GENEVA– A 5-member UN human rights committee announced that a Thai law professor is its choice to be the UN’s first monitor against anti-gay violence, yet an Egyptian diplomat on the panel is boycotting the mandate.
In a report circulated by the president of the UN human rights council (UNHRC), its Consultative Group—comprised of five diplomats who evaluate candidates for UNHRC expert positions—named Vitit Muntarbhorn, a Bangkok law professor who has held prior UN rights posts, as the world body's first expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
However, the UN report reveals that Amr Ramadan, Egypt’s ambassador to the UNHRC, refused to participate in the selection process. He detailed his reasons to the council president, in a letter obtained by UN Watch (click for text here, PDF original here).
According to the Egyptian representative, a mandate on protecting gays from violence and discrimination is “contrary to my convictions and the values I stand for,” “beyond universally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms,” and shows “utter disregard to the principle of universality of internationally agreed human rights.”
Ramadan reaffirmed that the OIC—the powerful Islamic bloc comprised of 56 UN member states and the Palestinian Authority—”shall boycott this mandate and shall not recognize its creation nor cooperate or interact with it in any form.”
Human rights activists decried the OIC’s boycott.
“The Islamic states’ boycott of a mandate to protect gays from being attacked or killed is morally indefensible,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights group.
“Moreover, for those states which are members of the Human Rights Council—like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE—their refusal to cooperate with the mandate is an express breach of their obligations.”
“If Egypt is officially boycotting a UN human rights expert, it should fully resign from the committee that selects them,” said Neuer.
UN Watch is a Geneva-based human rights organization founded in 1993 to monitor UN compliance with the principles of its Charter. It is accredited as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).
