Kenyan LGBT Activist Visits Global Rights

In Kenya, a man who has sex with another man can face up to 14 years in prison. The Kenyan Penal Code describes such a crime as “against the order of nature,” and Kenyan society reinforces this message, with schools, churches and government officials branding Kenyan LGBT persons as outcasts and stains on Kenyan society.

Eric Gitari, an LGBT activist and lawyer, described the deplorable conditions for LGBT persons in Kenya at a recent talk at Global Rights' office in Washington:

"As someone who has a lived experience of being queer in Kenya, growing up in the rural village, and going to public schools which are funded by churches, you're taught every day that you don't belong, that you're shameful, that you're a stigma, that you're not part of the society, that something is wrong with you. And what that does to you, especially at an early age, is that it destroys your dignity, it stains you, with so many questions of your respectability, desirability and your thriving in society."

To learn more about LGBT persons in Kenya and their fight for equality, take a look at the following short video, where Mr. Gitari talks about everything from the changes in sexual norms following the British colonization of Kenya in 1895 to cases involving LGBT rights that are currently before the High Court of Kenya.

Global Rights Executive Director Visits Afghanistan

Global Rights Executive Director Susan Farnsworth returned this week from a 10-day trip to Afghanistan, where she met with local Global Rights staff, international funders, and the many Afghan lawyers, law students and everyday Afghan people who benefit from Global Rights’ legal services and education initiatives.

On October 8, Susan visited one of our Legal Advice Bureaus in Kabul. The Bureaus were established in 2009 to help marginalized Afghans, particularly women, gain free access to lawyers who help them understand, and sometimes defend in court, their legal rights. Since 2009, about 5,000 individuals have benefited from legal services received at one of the four Bureaus that Global Rights’ partner organizations operate in the provinces of Kabul, Herat, Nangarhar, and Balkh. The partner organization that runs the Kabul Bureau is Justice for All.

A client (left) works with a Legal Advice Bureau lawyer in Kabul to secure alimony for her and her two children.

Global Rights Executive Director Susan Farsnworth speaks with Mahfuza Folad, Executive Director of Justice For all

Below are some of Susan’s impressions a day after visiting the Kabul Legal Advice Bureau on October 8:

“Yesterday, I visited the Legal Advice Bureau (LAB) in Kabul, where part of our work focuses on increasing access to justice for poor and vulnerable populations.  The LAB is located in the government complex, where people come to deal with a myriad of legal papers: licenses, registrations, claims, etc.  It is well known that engagement with the various parts of the justice system often requires additional expenses to have one’s case heard and to push the paperwork through for a decision. The LAB offers a pro bono service to the poor, ensuring that they can participate in the justice system at no additional cost.  During my visit, I met with the four defense lawyers who staff the Bureau, three women and one man. I also met one of the clients, a young woman wearing a burka that had been thrown back across her head. She was seeking alimony and child support from her husband for herself and her two daughters.  The client’s grasp of the law and her rights was inspiring. Not only was she determined to move the case forward so that she could receive the alimony due her under law, but through the work with the LAB lawyer, she had strong knowledge of her rights and how the law should work to protect those rights. It was clear that the lawyers go the extra mile to educate their clients, and in doing so, they are educating many others and breaking down real and perceived barriers to the justice system.  The client’s case is dragging through the system, but she and her lawyer are determined to push and push until it is resolved.  Seeing their determination gives me hope that she will receive her alimony and that her case will demonstrate to others that Global Rights’ work in providing legal advice for the poor opens up a door previously closed.”

