats against defenders of LGBTI rights. In several of these cases, the authorities have prohibited demonstrations, conferences and meetings, denied registration of organizations working for LGBTI rights and police officers have, allegedly, beaten up or even sexually abused these defenders of LGBTI rights. The authorities have generally attempted to justify action against these defenders by arguing that “the public” does not want these demonstrations to take place, or these organizations to be registered, or that “the people” do not want LGBTI people in their community. The Special Representative recalls articles 2 and 12 of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders to remind States of their responsibility for protecting defenders against violence and threats. States are also responsible for, inter alia, ensuring that all programmes for training of law enforcement officers and public officials include appropriate elements of human rights teaching (art. 15).
97. In December 2004, the Special Representative communicated her concerns to the Government of Jamaica regarding published comments of the Police Federation’s Public Relations officer condemning the role of “so-called” human rights organizations and dismissing concerns regarding violence against LGBTI defenders, stating that “the Government and police cannot be held responsible for … the cultural responses of the population …”.{{38}}. In January 2006, the Special Representative sent her concerns to the Government of Nigeria concerning a draft bill which would, if approved, introduce criminal penalties for public advocacy or associations supporting LGBTI rights. In June 2006, a communication was sent to the Government of Poland concerning the Director of the National In-Service Training Centre who was dismissed by the Minister for Education, allegedly for his involvement in the publication and dissemination of a Council of Europe manual on human rights education for young people, which included issues in relation to sexual orientation.
[[37 ]] For a description of the situation by country see the Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders, A/HRC/4/37/Add.1, March 27, 2007, from which extracts are transcribed below.[[37]]
[[38]] This was allegedly in response to Human Rights Watch’s publication “Hated to death: Homophobia, Violence and Jamaica’s HIV/AIDS epidemic” (16 November 2004).[[38]]
link to full text of the Report: Report-SR Human Rights Defenders-2007-eng
