Yogyakarta Principles
Encyclopedia
The Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity is a set of principles relating to sexual orientation
and gender identity
, intended to apply international human rights law
standards to address the abuse
of the human rights
of lesbian
, gay
, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT
) people, and issues of intersexuality. The Principles were developed at a meeting of the International Commission of Jurists
, the International Service for Human Rights
and human rights experts from around the world at Gadjah Mada University
on Java from 6 to 9 November in 2006. The concluding document "contains 29 principles adopted unanimously by the experts, along with recommendations to governments, regional intergovernmental institutions, civil society, and the UN itself". The principles are named after Yogyakarta, the smallest province
of Indonesia
(excluding Jakarta
) located on the island of Java. These principles have not yet been adopted by States as part of international legally binding human rights law.
Among the 29 signatories of the principles were Mary Robinson
, Manfred Nowak
, Martin Scheinin
, Elizabeth Evatt
, Philip Alston
, Edwin Cameron
, Asma Jahangir
, Paul Hunt, Sanji Mmasenono Monageng
, Sunil Babu Pant
, Stephen Whittle
and Wan Yanhai
. The signatories intended that the Yogyakarta Principles should be adopted as a universal
standard, but some states have expressed reservations.
In alignment with the movement towards establishing basic human rights for all people, the Yogyakarta Principles specifically address sexual orientation
and gender identity
. The Principles were developed in response to patterns of abuse
reported from around the world. These included examples of sexual assault
and rape
, torture
and ill-treatment, extrajudicial executions, honour killing, invasion of privacy
, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, medical abuse, denial of free speech and assembly
and discrimination
, prejudice
and stigmatization
in work, health, education, housing, access to justice
and immigration
. These are estimated to affect millions of people who are, or have been, targeted on the basis of perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity.
and stereotypes
,, which includes people's expression of sexual orientation or gender identity, implementation of these rights has been fragmented and inconsistent internationally. The Principles aim to provide a consistent understanding about application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity.
was rapporteur responsible for drafting and development of the Yogyakarta Principles adopted at the meeting. Vitit Muntarbhorn
and Sonia Onufer Corrêa were the co-chairpersons.
can be applied to sexual orientation and gender identity issues, in a way that affirms international law and to which all states can be bound. They maintain that wherever people are recognised as being born free and equal in dignity and rights, this should include LGBT people. They argue that human rights standards can be interpreted in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity when they touch on issues of torture and violence, extrajudicial execution, access to justice, privacy, freedom from discrimination, freedom of expression and assembly, access to employment, health-care, education, and immigration and refugee issues. The Principles aim to explain that States are obliged to ensure equal access to human rights, and each principle recommends how to achieve this, highlighting international agencies' responsibilities to promote and maintain human rights.
The Principles are based on the recognition of the right to non-discrimination. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(CESCR) has dealt with these matters in its General Comments, the interpretative texts it issues to explicate the full meaning of the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
. In General Comments Nos. 18 of 2005 (on the right to work), 15 of 2002 (on the right to water) and 14 of 2000 (on the right to the highest attainable standard of health), it indicated that the Covenant proscribes any discrimination on the basis of, inter alia, sex and sexual orientation "that has the intention or effect of nullifying or impairing the equal enjoyment or exercise of [the right at issue]".
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), notwithstanding that it has not addressed the matter in a General Comment or otherwise specified the applicable provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
, on a number of occasions has criticised states, for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. For example, it also addressed the situation in Kyrgyzstan and recommended that, ‘lesbianism be reconceptualised as a sexual orientation and that penalties for its practice be abolished’.
for gay rights on 26 March 2007 at the United Nations Human Rights Council
in Geneva
. Michael O’Flaherty, spoke at the International Lesbian and Gay Association
(ILGA) Conference in Lithuania on 27 October 2007; he explained that "all human rights belong to all of us. We have human rights because we exist – not because we are gay or straight and irrespective of our gender identities", but that in many situations these human rights are not respected or realised, and that "the Yogyakarta Principles is to redress that situation".
