Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

Legislative restrictions on “homosexual propaganda” threaten LGBT human rights defenders says the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in Geneva which is concerned by the growing number of laws and legislative proposals in a variety of countries that severely threaten the work of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons and human rights defenders. Ahead of the 22nd session of the Human Rights Council the ICJ today (27 February 2013) submitted a written statement to the UN encouraging the Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders to follow up on these laws and legislative proposals. Pointing to unlawful restrictions on the freedoms of association and assembly, and the freedom of expression, in several countries (including Uganda, Ukraine and the Russian Federation), the ICJ encourages the Special Rapporteur to call on governments to protect these rights for everyone and to ensure that any restrictions comply with the requirements of legality, of necessity and proportionality and of non-discrimination on all grounds. Moreover, in the case of laws or legislative proposals that fail to comply with these requirements, Governments should take appropriate action.

To download the statement, go to the press announcement:

Legislative restrictions on “homosexual propaganda” threaten LGBT human rights defenders | ICJ.

This entry was posted on February 27, 2013 at 12:17 and is filed under human rights, ICJ, UN.

Tags: Geneva, homophobia, Human Rights Council, ICJ, International Commission of Jurists, legal restrictions, LGBT, LGBT rights, Russian Federation, Uganda, Ukraine, UN