A letter to the UN Human Rights Council
We have learned through web-based news reports that representatives in the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution titled ‘promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind.’ We believe that this resolution promoting ‘traditional values’ will serve as justification for countries to discriminate and violate the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people and women.
Ultimately, this resolution may counteract much of the good work being done by the Human Rights Council, such as the resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC June 17 2011) on the rights of homosexual and transgender people which calls for an end to sexual discrimination and recognizing the matter as a “priority issue” of the U.N. We strongly protest this resolution on the grounds that the vaguely defined term ‘traditional’ can be used to legitimize human rights abuses.
Please immediately take action to dismiss this resolution in order to honor your commitment to human rights, and preserve the good reputation of the United Nations.
Links
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Human Rights Council Advisory Committee discusses traditional values and human rights
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Article 19 statement: Human Rights Council: Reject resolution on “traditional values”