The Yogyakarta Principles were presented at a United Nations event in New York
on 7 November 2007, co-sponsored by Argentina
, Brazil
and Uruguay
. Human Rights Watch
explain that the first step towards this would be the de-criminalisation of homosexuality in 77 countries that still carry legal penalties for people in same-sex relationships, and repeal of the death penalty in the seven countries that still have the death penalty for such sexual practice.
Human-rights and LGBT-rights groups took up the principles, and discussion has featured in the gay press, as well as academic papers and text books (see bibliography).
These principles, while explaining the way existing human rights statutes need to be applied in specific situations relevant to LGBT people's experience, influenced the proposed UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity
in 2008.
an interim report on the human right to comprehensive sexual education, in which he cited the Yogyakarta Principles as a Human Rights standard. In the ensuing discussion, the majority of General Assembly Third Committee members recommended against adopting the principles. For instance, the Representative of Malawi
, speaking on behalf of all African States argued that the report:
Trinidad and Tobago
, on behalf of the Caribbean States members of CARICOM, argued that the special rapporteur "had chosen to ignore his mandate, as laid down in Human Rights Council resolution 8/4, and to focus instead on the so-called 'human right to comprehensive education.' Such a right did not exist under any internationally agreed human rights instrument or law and his attempts to create one far exceeded his mandate and that of the Human Rights Council." The representative of Mauritania
, speaking on behalf of the Group of Arab States, said that the Arab States were "dismayed" and accused the rapporteur of attempting to promote "controversial doctrines that did not enjoy universal recognition" and to "redefine established concepts of sexual and reproductive health education, or of human rights more broadly". The Russian Federation expressed "its disappointment and fundamental disagreement with the report," writing of the rapporteur:
Meanwhile, the Council of Europe
states in "Human Rights and Gender Identity" that Principle 3 of the Yogyakarta Principles is "of particular relevance": Because same sex marriage is possible only in five member states of the Council of Europe, transgender persons who are already married usually have to divorce prior to their new gender being officially recognised, although in many cases they would prefer to remain a legally recognised family unit, especially if they have children. Such enforced divorces may have a negative impact on the children of the marriage.(3.2.2) They recommend that member states "abolish sterilisation and other compulsory medical treatment as a necessary legal requirement to recognise a person's gender identity in laws regulating the process for name and sex change." (V.4) as well as to "make gender reassignment procedures, such as hormone treatment, surgery and psychological support, accessible for transgender persons, and ensure that they are reimbursed by public health insurance schemes." (V.5) Similarly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
adopted a document titled "Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity" on 23 March 2010, in which the parliamentarians argued that the prejudice that "homosexuality is immoral" is a "subjective view usually based on religious dogma that, in a democratic society, cannot be a basis for limiting the rights of others." They also argued that the belief that "homosexuality is worsening the demographic crisis and threatening the future of the nation" is "illogical," and that "granting legal recognition to same-sex couples has no influence on whether heterosexuals marry or have children."
Piero A. Tozzi, of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute
, issued a briefing paper ‘Six Problems with the Yogyakarta Principles’. He argues that where Principle 24 seeks to recognize the diversity of family forms, this could devalue the concept of the family by including any grouping of two (or more) people. He also argues that Principles 20 and 21 could be used to restrict freedom of speech
.
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
, intended to apply international human rights law
International human rights law
International human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic levels...
standards to address the abuse
Abuse
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment for a bad purpose, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, sexual assault, violation, rape, unjust practices; wrongful practice or custom; offense; crime, or otherwise...
of the human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
of lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, bisexual, and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
(LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
) people, and issues of intersexuality. The Principles were developed at a meeting of the International Commission of Jurists
International Commission of Jurists
The International Commission of Jurists is an international human rights non-governmental organization. The Commission itself is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists , including members of the senior judiciary in Australia, Canada, and South Africa and the former UN High Commissioner for Human...
