Querid@s amig@s,
Nos ha apenas llegado un correo de John Fisher que se encuentra en Nueva York con Kurt Krickler (ex miembro del comite de ILGA Europe) para asistir al consejo ECOSOC que tiene que votar para dar o negar el estatus ECOSOC a tres grupos LGBT : ILGA Europe, LBL (Dinamarca) y LSVD (Alemania).
Parece que el ECOSOC votara este mismo lunes 11 de diciembre.
El voto puede ser muy estrecho (perdonen mi espanol) y puede ser importante presionar a algunos gobiernos cuyos votos no son bien claros. En America Latina, se trata de
- Paraguay, que se abstuvo la ultima vez y podria considerar votar a favor
- Costa Rica, que solo sostuvo uno de los tres grupos la ultima vez (LSVD) y tiene que ser animado a votar para los tres
- Cuba, que no voto pero se opuso a las ONGs en los votos sobre proceduras
Quien estuvo en nombre de grupos LGBT al ultimo encuentro del Mercosur sobre DH y derechos LGBT esta semana tambien podria contactar los rapresentantes que encontraron alli (Beto de Jesus, Toni Reis ? )
Pueden ver la lista de los 54 paises del Consejo ECOSOC aqui
http://www.un.org/docs/ecosoc/members.html
De todos modos, es importante presionar todos los estados para que voten en contra de misuras proceduriales y no usen maniobras para obstacular el voto.
En esta pagina, encontraran los contactos de sus embajadores en Nueva York. http://www.un.org/Overview/missions.htm o sus ministerios de asuntos exteriores http://www.ssrc.org/gsc/datasphere/ministries.htm
Stephen Barris
GRANTING ECOSOC STATUS TO NGOs ADDRESSING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION & GENDER IDENTITY:
Ø Background:
On Monday, December 11, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will vote whether or not to grant UN consultative status to three NGOs addressing human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, specifically:
i. the Danish National Association for Gays and Lesbians (LBL);
ii. the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD),
iii. ILGA-Europe.
The ECOSOC NGO Committee had previously recommended that all three NGOs be denied consultative status. No reason was given for the recommendation other than their work on sexual orientation and gender identity. On July 21, 2006, the full ECOSOC voted to reject the recommendation that these groups be denied status. Now the ECOSOC will consider whether they should affirmatively be granted status.
Ø The three NGOS: a history of credible work
All three NGOs are reliable, credible NGOs of long standing, engaged in international work, backed by supportive governments and able to address significant human rights concerns of relevance to the UN in an area that is often overlooked. Each organisation submitted a detailed application to the NGO Committee, and responded in full to all questions asked.
Ø Relevance of NGOs' work to the UN:
Numerous UN Special Procedures have documented violations of the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, including use of the death penalty, torture, criminal sanctions, police harassment, violence, rape, disappearances, denials of freedom of expression, raids and closures of NGOs, and discrimination in education, employment, health and housing.
At the most recent meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on 1 December, 2006, Norway delivered a statement on behalf of 54 States, expressing concern at human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, commending the work of civil society in this area, and calling for substantive discussion on these issues at an upcoming session of the Council. Clearly, the voices of NGOs working in this area need to be heard during that discussion.
Ø International support:
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has expressed concerns about the "shameful silence" surrounding violations of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, and indicated that excluding LGBT people from human rights protections "clearly violates international human rights law." She has specifically called for non-discriminatory access by LGBT NGOs to international fora.
Similar concerns have been expressed by hundreds of NGOs from over 60 countries around the world, and by mainstream human rights NGOs including the International Commission of Jurists, the International Service for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), Global Rights, the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), and many others.
Questions of NGO access and participation are of particular concern during this time of UN transition and reform. States' positions on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity may vary, but all that the applicant NGOs are seeking is the opportunity to participate in the discussion. No valid reason has been provided to deny consultative status to any of the NGOs under consideration. We urge ECOSOC to vote in favour of granting these NGOs consultative status.
Stephen Barris
ILGA, the International Lesbian and Gay Association
17 rue de la Charité
1210 Brussels Belgium
Tel/Fax 00 32 2 502 24 71
http://www.ilga.org
