African states narrowly fail to stop U.N. gay rights envoy ...
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - African states narrowly failed on Monday for a second time to halt the work of the first U.N. independent investigator appointed to help protect gay and transgender people worldwide from violence and discrimination.
The attempt was voted down in the U.N. General Assembly 84 to 77 with 16 abstentions, a month after African states made a similar unsuccessful move in the General Assembly's third committee, which deals with human rights.
The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, created the position in June and in September appointed Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand, who has a three-year mandate to investigate abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.
Being gay is a crime in at least 73 countries, the U.N. has said. The issue of gay rights consistently sparks heated debate at the United Nations.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said the bid by the African states on Monday was "rooted in a real disagreement over whether people of a certain sexual orientation and gender identity are in fact entitled to equal rights."
"And it is being driven by a group of U.N. member states that believe it is acceptable to treat people differently because of who they are or who they love," she told the General Assembly.
Russia, several African countries and Egypt, speaking on behalf of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, said last month they would not recognize the mandate of the gay rights investigator and would not cooperate with Muntarbhorn.
Last week, Russia prevented the United Nations Security Council from thanking outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon specifically for promoting gay rights during his decade in office, diplomats said.
In 2014, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said the U.N. would recognize all same-sex marriages of its staff, allowing them to receive U.N. benefits. Russia unsuccessfully tried to overturn it last year, with Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, India, Egypt, Pakistan, and Syria among 43 states that supported Moscow.
In February, the African Group, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the 25-member "Group of Friends of the Family," led by Egypt, Belarus and Qatar, protested the launch of six U.N. stamps promoting LGBT equality.
Friday
Amnesty International Canada - Action re Aleppo
Amnesty International Canada
Update(December 16, 2016): Thousands of people are now trapped in freezing temperatures as evacuations have stopped.
Right now, people in East Aleppo are posting their final goodbyes online as government forces gain full control of the city. Instead of being given a safe path out, they face being trapped, tortured or executed.
In a matter of hours at least 82 civilians, including children, were shot on the spot by government and allied forces who entered their homes, or at gunpoint in the streets. A tentative ceasefire has now fallen apart again.
The lives of tens of thousands of people are in the hands of the Russian and Syrian governments.
Join our urgent call for the safe evacuation of the people trapped in Aleppo and the deployment of UN monitors to protect people from harm.
Update(December 16, 2016): Thousands of people are now trapped in freezing temperatures as evacuations have stopped.
Right now, people in East Aleppo are posting their final goodbyes online as government forces gain full control of the city. Instead of being given a safe path out, they face being trapped, tortured or executed.
In a matter of hours at least 82 civilians, including children, were shot on the spot by government and allied forces who entered their homes, or at gunpoint in the streets. A tentative ceasefire has now fallen apart again.
The lives of tens of thousands of people are in the hands of the Russian and Syrian governments.
Join our urgent call for the safe evacuation of the people trapped in Aleppo and the deployment of UN monitors to protect people from harm.
Saturday
Tweet for Write for Rights on Dec 10 Human Rights Day! | Amnesty International Canada
Tweet for Write for Rights on Human Rights Day! | Amnesty International Canada
This Human Rights Day, December 10th, people around the world will be joining Amnesty to write for rights. In this blog post, we are going to share with you how to engage the world and your country in celebrating the power of letter writing and defending human rights. If you have not yet registered with Write for Rights, visit our website and be sure to sign up. You’ll find our featured 2016 cases, and ideas on how to host your own letter-writing parties.
This year, Amnesty International will be using Twitter to create an online wave of speaking out for human rights through YOUR tweets about Write for Rights. Let’s show the world that human rights matter, by making the 2016 Write for Rights hashtag #W4R16 and #Write4Rights appear in conversations online throughout the entire day.
This Human Rights Day, December 10th, people around the world will be joining Amnesty to write for rights. In this blog post, we are going to share with you how to engage the world and your country in celebrating the power of letter writing and defending human rights. If you have not yet registered with Write for Rights, visit our website and be sure to sign up. You’ll find our featured 2016 cases, and ideas on how to host your own letter-writing parties.
This year, Amnesty International will be using Twitter to create an online wave of speaking out for human rights through YOUR tweets about Write for Rights. Let’s show the world that human rights matter, by making the 2016 Write for Rights hashtag #W4R16 and #Write4Rights appear in conversations online throughout the entire day.
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