, the International Service for Human Rights
International Service for Human Rights
The International Service for Human Rights is a Geneva- and New York-based human rights NGO that specializes in providing training, information and advice for defenders of human rights worldwide. Established in 1984, ISHR provides information on both international and regional human rights law...
and human rights experts from around the world at Gadjah Mada University
Gadjah Mada University
The Gadjah Mada University is the largest and the oldest national university in Indonesia . founded on December 19, 1949; although the first lecture was given on 13 March 1946. The name was taken from the name of Majapahit's Prime Minister, Gajah Mada.UGM is located in Yogyakarta, Daerah Istimewa...
on Java from 6 to 9 November in 2006. The concluding document "contains 29 principles adopted unanimously by the experts, along with recommendations to governments, regional intergovernmental institutions, civil society, and the UN itself". The principles are named after Yogyakarta, the smallest province
Provinces of Indonesia
The province is the highest tier of local government subnational entity in Indonesia. Each province has its own local government, headed by a governor, and has its own legislative body...
of Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
(excluding Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
) located on the island of Java. These principles have not yet been adopted by States as part of international legally binding human rights law.
Among the 29 signatories of the principles were Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
, Manfred Nowak
Manfred Nowak
Manfred Nowak is an Austrian human rights lawyer.Nowak was a student of Felix Ermacora, and cooperated with him until Ermacora's death in 1995. They co-founded the Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte in 1992...
, Martin Scheinin
Martin Scheinin
Martin Scheinin is the first United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism. He was selected for this position after serving for eight years as member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the independent expert body monitoring states' compliance with the...
, Elizabeth Evatt
Elizabeth Evatt
Elizabeth Andreas Evatt, AC , an emminent Australian reformist lawyer and jurist who sat on numerous national and international tribunals and commissions, was the first Chief Judge of the Family Court of Australia, the first female judge of an Australian federal court, and the first Australian to...
, Philip Alston
Philip Alston
Philip G. Alston is an international law scholar and human rights practitioner. He is John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, and co-Chair of the law school's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice...
, Edwin Cameron
Edwin Cameron
Edwin Cameron is a South African Rhodes scholar and current Constitutional Court justice. Cameron served as a Supreme Court of Appeal judge from 2000 to 2008. He was the first senior South African official to state publicly that he was living with HIV/AIDS...
, Asma Jahangir
Asma Jahangir
Asma Jilani Jahangir is a leading Pakistani lawyer, advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, President Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and human rights activist, who works both in Pakistan and internationally to prevent the persecution of religious minorities, women, and exploitation...
, Paul Hunt, Sanji Mmasenono Monageng
Sanji Mmasenono Monageng
Sanji Mmasenono Monageng has been a judge of the International Criminal Court since 2009.Monageng is a national of Botswana. She became a judge in Botswana in 1989. In 2003, Monageng was elected as a Commissioner in the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which is an organ of the...
, Sunil Babu Pant
Sunil Babu Pant
Sunil Babu Pant is the first openly gay politician in Nepal. He is one of five members from the CPN in the constituent assembly, and is also head of the Blue Diamond Society, the only gay rights group in Nepal...
, Stephen Whittle
Stephen Whittle
Professor Stephen Whittle OBE, PhD is an active member of the United Kingdom TransActivist organisation Press for Change. Now , Whittle is Professor of Equalities Law in the School of Law at Manchester Metropolitan University....
and Wan Yanhai
Wan Yanhai
Wan Yanhai is the best-known AIDS activist in China born 20 November 1963.His "frank and aggressive" approach toward AIDS have led to frequent run-ins with authorities and landed him in detention three times in the past 12 years. Wan, 43, is the director of the country's foremost AIDS-awareness...
