Thai expert picked for first-ever LGBTI role

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Thai expert picked for first-ever LGBTI role

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Thai expert picked for first-ever LGBTI role

THE SUNDAY NATION, AGENCIES

October 2, 2016

International rights groups have welcomed the appointment by the UN of a Thai law professor as the first independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The United Nations' Human Rights Council on Friday appointed Prof Vitit Muntarbhorn, a UN expert who has served on many of its panels, as the council's first-ever independent investigator to help protect homosexual and transgender people worldwide from violence and discrimination.

He will have a three-year mandate to investigate abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.

Vitit is an experienced human rights expert and an international law professor at Chulalongkorn Univer-sity. He is a household name with LGBTI activists in Thailand although he is not an activist himself.

The UN agreed on the new role in June, after the 47-member council overcame strong objections by Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries to adopt a Western-backed resolution by a vote of 23 states in favour and 18 against with six abstentions.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the appointment on Friday, saying the UN council "made history".

"This critical mandate will bring much-needed attention to human rights violations against LGBT people in all regions of the world," John Fisher, the group's director in Geneva, said in a statement.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) said the newly created role was critical in providing justice to LGBTI people who had been attacked, abused or discriminated against.

"Never has there been a more urgent need to safeguard the human rights of LGBTI persons around the world," executive director of ILGA, Renato Sabbadini, said in a statement to the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Jessica Stern, executive director of OutRight Action International, which is formerly the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, described Vitit's appointment as "a huge leap forward".

She said the governments of the world have appointed an expert to document anti-LGBT rights violations and provide technical assistance to identify solutions and bring about lasting social change.

"We celebrate that his appointment went through the Human Rights Commission today [Friday] and we will work to put resources at his disposal to ensure the success of this vitally important mandate," Stern said.

Social media yesterday was full of messages congratulating Vitit.

French Ambassador to Thailand Gilles Garachon said on Twitter: "Congrats #VititMuntarbhorn! For the first time in its history @UN appoints an expert to protect people against discrimination #LGBT."

German Ambassador to Thailand Peter Pruegel tweeted: "Now official! Prof Vitit Muntarbhorn from #Thailand appointed 1st ever independent #UN #SOGI expert on #LGBT rights. Congrats!!!"

Vitit has served on several UN bodies, including the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, and as a special rapporteur on North Korea. He also participated in the drafting of the Yogyakarta Principles, which detail the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity.

As the independent expert on SOGI issues, Vitit will be tasked with assessing the implementation of existing international human rights laws; identifying best practices and gaps; raising awareness of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; engaging in dialogue and consultation with states and other stakeholders; and facilitating provisions for advisory services, technical assistance, capacity-building, and cooperation to help address violence and discrimination on these grounds.

On August 30, the UN Human Rights Council president announced Vitit as his chosen candidate for the independent expert on SOGI. The choice was made from a short list of three candidates submitted to him by a consultative group, which placed the Thai at the top of the list.

The group interviewed five candidates from a list of 21 people who had applied for the post before submitting the three names to the president.

Hundreds of LGBTI have been killed and thousands injured in recent years, in violence that included knife attacks, anal rape and genital mutilation, as well as stoning and dismemberment, the UN said in a report last year.

More than 2,000 transgender and gender diverse people were murdered in 65 countries between 2008 and 2015, according to The Trans Murder Monitoring project, which is coordinated by LGBT rights group Transgender Europe.

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Re: Thai expert picked for first-ever LGBTI role

Post by Maple »

U.N. appoints first-ever LGBT rights watchdog:
Washington Blade October 1, 2016
by Michael K. Lavers

Vitit Muntarbhorn has been named the first U.N. LGBT rights watchdog.

The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday announced it has appointed the U.N.’s first-ever independent expert who will specifically investigate anti-LGBT discrimination and violence around the world.

Vitit Muntarbhorn is an international law professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

Muntarbhorn has been a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Syria since 2012. He has also served as special U.N. rapporteurs on North Korea and child prostitution and pornography.

Muntarbhorn co-chaired the 2006 meeting that led to the adoption of the Yogyakarta Principles, a set of recommendations on the application of international human rights law to fight discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Paisarn Likhitpreechakul of the Foundation for SOGI Rights and Justice, a Thai LGBT advocacy group, told the Washington Blade that Muntarbhorn was among those who urged Thailand to oppose efforts to remove “sexual orientation” from a 2010 U.N. resolution on extrajudicial killings.

Likhitpreechakul noted Thailand supported an LGBT rights resolution that the U.N. Human Rights Council approved in 2011. The vote is the first time the U.N. has approved a resolution that specifically deals with issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity.

“With his solid extensive experience in international human rights law, he added force to our movement,” Likhitpreechakul told the Blade, referring to the 2011 resolution. “We are happy that, in this new capacity, he will be able to focus on SOGIESC (sexual orientation and gender identity and expression and sexual characteristics) issues and support the struggles for freedom and equality of our LGBTI sisters and brothers around the world.”

OutRight Action International Communications Officer Rashima Kwatra, who is also a Thai LGBT rights activist, also praised Muntarbhorn’s appointment.

“I couldn’t be more proud that the world’s first Independent expert on SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) is from my country,” said Kwatra in a statement. “Thailand, among other countries in the region, still does not fully respect and protect the human rights of LGBTIQ citizens. I am hopeful that his leadership will encourage positive legal change and social acceptance of LGBTIQ people in Thailand and around the world.”

Ty Cobb, director of Human Rights Campaign Global, described Muntarbhorn’s appointment as “a huge step forward for LGBTQ human rights worldwide.”

“Professor Muntarbhorn brings a wealth of experience to this position and will help to ensure that the U.N. follows through on its commitments to combating violence and discrimination against LGBTQ people,” said Cobb.

The U.N. Human Rights Council on June 30 approved a resolution that created Muntarbhorn’s position. The U.N. Security Council earlier in the month condemned the Pulse nightclub massacre in a statement that marked the first time it specifically denounced violence based on sexual orientation.

Vice President Biden, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders spoke alongside Caleb Orozco, a Belizean LGBT rights advocate who successfully challenged his country’s sodomy law, at an event the U.N. LGBT Core Group hosted on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last month.

The event was the highest-level meeting on LGBT rights that has ever taken place at the U.N.
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