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STORY: OSLO / LGBT RIGHTS
TRT: 2.21
SOURCE: NORWEGIAN GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION SERVICES
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15 APRIL 2013, OSLO, NORWAY
1. Wide shot, people gathered in venue
2. Wide shot, Ivan Šimonoviæ approaches podium
3. Cutaway, cameramen
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ivan Šimonoviæ , UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, OHCHR:
“That slim 25 pages report based on empirical evidence made it clear beyond any doubt that violence and discrimination against LGBT people are so serious and so widespread that they warrant the active attention of the United Nations and that they fall within the framework of states legal responsibilities.”
5. Cutaway, audience
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ivan Šimonoviæ , UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, OHCHR:
“Our report found that far too few countries have adequate systems in place for recording incidents of homophobic violence let alone preventing it or responding.”
7. Cutaway, audience
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ivan Šimonoviæ , UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, OHCHR:
“It is nearly two decades since the United United Nations Human Rights Committee first established that criminalizing consensual same sex relationships violates people’s right t privacy and non discrimination. In that time more that 30 states have taken step to remove homosexuality related offenses from their legal systems but in at least 76 countries the criminal law is still used to punish people just because their partner is of the same sex.”
9. Cutaway, canmeramen
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ivan Šimonoviæ , UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, OHCHR:
“But while there is much to welcome there is also much more that remains to be done. Far too may states still retain laws that criminalize same sex relationship. Far too few have laws that offer comprehensive protection from discrimination. Even less have efficient systems for combating or even recording homophobic hate crimes.”
11. Cutaway, audience
12. Wide shot, applause
The United Nations (UN) Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights said today that violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people warranted “the active attention of the United Nations.”
Addressing an international conference on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender which opened today (15 April) in Oslo, Norway, Ivan Šimonoviæ recalled that over a year ago, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had produced a report documenting violence and discriminatory laws and practices affecting individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.
The 25 pages report made it clear that violence and discrimination against LGBT people were “so serious and so widespread” that they warranted “the active attention of the United Nations and that they fall within the framework of states legal responsibilities.”
Šimonoviæ said that the OHCHR report found that “far too few countries have adequate systems in place for recording incidents of homophobic violence let alone preventing it or responding.”
Noting that it was nearly 20 years ago that the UN Human Rights Committee had first established that criminalizing same sex relations violated people’s rights to intimacy, he said that since then only 30 states had taken steps to remove homosexuality-related offenses from their legal systems.
Šimonoviæ said that “in at least 76 countries the criminal law is still used to punish people just because their partner is of the same sex.”
In recent years states have made a determined effort to improve the human rights situation of LGBT people. Measures enacted included banning discrimination, penalizing homophobic hate crimes, granting recognition of same sex relationships, and making it easier for transgender individuals to obtain official documents that reflect their preferred gender.
However, Šimonoviæ said that while there had been much to welcome, “there is also much more that remains to be done.”
He pointed out that “far too may states still retain laws that criminalize same sex relationship. Far too few have laws that offer comprehensive protection from discrimination. Even less have efficient systems for combating or even recording homophobic hate crimes.”
In June 2011, under the leadership of South Africa, the UN Human Rights Council adopted resolution 17/19— the first United Nations resolution on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity. This historic resolution was followed by a report from the High Commissioner for Human Rights addressing the responsibility of states to end violence and discriminatory laws and practices based on sexual orientation and gender identity. A panel discussion was also held in the Human Rights Council in March of 2012.
According to organizers of the international conference, there is now a need for further follow-up of resolution 17/19 to ensure continued Human Rights Council attention to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. South Africa, Norway, Brazil and other friends of the resolution have therefore decided to reach out cross-regionally, through dialogue and engagement in a series of regional seminars, as a prelude to the 23rd session of the Human Rights Council.