. The signatories intended that the Yogyakarta Principles should be adopted as a universal
Universal (metaphysics)
In metaphysics, a universal is what particular things have in common, namely characteristics or qualities. In other words, universals are repeatable or recurrent entities that can be instantiated or exemplified by many particular things. For example, suppose there are two chairs in a room, each of...
standard, but some states have expressed reservations.
In alignment with the movement towards establishing basic human rights for all people, the Yogyakarta Principles specifically address sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
. The Principles were developed in response to patterns of abuse
Abuse
Abuse is the improper usage or treatment for a bad purpose, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, sexual assault, violation, rape, unjust practices; wrongful practice or custom; offense; crime, or otherwise...
reported from around the world. These included examples of sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
and rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and ill-treatment, extrajudicial executions, honour killing, invasion of privacy
Invasion of privacy
United States privacy law embodies several different legal concepts. One is the invasion of privacy, a tort based in common law allowing an aggrieved party to bring a lawsuit against an individual who unlawfully intrudes into his or her private affairs, discloses his or her private information,...
, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, medical abuse, denial of free speech and assembly
Freedom of assembly
Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests...
and discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
, prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
and stigmatization
Social stigma
Social stigma is the severe disapproval of or discontent with a person on the grounds of characteristics that distinguish them from other members of a society.Almost all stigma is based on a person differing from social or cultural norms...
in work, health, education, housing, access to justice
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
and immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
. These are estimated to affect millions of people who are, or have been, targeted on the basis of perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity.
Background
The website promoting the Principles notes that concerns have been voiced about a trend of people's human rights being violated because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. While the United Nations human rights instruments detail obligations to ensure that people are protected from discriminationDiscrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
and stereotypes
LGBT stereotypes
Stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are conventional, formulaic generalizations, opinions, or images about persons based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Stereotypes and homophobia are a learned outlook, i.e...
,, which includes people's expression of sexual orientation or gender identity, implementation of these rights has been fragmented and inconsistent internationally. The Principles aim to provide a consistent understanding about application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Development
From 6 to 9 November 2006, an international seminar of legal experts on human rights took place at Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The seminar clarified the nature, scope and implementation of states’ human rights obligations under existing human rights treaties and law, in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity. The principles that developed out of this meeting were adopted by human rights experts from around the world, and included judges, academics, a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, NGOs and others. The Irish human rights expert Michael O'FlahertyMichael O'Flaherty
Professor Michael O'Flaherty is an Irish academic human rights lawyer and a member since 2004 of the United Nations Human Rights Committee , the expert body that oversees compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights...
was rapporteur responsible for drafting and development of the Yogyakarta Principles adopted at the meeting. Vitit Muntarbhorn
Vitit Muntarbhorn
Vitit Muntarbhorn is an international human rights expert and professor of law at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.Muntarbhorn, born in November 1952, was educated at Oxford and Brussels, and was called to the Bar in England before going on to lecture in law at various universities in...
and Sonia Onufer Corrêa were the co-chairpersons.
Reasoning
The compilers explain that the Principles detail how international human rights lawInternational human rights law
International human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic levels...
can be applied to sexual orientation and gender identity issues, in a way that affirms international law and to which all states can be bound. They maintain that wherever people are recognised as being born free and equal in dignity and rights, this should include LGBT people. They argue that human rights standards can be interpreted in terms of sexual orientation and gender identity when they touch on issues of torture and violence, extrajudicial execution, access to justice, privacy, freedom from discrimination, freedom of expression and assembly, access to employment, health-care, education, and immigration and refugee issues. The Principles aim to explain that States are obliged to ensure equal access to human rights, and each principle recommends how to achieve this, highlighting international agencies' responsibilities to promote and maintain human rights.
The Principles are based on the recognition of the right to non-discrimination. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets three times a year to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights...
(CESCR) has dealt with these matters in its General Comments, the interpretative texts it issues to explicate the full meaning of the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from January 3, 1976...