Susan also chatted with one of Global Rights Legal Fellows, a select group of promising graduates from our Young Lawyers in Training Program (YLTP). Fellows are chosen to work in Afghanistan’s justice sector and in local human rights and justice non-governmental organizations (NGOs.) Global Rights established the YLTP in 2005 to supplement universities’ Sharia and law school curricula with educational content related to human and women’s rights, topics that were not covered in the traditional curricula. The program also provides practical training in civil and criminal procedure, which adds a new dimension to the students’ mostly theory-based pedagogy.  So far, more than 2,700 young men and women have successfully graduated from the program.  Mohammed, who met with Susan on her recent trip, is a graduate of the YLTP and a current Legal Fellow. The fellowship provides Mohammad and his recent graduate peers with a unique opportunity to begin working immediately on legal cases under the supervision of practicing lawyers, judges and human rights activists.

After spending some time with Mohammed, Susan was impressed by his conviction and passion for women’s rights:

“The other day I met Mohammed, who is now working as a Legal Fellow to promote gender equality in the Ministry of the Interior. He was presenting his experiences to the new class of Fellows, and his enthusiasm and excitement was catching. I wanted to further understand his passion for gender and equal rights.  He explained to me that his understanding of the importance of treating men and women equally is grounded in the life of the Prophet, who treated each of his wives equally and with respect. His support and understanding of Afghanistan’s decree to eliminate violence against women is grounded in this deep moral conviction.  He also explained to me how the articles contained in the Afghanistan decree to eliminate violence against women are derived from the Koran.   Meeting Mohammed and understanding his commitment to gender equality and the passion with which he purses this in his work at the Ministry reconfirmed my belief that our work is indeed building the next generation of legal practitioners who will promote rights and equality for all Afghans.”

Global Rights Reports from Colombia at UN Summit on Business-Related Human Rights Issues

A few weeks ago in Colombia, the United Nations convened its first-ever regional gathering to address business-related human rights issues. More than 400 people participated in the event, including representatives from businesses, governments, grassroots and non-governmental organizations. Also in attendance was Lien De Brouckere, Global Rights’ Director of Natural Resources and Human Rights.

The forum was organized by the United Nations Working Group on Business & Human Rights, which is charged with implementing the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, a landmark set of global standards ratified by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2011 that clarified the respective roles of governments and companies to help ensure that companies respect human rights while they operate.  This was the first-ever regional forum and was held in Colombia’s second largest city, Medellín. The results of the forum will feed into the second global forum that the Working Group is organizing in Geneva in December 2013.

After participating in the plenary sessions, Lien said that it was encouraging to hear representatives from companies and governments speak about “human rights” in relation to business activities, which marks progress in the attention companies now give to these issues.  

“To have governments and companies use this language of ‘human rights,’ and to develop policies and speak on public panels to address these issues is definitely a positive development that would not have happened at this scale a few years ago,” she said.

At the same time, she was deeply concerned that the forum failed to capture the realities on the ground for individuals and communities, and that the panels painted a misleading picture that obscured the main goal of protecting human rights for vulnerable and marginalized groups.  None of the panel discussions addressed the fundamental challenges of protecting affected communities’ rights, which include significant asymmetries of power, information and resources between companies and communities.  There was also little participation of affected communities (especially indigenous communities), grassroots organizations, or unions. 

On the third day, however, community groups finally took center stage during a session organized by ACCESS Facility, Futuro Sostenible and Fundacion Cambio Democratico, which addressed the question “What is effective remedy?” During that session, participants from community organizations shared their many (many!) repeated attempts at seeking remedy for human rights abuses, and Lien heard familiar stories from across the continent of the grievances suffered by communities.  At the Tintaya mine in Peru, for example, communities faced land expropriation without compensation, harmful environmental impacts, dangerous company infrastructure, and a lack of benefit sharing by the company with the communities.  At the Marlin mine in Guatemala, communities were not properly consulted about the mine project and were largely opposed to the mine’s operation due to  grave concerns about dangerous metals in the water that could harm the communities’ health and ecosystem.  At Chevron’s oil operations in Ecuador, toxic substances released into the water harmed community health and traditional life, and at Cerrejón’s operations in the village of Tabaco, Colombia, Afro-Colombian communities suffered violent expropriation from their lands. 

