Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, February 3

In a letter to Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa today, the Blue Diamond Society (BDS) urged the nation to vote for the Human Rights and Sexual Orientation resolution at the upcoming 60th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

"BDS believes it is essential for the commission to adopt a resolution affirming that human rights cannot be denied on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity," said the letter signed by the director of BDS, Sunil Babu Pant.

According to the letter, such a resolution is important not only to assist the UN in shedding light on violations that are often concealed in silence and stigma, but also to uphold the basic principle that all human rights must be enjoyed equally by all.

At the 59th session, Brazil had introduced the aforementioned resolution which affirmed the inadmissibility of discrimination as a fundamental principle and expressed deep concern at the occurence of violations of human rights against persons on the grounds of their sexual orientation. The consideration of that resolution was postponed by a narrow vote until the next time.

The resolution, if passed, will be of radical significance because it would go a long way in attenuating the extremely difficult situations that sexual minorities in the country are subjected to. Abuse is so rampant and stories of discrimination and harassment by law enforcement officials are so common that even the media fails to report it in many cases.

The letter also states that such abuse is persistent all over South Asia where countries still legally prohibit sexual relations between persons of the same sex. And people detained on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender equity are tortured and ill-treated in police custody.