. In General Comments Nos. 18 of 2005 (on the right to work), 15 of 2002 (on the right to water) and 14 of 2000 (on the right to the highest attainable standard of health), it indicated that the Covenant proscribes any discrimination on the basis of, inter alia, sex and sexual orientation "that has the intention or effect of nullifying or impairing the equal enjoyment or exercise of [the right at issue]".
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), notwithstanding that it has not addressed the matter in a General Comment or otherwise specified the applicable provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women is an international convention adopted in 1979 by the United Nations General Assembly....
, on a number of occasions has criticised states, for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. For example, it also addressed the situation in Kyrgyzstan and recommended that, ‘lesbianism be reconceptualised as a sexual orientation and that penalties for its practice be abolished’.
Launch and response
The finalised Yogyakarta Principles was launched as a global charterCharter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
for gay rights on 26 March 2007 at the United Nations Human Rights Council
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. Michael O’Flaherty, spoke at the International Lesbian and Gay Association
International Lesbian and Gay Association
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association is an international organization bringing together more than 750 LGBTI groups from around the world. It continues to be active in campaigning for LGBT rights on the international human rights and civil rights scene and...
(ILGA) Conference in Lithuania on 27 October 2007; he explained that "all human rights belong to all of us. We have human rights because we exist – not because we are gay or straight and irrespective of our gender identities", but that in many situations these human rights are not respected or realised, and that "the Yogyakarta Principles is to redress that situation".
The Yogyakarta Principles were presented at a United Nations event in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on 7 November 2007, co-sponsored by Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
explain that the first step towards this would be the de-criminalisation of homosexuality in 77 countries that still carry legal penalties for people in same-sex relationships, and repeal of the death penalty in the seven countries that still have the death penalty for such sexual practice.
Human-rights and LGBT-rights groups took up the principles, and discussion has featured in the gay press, as well as academic papers and text books (see bibliography).
These principles, while explaining the way existing human rights statutes need to be applied in specific situations relevant to LGBT people's experience, influenced the proposed UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity
UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity
Since its founding in 1945, the United Nations has not touched on the issue of sexual orientation or gender identity until December of 2008, when a Dutch/French-initiated, European Union-backed statement was presented to the United Nations General Assembly. The statement, originally intended to be...
in 2008.
Controversy
On July 2010, Vernor Muñoz, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, presented to the United Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
an interim report on the human right to comprehensive sexual education, in which he cited the Yogyakarta Principles as a Human Rights standard. In the ensuing discussion, the majority of General Assembly Third Committee members recommended against adopting the principles. For instance, the Representative of Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
, speaking on behalf of all African States argued that the report:
Reflected an attempt to introduce controversial notions and a disregard to the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate-holders as outlined in Human Rights Council resolution 8/4. She expressed alarm at the reinterpretation of existing human rights instruments, principles and concepts. The report also selectively quoted general comments and country-specific recommendations made by treaty bodies and propagated controversial and unrecognized principles, including the so-called Yogyakarta Principles, to justify his personal opinion.
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, on behalf of the Caribbean States members of CARICOM, argued that the special rapporteur "had chosen to ignore his mandate, as laid down in Human Rights Council resolution 8/4, and to focus instead on the so-called 'human right to comprehensive education.' Such a right did not exist under any internationally agreed human rights instrument or law and his attempts to create one far exceeded his mandate and that of the Human Rights Council." The representative of Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
, speaking on behalf of the Group of Arab States, said that the Arab States were "dismayed" and accused the rapporteur of attempting to promote "controversial doctrines that did not enjoy universal recognition" and to "redefine established concepts of sexual and reproductive health education, or of human rights more broadly". The Russian Federation expressed "its disappointment and fundamental disagreement with the report," writing of the rapporteur:
As justification for his conclusions, he cited numerous documents which had not been agreed to at the intergovernmental level, and which therefore could not be considered as authoritative expressions of the opinion of the international community. In particular, he referred to the Yogyarkarta Principles and also to the International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education. Implementation of various provisions and recommendations of the latter document would result in criminal prosecution for such criminal offences as corrupting youth.