Gatherings such as the one in Medellín a few weeks ago have the potential to bear witness to the impacts, harms, and abuses, challenges in the region, in addition to providing a space for participatory dialogue that critically examines issues facing communities and how business and government can prevent those harms.  Lien felt that realizing such potential—whether of bearing witness or engaging in meaningful dialogue—would require some changes, such as bringing more voices into the room, adjusting the format of the sessions, and encouraging companies to view affected communities not as objects but as human beings deserved of respect and dignity.

Hate Crime Victim Turned LGBT Activist Speaks to Washington NGOs

In March, 22-year-old Pedro Robledo and his then-partner were violently attacked at a party in Buenos Aires by a group of homophobic religious conservatives who spotted the gay couple kissing.

Despite the incident, Argentina—in many respects—is at the vanguard globally of LGBT rights. In May 2012, for example, the country became the first to pass a gender identity law, according to which Argentinian citizens can officially change their gender identity based on self-identification. The country also legalized same-sex marriage in July 2010, and since that time, there have been more than 7,000 same-sex marriages.

The progressive legislation, however, does not reflect Argentinian society as a whole. Robledo, who spoke last Friday to LGBT advocacy organizations in Washington at the Inter-American Dialogue, said that much of Argentinian society still maintains religiously conservative views that are intolerant of the gay community. He said that Buenos Aires is unique to the rest of the country in that LGBT people in the capital city are generally free to express their sexuality in public without fear of being targets for hate crimes. He added that outside of Buenos Aires, many LGBT members face discrimination. To expose this situation, Robledo, who has become a political activist for the LGBT community, went with a television crew to a hospital in northern Argentina, where he was denied condoms because of his sexual orientation and then kicked out by a police officer.

Carlos Quesada, Global Rights’ Advisor on the Rights of LGBT people and a speaker at last Friday’s discussion, said that the LGBT movement in Latin America needs more support from mainstream human rights organizations, which typically choose not to adopt the LGBT movement because they consider it too controversial or because they simply do not view LGBT rights as human rights. Human rights organizations are well-established in various countries and have positive and enduring relationships with governmental and international organizations. Therefore, the efficacy of the LGBT campaign would improve drastically if the two groups were to work cooperatively.

At the national and regional level of governments, LGBT organizations also need to improve their advocacy skills, Carlos said. Fruits of a successful advocacy campaign were borne in June this year at the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), which adopted the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, an agreement containing specific language that protects, among others, victims of discrimination based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.  The Convention needs to be signed and then ratified, at which point it will become legally binding for countries that ratified the new instrument.  After the Convention is ratified, any decision made at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the judicial body of the OAS, will set a precedent for all nations that ratified the Convention.

Global Rights is highly active in promoting the rights of the LGBT community in Latin America. Our organization will soon draft a policy paper that we expect to present at a hearing in October to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights about the precarious situation of Afro-Brazilian transgender women in Brazil. In Colombia, we are working to strengthen the capacity of Afro-Colombian transgender women to combat impunity and to document human rights abuses. Last Monday, Global Rights joined our fellow members in the International Coalition of Organizations for Human Rights in the Americas to censure Venezuela's denunciation of the American Convention on Human Rights, a treaty the OAS first adopted in 1969 that provides the foundation for human rights norms in Latin America. Venezuela last week also withdrew officially from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Carlos Quesada, Global Rights' Advisor on the Rights of LGBTI people, discusses the challenges and opportunities for LGBTI rights in Latin America and the Caribbean at a conference organized by the Inter-American Dialogue.

Addressing Discrimination Against the Sierra Leonean LGBT Community

The National Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone and the local police chief of Freetown said in 2010 that there were very few complaints about discrimination and violence against the country’s LGBT community. These statements, however, are very misleading because LGBT people are afraid to report rights abuses. After spending more than a year collecting information in the field, Global Rights—in collaboration with Sierra Leonean LGBT organizations Pride Equality and Dignity Association—confirmed that the country’s LGBT people suffer from pervasive discrimination and violence because of their sexual orientation.

