Urgent Call for the Government to Support the UN General Assembly Resolution Protecting LGBTs from Extrajudicial Executions by Clara Rita A. Padilla

Manila, December 17, 2010 – This Monday, December 20, the United Nations General Assembly will vote on whether to include protection for LGBT people in a crucial resolution on extrajudicial executions (EJE) and other unlawful killings.

Since 2000, this resolution has urged States "to investigate promptly and thoroughly all killings, including... all killings committed for any discriminatory reason, including sexual orientation." It is the only UN resolution to ever include an explicit reference to sexual orientation.

Last November, a number of States proposed an amendment to remove the reference to sexual orientation from this important resolution and this amendment surprisingly passed. Seventy-nine States voted to remove the reference to sexual orientation, 70 supported its retention, and 43 States abstained including the Philippines.

“The abstention of the Philippines is a step backwards from its previous support when it voted to include sexual orientation in the EJE resolution at UN GA in 2008. The removal of LGBTs in the resolution is a setback, however, the States will have the opportunity to restore the reference to sexual orientation and even extend it to include gender identity when the resolution comes up before the UN General Assembly this Monday, December 20. We urge the Philippine government to support the resolution and send a clear message to uphold the rights of LGBTs. In the past years, there have been numerous reports of gay men being murdered in the Philippines without clear investigations and active prosecution being conducted leading to the perpetuation of the gay murders with impunity. The Philippines must perform its obligation to prevent, investigate and prosecute all killings including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Attorney Clara Rita A. Padilla, Executive Director of EnGendeRights.


***