Meanwhile, the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
states in "Human Rights and Gender Identity" that Principle 3 of the Yogyakarta Principles is "of particular relevance": Because same sex marriage is possible only in five member states of the Council of Europe, transgender persons who are already married usually have to divorce prior to their new gender being officially recognised, although in many cases they would prefer to remain a legally recognised family unit, especially if they have children. Such enforced divorces may have a negative impact on the children of the marriage.(3.2.2) They recommend that member states "abolish sterilisation and other compulsory medical treatment as a necessary legal requirement to recognise a person's gender identity in laws regulating the process for name and sex change." (V.4) as well as to "make gender reassignment procedures, such as hormone treatment, surgery and psychological support, accessible for transgender persons, and ensure that they are reimbursed by public health insurance schemes." (V.5) Similarly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
adopted a document titled "Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity" on 23 March 2010, in which the parliamentarians argued that the prejudice that "homosexuality is immoral" is a "subjective view usually based on religious dogma that, in a democratic society, cannot be a basis for limiting the rights of others." They also argued that the belief that "homosexuality is worsening the demographic crisis and threatening the future of the nation" is "illogical," and that "granting legal recognition to same-sex couples has no influence on whether heterosexuals marry or have children."
Piero A. Tozzi, of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute
Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute
The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute is "a non-partisan, non-profit research institute dedicated to reestablishing a proper understanding of international law, protecting national sovereignty and the dignity of the human person." Its leaders have participated in every major UN social...
, issued a briefing paper ‘Six Problems with the Yogyakarta Principles’. He argues that where Principle 24 seeks to recognize the diversity of family forms, this could devalue the concept of the family by including any grouping of two (or more) people. He also argues that Principles 20 and 21 could be used to restrict freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
.
Overview
The Principles themselves are a lengthy document addressing legal matters. A website established to hold the principles and make them accessible has an overview of the principles, reproduced here in full:- Preamble: The Preamble acknowledges human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, which undermine the integrityIntegrityIntegrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions...
and dignityDignityDignity is a term used in moral, ethical, and political discussions to signify that a being has an innate right to respect and ethical treatment. It is an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable rights...
establishes the relevant legal framework, and provides definitions of key terms. - Rights to Universal Enjoyment of Human Rights, Non-Discrimination and Recognition before the Law: Principles 1 to 3 set out the principles of the universality of human rights and their application to all persons without discriminationDiscriminationDiscrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
, as well as the right of all people to recognition as a personPersonA person is a human being, or an entity that has certain capacities or attributes strongly associated with being human , for example in a particular moral or legal context...
before the law without sex reassignment surgerySex reassignment surgerySex reassignment surgery is a term for the surgical procedures by which a person's physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are altered to resemble...
or sterilisation.- Example:
- Laws criminalising homosexuality violate the international right to non-discrimination (decision of the UN Human Rights Committee).
- Example:
- Rights to Human and Personal Security: Principles 4 to 11 address fundamental rights to life, freedom from violence and tortureTortureTorture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, privacyPrivacyPrivacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively...
, access to justice and freedom from arbitrary detentionDetention (imprisonment)Detention is the process when a state, government or citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom of liberty at that time. This can be due to criminal charges being raised against the individual as part of a prosecution or to protect a person or property...
, and human traffickingHuman traffickingHuman trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
.- Examples:
- The death penalty continues to be applied for consensual adult sexual activity between persons of the same sex, despite UN resolutions emphasizing that the death penalty may not be imposed for “sexual relations between consenting adults.”
- Eleven men were arrested in a gay bar and held in custody for over a year. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that the men were detained in violation of international law, noting with concern that “one of the prisoners died as a result of his arbitrary detention”.