In May, Global Rights published a report about its findings, and Friday morning Carlos Quesada, Global Rights’ Advisor on the Rights of the LGBTI people, shared the findings of that report with a group of more than 30 people from the U.S. State Department and various human rights organizations. A main issue the report highlights is that members of the LGBT community in Sierra Leone receive less medical care than their heterosexual counterparts, in part because doctors and nurses simply refuse to treat people who have medical issues linked to homosexuality, and in part because LGBT people are too embarrassed or fearful to see doctors for such issues because of the resulting humiliation and violence they will face if their sexual orientation is discovered. Among 80 participants of a survey, 33 percent did not go to doctors for fear of being discovered as gay; 39 percent simply “self-medicated” to avoid seeing doctors; and 28 percent were denied treatment because their ailments were linked to homosexuality. Moreover, for the same reasons that they will not see a doctor, LGBT people seldom report incidents of discrimination to the police or other authoritative bodies.

Meeting Friday about the Sierra Leonean LGBT community, which took place at Global Rights' office and included representatives of the U.S. State Department and various human rights organizations.

One way to address the discrimination is through the state’s court system. Matthew Swinehart, an associate with Covington & Burling LLP, talked Friday about possible legal avenues to pursue when addressing this issue. Although Sierra Leone won independence from England in 1965, the country retained the same British laws that were used during its colonial history. The legal code has not been updated since the end of the 19th century and includes an anti-sodomy law, which is enumerated in the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act. The law is not often enforced, but it does contribute significantly to the pervasive stigma against homosexuality in the country.

Challenging the law would be difficult—but not impossible. There are four individual rights protected under charters to which Sierra Leone is a signatory. They are: non-discrimination, privacy, life and liberty, and equality. The two agreements to which Sierra Leone is a signatory are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Although sexual orientation is not a type of identity group explicitly protected by any of these two charters, Mr. Swinehart said that with enough political and legal pressure, the Sierra Leonean judiciary could take the view that discrimination based on sexual orientation constitutes a violation of these treaties. Mr. Swinehart also mentioned that there is a legal precedent where former British colonies abrogated British law and, in doing so, decriminalized sodomy. One such country is South Africa.

Strengthening the grassroots level has been the focus of our work in Sierra Leone. Speaking to this, Scott Busby, the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, noted that even if Sierra Leonean law is changed, the situation for the LGBT community will not likely change until public opinion changes. In furthering this cause, Global Rights continues to work with local civil society organizations (CSOs)—both LGBT groups and other human rights organizations—to improve their advocacy skills at the local, regional and international levels. As a result of our work, a coalition was formed by committed individuals called the Coalition of Equality and Gender, which comprises four LGBT groups and four non-LGBT human rights groups that advocate on behalf of all marginalized populations, including the LGBT community.

Going forward, Global Rights and the local CSOs now know—thanks in large part to their research and data presented in the report—of the challenges the Sierra Leonean LGBT community faces. However, the evidence-gathering and report-writing phase was only the first of a two-phase initiative, both of which are being funded by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. The second phase will involve Global Rights’ continued collaboration with the Coalition and other interested CSOs to empower the local LGBT community to advocate on behalf of their members, who routinely are victims of discrimination and violence. In a few weeks, for example, the coalition plans to meet with two, local lawyers to discuss ways to prepare a legal challenge to the anti-sodomy law.

We are optimistic that with the dedicated work of the local CSOs, combined with our oversight and training, the LGBT and human rights community of Sierra Leone will continue moving closer to their mission of creating a just society for all the country’s citizens. As Carlos said in his closing remarks, 

“Unlike other African countries, Sierra Leone represents a unique opportunity. Sierra Leone is actually a place where things can be done.”

