UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay: We Cannot Let Abuses Against LGBT People Stand — VIDEO

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, who in December directed world governments today to end abuse based on sexual orientation and curtail criminalization of homosexuality, talks about the human cost of homophobia and transphobia in a powerful new video released this week.

Says Pillay:

All over the world, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of all ages face harassment and discrimination — at work, at home, at school and in many other everyday situations.

In many countries, national laws are skewed against them. In some 76 States, having a partner of the same sex is a criminal offense. People are being arrested, singled out for physical attack, being tortured, even killed – just for being in a loving relationship.

When I raise these issues, some complain that I’m pushing for “new rights” or “special rights” for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. But there is nothing new or special about the right to life and security of person, the right to freedom from discrimination. These and other rights are universal … enshrined in international law but denied to many of our fellow human beings simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

We cannot let these abuses stand. We know what needs to be done. States must repeal discriminatory laws and ban discriminatory practices: punish violence and hatred … not love.

And we should all challenge homophobic attitudes. The best antidote is education – for children and adults alike. Reach out. Talk. Learn. And help make our world safer and better for everyone.

This is an historic moment: more and more States recognize the need for action and are speaking up – including here at the United Nations. With your help and the support of millions of people who believe in universal human rights, we will secure equal rights for every last one of us.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

UN Official Urges Chile to Adopt Tougher Laws Protecting LGBT People After Brutal Murder of Daniel Zamudio

The UN is calling on Chile to strengthen protections against LGBT People following the death earlier this week of Daniel Zamudio, who had been in a coma since being beaten, slashed, burned and branded with a Swastika by a gang of neo-Nazis.

The AP reports:

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, says the “particularly abhorrent murder” of 24-year-old Daniel Zamudio, who died Tuesday night, 25 days after he was attacked, demands news laws against discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Colville told reporters in Geneva on Friday that Chilean lawmakers also should enact hate crime legislation allowing violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity to be added as “an aggravating factor” in prosecutions.

Earlier this week, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said the government wouldn't rest until such laws are passed.

UN Secretary General's Speech on LGBT Human Rights Gets an Inspiring Remix: VIDEO

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's March 7 speech to the UN about the human rights of LGBT rights around the world has been given an inspiring remix by activist group AllOut.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

UN Torture Investigator Says U.S. Military Treatment of Wikileaks Soldier Bradley Manning was 'Cruel and Inhumane'

A UN investigation into the treatment of Wikileaks soldier Bradley Manning in Camp Arifjan in Kuwait and in Quantico in Virginia, where he was held in solitary confinement and made to strip naked at night, has been described as  not 'definitive' because the UN rapporteur "has consistently been denied permission by the US military to interview the prisoner under acceptable circumstances."

As you may recall, in March 2011, Obama said of Manning's situation:

"I have asked the Pentagon whether or not the the procedures that have been taken in terms of his condition are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards. They assure me that they are."

The Guardian reports:

Juan Mendez has completed a 14-month investigation into the treatment of Manning since the soldier's arrest at a US military base in May 2010. He concludes that the US military was at least culpable of cruel and inhumane treatment in keeping Manning locked up alone for 23 hours a day over an 11-month period in conditions that he also found might have constituted torture.

"The special rapporteur concludes that imposing seriously punitive conditions of detention on someone who has not been found guilty of any crime is a violation of his right to physical and psychological integrity as well as of his presumption of innocence," Mendez writes.

The findings of cruel and inhuman treatment are published as an addendum to the special rapporteur's report to the UN general assembly on the promotion and protection of human rights. They are likely to reignite criticism of the US government's harsh treatment of Manning ahead of his court martial later this year.

Bradley Manning's treatment was cruel and inhuman, UN torture chief rules [guardian]

Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon Condemns Anti-LGBT Violence at Historic UN Hearing as Muslim, African Leaders Walk Out: VIDEO

Yesterday, at the start of the UN Human Rights Council’s historic hearing on LGBT equality, UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon denounced violence and discrimination against LGBT people:

Said the Secretary General:

"To those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, let me say, you are not alone. Your struggle for an end to violence and discrimination is a shared struggle. Any attack on you, is an attack on the universal values the United Nations and I have sworn to uphold. Today, I stand with you and I call upon all countries and people to stand with you too. A historic shift is underway. More states see the gravity of the problem…We must tackle the violence, decriminalize consensual same-sex relationships, end discrimination and educate the public."

Several leaders from Islamic and African nations from the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation walked out, Think Progress LGBT reports:

A diplomat from Pakistan described homosexuality as “licentious behavior promoted under the concept of ‘sexual orientation’ is against the fundamental teachings of various religions including Islam.” He added, “From this perspective, legitimizing homosexuality and other personal sexual behaviors in the name of sexual orientation is unacceptable to the OIC,” he added.

Representatives from Nigeria joined the walkout, “saying that violence against citizens based on their sexual orientation or gender identity simply didn’t occur in the state, while Mauritania, of another Arab group, all of whose members are also in the OIC, warned that any so-called attempt to impose ‘the controversial topic of sexual orientation’ would threaten to undermine progress on other human rights issues.”

Watch Ban-Ki Moon's address, AFTER THE JUMP...

Libyan UN Envoy: Gays Threaten the Human Race

Libyan deputy envoy Ibrahim Dabbashi has told the UN's Human Rights Council that gays threaten humanity, UN Watch reports:

Protesting the council’s first panel discussion on discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation, scheduled for March 7th, Libya’s representative told the gathering of ambassadors today that LGBT topics “affect religion and the continuation and reproduction of the human race.” He added that, were it not for their suspension, Libya would have opposed the council’s June 2011 resolution on the topic.

In response, council president Laura Dupuy Lasserre said that “the Human Rights Council is here to defend human rights and prevent discrimination.”

Said Hillel Neuer, executive director of human rights group UN Watch:“We were happy to see the Gaddafi regime finally suspended last year. Yet today’s shocking homophobic outburst by the new Libyan government, together with the routine abuse of prisoners, underscores the serious questions we have about whether the new regime is genuinely committed to improving on the dark record of its predecessor, or to pandering to some of the hardline Islamists amidst its ranks."

Neuer added, "The restoration of the new Libyan regime to the council, supported by 123 states including all of the Western democracies, was carried out precipitously and without any record of its commitment to human rights domestically and abroad. The new rulers’ pledges are being broken. Gays are now paying the price, with their right to be free from violent attacks now being undermined at the UN by a country that democratic countries fought to liberate, and by a goverment that our leaders helped install. It’s all very disconcerting.”