- Examples:
- Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Principles 12 to 18 set out the importance of non-discrimination in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, including employmentDecent workDecent work is the availability of employment in conditions of freedom, equity, human security and dignity.According to the International Labour Organization ILO, Decent Work involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social...
, accommodationRight to housingThe right to housing is the economic, social and cultural right to adequate housing and shelter. It is recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.- Definition :...
, social securitySocial securitySocial security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
, educationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, sexual and reproductive healthReproductive healthWithin the framework of the World Health Organization's definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductive health, or sexual health/hygiene, addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system...
including the right for informed consentInformed consentInformed consent is a phrase often used in law to indicate that the consent a person gives meets certain minimum standards. As a literal matter, in the absence of fraud, it is redundant. An informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the...
and sex reassignment therapySex reassignment therapySex reassignment therapy is an umbrella term for all medical procedures regarding sex reassignment of both transgender and intersexual people...
.- Examples:
- Lesbian and transgender women are at increased risk of discrimination, homelessnessHomelessnessHomelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
and violence (report of United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing). - Girls who display same-sex affection face discrimination and expulsion from educational institutions (report of UN Special Rapporteur on the right to educationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
). - The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern about laws which “prohibit gender reassignment surgery for transsexuals or require intersexIntersexIntersex, in humans and other animals, is the presence of intermediate or atypical combinations of physical features that usually distinguish female from male...
persons to undergo such surgery against their will”.
- Lesbian and transgender women are at increased risk of discrimination, homelessness
- Examples:
- Rights to Expression, Opinion and Association: Principles 19 to 21 emphasise the importance of the freedom to express oneself, one’s identity and one’s sexualitySexual orientationSexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
, without State interference based on sexual orientation or gender identity, including the rights to participate peaceably in public assemblies and events and otherwise associate in community with others.- Example:
- A peaceful gathering to promote equality on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity was banned by authorities, and participants were harassed and intimidated by police and extremist nationalists shouting slogans such as “Let’s get the fags” and “We’ll do to you what Hitler did with Jews” (report of the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, racial discrimination, xenophobiaXenophobiaXenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
& related intoleranceTolerationToleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
).
- A peaceful gathering to promote equality on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity was banned by authorities, and participants were harassed and intimidated by police and extremist nationalists shouting slogans such as “Let’s get the fags” and “We’ll do to you what Hitler did with Jews” (report of the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism
- Example:
- Freedom of Movement and Asylum: Principles 22 and 23 highlight the rights of persons to seek asylumRight of asylumRight of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
from persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity.- Example:
- Refugee protection should be accorded to persons facing a well-founded fear of persecution based on sexual orientation (Guidelines of the United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesUnited Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesThe Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
).
- Refugee protection should be accorded to persons facing a well-founded fear of persecution based on sexual orientation (Guidelines of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- Example:
- Rights of Participation in Cultural and Family Life: Principles 24 to 26 address the rights of persons to participate in family life, public affairs and the cultural life of their community, without discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Example:
- States have an obligation not to discriminate between different-sex and same-sex relationships in allocating partnership benefits such as survivors’ pensions (decision of the UN Human Rights Committee).
- Example:
- Rights of Human Rights Defenders: Principle 27 recognises the right to defend and promote human rights without discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and the obligation of States to ensure the protection of human rights defenders working in these areas.
- Examples:
- Human rights defenders working on sexual orientation and gender identity issues in countries and regions around the world “have been threatened, had their houses and offices raided, they have been attacked, tortured, sexually abused, tormented by regular death threats and even killed. A major concern in this regard is an almost complete lack of seriousness with which such cases are treated by the concerned authorities.” (report of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Human Rights DefendersHuman Rights DefendersHuman rights defender is a term used to describe people who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights. Human rights defenders are those men and women who act peacefully for the promotion and protection of those rights....
).