  

U.N. Expert Answers Questions from African NGOs about Protecting Human Rights around Business Activity

Last Saturday, Global Rights sat down (virtually) with Dr. Michael Addo, one of five members of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, to discuss how African civil society organizations can engage with their governments, businesses and the UN to ensure that human rights are protected where businesses operate.

During the Q&A, Lien De Brouckere, Global Rights’ director of natural resources and human rights, asked Dr. Addo questions she received from 11 civil society organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ivory Coast. These organizations expressed concern that because the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are voluntary, it is unclear what, if any, sanctions or penalties will be issued when states or companies fail to comply.

Responding to this, Dr. Addo invited civil society organizations to reimagine their relationship with businesses—to shift from an adversarial approach to one marked by collaboration. He added that human rights issues often originate from a lack of understanding among governments, businesses, CSOs and communities affected by business activity:

“As much as I would like to think in a sense of perpetrators and victims, we can also think of it in a slightly different way in terms of misunderstandings, errors, and completely different expectations. But as we put our individual expectations together, and express them, we begin to understand each other.”

The U.N. expert emphasized that the UN Guiding Principles are based on the idea of “collective ownership” and not on sanctions and penalties. Each stakeholder has a distinct contribution to make, and by making that contribution together, the outcome will be more effective. At the same time, the UN Guiding Principles also draw on legally-binding standards already established under national law. What can be done, however, when states do not exercise enough political will to enforce these laws? Dr. Addo responded to this concern by sharing valuable insights on how CSOs can effectively and directly approach and work with governments and companies. He also offered suggestions about how organizations can reach out directly to the UN Working Group.

Dr. Addo also lent the UN Working Group’s support for this initiative, which Global Rights has launched, in partnership with the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ), to strengthen the voices of civil society organizations that are engaged in addressing human rights issues related to business development in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America . So far, Global Rights has reached out to more than 20 civil society organizations in 15 countries from Western, Eastern and Southern Africa in this initiative.

We welcome you to watch the fascinating interview with Dr. Addo in its entirety!

No Tolerance for Discrimination

The movement for human rights in the Americas passed a major milestone that Global Rights has been behind for more than 10 years.  

Hi there, it’s Carlos Quesada, Global Rights’ Racial and Ethnic Equality Program director. I just returned from the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Guatemala where I witnessed history in the making.

Two very important Inter-American conventions were approved at the General Assembly this month and signed by Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Ecuador:

• The Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Related Forms of Intolerance
• The Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance

Global Rights and our Afro-descendant civil society partners have been working to pass these conventions for more than 10 years.  For the past decade, in every thematic hearing and in every General Assembly, our partners asked member states to speed up the process of approving these regional mechanisms to better protect individuals from harmful and unfair discrimination.

In 2004, Global Rights and our partners pushed Brazil to lead the working group to draft the Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Related Forms of Intolerance. After a shift in working group leadership over the years, we were stuck in a declining process and draining uphill battle.    

 It has been a long journey but the Assembly finally listened.

The Convention against racism emphasizes the state’s need to adopt affirmative action policies to ensure equal access to rights and the creation of an Inter-American Committee for the Prevention and Elimination of Racism.  Evidently, these new Inter-American instruments to combat racial discrimination and intolerance in the Americas are critical to hold governments accountable for treating all people, regardless of race or ethnicity, equal.

I am very happy that Antigua and Barbuda took the lead in pushing for both conventions. This is especially important because the Inter-American Convention Against all Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance includes a clause about protecting people from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Antigua and Barbuda and other Caribbean countries still have sodomy laws that criminalize same-sex practices. I hope that Antigua and Barbuda can be a leader in the Caribbean in decriminalizing these practices and pushing for gender equality.

I am so thrilled that our partner's advocacy was heard and that our hard work has paid off. Now, we must encourage more countries to sign and ratify both conventions to protect all people in the region. I look forward to keeping you updated on the process!

Saludos,

Carlos