Islamics Attack Rights Resolution
Call idea of queer human rights "a direct insult to the 1.2 billion Muslims around the world."

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APRIL 25, 2003. An April 23 memo sent by Pakistan's ambassador to the member states of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, on behalf the Organization of the Islamic Conference, denounces the resolution, "Human Rights and Sexual Orientation," and urges members to vote against it. Following is the complete text:

Organization of the Islamic Conference: Aide-Memoire

- The Islamic Group as well as several other delegations are dismayed at the presentation of a draft resolution entitled "Human Rights and Sexual Orientation."

- The draft resolution is politically incorrect, procedurally flawed and substantially contentious. It lacks transparency as no consultations were conducted before presenting the initiative. It would cause further divisions in an already polarized Commission.

- Human rights and fundamental freedoms are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two international covenants. These instruments besides defining these rights and freedoms, also identified instances of violation of these rights and the basis of possible discriminations, i.e., race, colour, sex, language, religion, opinion, origin, status, etc. All subsequent instruments, resolutions, conventions and mechanism have stemmed from these cardinal human rights documents.

- All minorities who could possibly be marginalized in certain societies have been identified in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

- These issues were extensively discussed in the World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action which reiterated the international commitments to promote and protect human rights while listing the same groups vulnerable to discrimination and violation of human rights. However there was no departure or shift from the basic parameters determined in the UDHR and the two Covenants.

- The concept of "sexual orientation" has never been defined in the UN. It has hardly ever found a place in the UN document; and whatever it has, it has enormous controversy and discord.

- The resolution has been built on an "assumption" "for the purposes of the resolution" that the concept encompasses various manifestations of sexual behaviour. The list could always be expanded to include heinous activities like pedophalia and other errant behaviour.

- The initiative, and by extension the resolution, is erected on the presumption that there have been "wide spread occurrence" of violation of human rights on the grounds of "sexual orientation". This premise is unsubstantiated as no research or data collection has been carried out to support this deduction

- The draft resolution directly contradicts the tenets of Islam and other religions. Its adoption would be considered as a direct insult to the 1.2 billion Muslims around the world.

Links

• Brazil asks UN to protect queers everywhere
• United Nations: Human Rights