- Human rights defenders working on sexual orientation and gender identity issues in countries and regions around the world “have been threatened, had their houses and offices raided, they have been attacked, tortured, sexually abused, tormented by regular death threats and even killed. A major concern in this regard is an almost complete lack of seriousness with which such cases are treated by the concerned authorities.” (report of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders
- Examples:
- Rights of Redress and Accountability: Principles 28 and 29 affirm the importance of holding rights violators accountable, and ensuring appropriate redress for those who face rights violations.
- Example:
- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern about "impunity for crimes of violence against LGBT persons” and “the responsibility of the State to extend effective protection. The High Commissioner notes that "excluding LGBT individuals from these protections clearly violates international human rights law as well as the common standards of humanity that define us all."
- Example:
- Additional Recommendations: The Principles set out 16 additional recommendations to national human rights institutions, professional bodies, funders, NGOs, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN agencies, treaty bodies, Special Procedures, and others.
- Example:
- The Principles conclude by recognising the responsibility of a range of actors to promote and protect human rights and to integrate these standards into their work. A joint statement delivered at the United Nations Human Rights CouncilUnited Nations Human Rights CouncilThe United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
by 54 States from four of the five UN regions on 1 December 2006, for example, urges the Human Rights Council to “pay due attention to human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity” and commends the work of civil society in this area, and calls upon “all Special Procedures and treaty bodies to continue to integrate consideration of human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity within their relevant mandates.” As this statement recognises, and the Yogyakarta Principles affirm, effective human rights protection truly is the responsibility of all.
- The Principles conclude by recognising the responsibility of a range of actors to promote and protect human rights and to integrate these standards into their work. A joint statement delivered at the United Nations Human Rights Council
- Example:
See also
- International human rights lawInternational human rights lawInternational human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic levels...
- Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity at the United Nations
- Declaration of MontrealDeclaration of MontrealThe Declaration of Montreal on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Human Rights is a document adopted in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on July 29, 2006, by the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights which formed part of the first World Outgames. The Declaration outlines a number of rights...
- Brazilian ResolutionBrazilian ResolutionThe Brazilian resolution was presented to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2003.The resolution covered human rights and sexual orientation...
- World Association for Sexual Health
- LGBT topics in medicine
- LGBT people in prisonLGBT people in prisonLesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in prisons often face additional challenges as inmates to those of straight, cisgender inmates....
- Prison rapePrison rapePrison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff.In 2001, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 140,000 inmates had been raped while incarcerated. and there is a significant variation in the rates of prison rape by race... - Gender roleGender roleGender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time...
- Reproductive rightsReproductive rightsReproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:...
- Social exclusionSocial exclusionSocial exclusion is a concept used in many parts of the world to characterise contemporary forms of social disadvantage. Dr. Lynn Todman, director of the Institute on Social Exclusion at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, suggests that social exclusion refers to processes in which...
- social vulnerabilitySocial vulnerabilityIn its broadest sense, social vulnerability is one dimension of vulnerability to multiple stressors and shocks, including abuse, social exclusion and natural hazards. Social vulnerability refers to the inability of people, organizations, and societies to withstand adverse impacts from multiple... - Minority rightsMinority rightsThe term Minority Rights embodies two separate concepts: first, normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or sexual minorities, and second, collective rights accorded to minority groups...
- Norway Statement to UN Human Rights Commission
- Yogyakarta Principles in ActionYogyakarta Principles in ActionYogyakarta Principles in Action is a movement for activists and human rights defenders to promote human rights, especially those of LGBTI around the Yogyakarta Principles, supported by ARC International, Hivos and Dreilinden Gesellschaft für gemeinnütziges Privatkapitel, Germany.They published the...
- LGBT rights by country or territory
- LGBT stereotypesLGBT stereotypesStereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are conventional, formulaic generalizations, opinions, or images about persons based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Stereotypes and homophobia are a learned outlook, i.e...
- Violence against LGBT people