March
27, 2020
In the wake of
Luis Almagro’s controversial re-election as OAS Secretary General, Caribbean
civil society groups are seeking to hold him accountable to the human rights
mandate of the office. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Transsexual, Travesti
and Intersex (LGBTTTI) Coalition of Latin America and the Caribbean working
within the framework of the OAS urges him to reaffirm his commitment to the
human rights of all people without discrimination, based on sexual orientation,
gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics, as well as the
human rights of sex workers.
Proliferation of discourses against
human rights
In the context
of the election, the Secretary General portrayed positions that may be
considered contrary to the right to non-discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, and in general, against sexual and reproductive
rights. For several years we have denounced the growing discourse that attacks
LGBTI people in the OAS spaces, including the General Assembly. According to
various experts from the United Nations and the OAS, there is a link between
the spread of speech promote intolerance and dehumanize LGBTI people and the
increase in hate crimes against them. These messages usually also include a
narrative that ignores the legitimacy of the organs of the Inter-American Human
Rights System to monitor the States’ compliance with the obligation to
guarantee the rights to equality and non-discrimination. Many of these messages
use precepts such as “gender ideology” - an empty term void of real content,
which has been criticized by experts and international human rights
organizations because it seeks to attack any progress in favour of equality and
all human rights for all people.
Human rights violations in the Caribbean
Despite gains
through the courts in countries like Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana
and legislatures in the Bahamas, Barbados and St. Lucia, serious threats
persist to the full exercise of the human rights of LGBTI people and there are high
levels of violence, discrimination and criminalization. Recently, unpunished
incidents of anti-LGBTI violence have been reported in Jamaica and St. Vincent,
while the murder of a prominent LGBTI human rights defender in Haiti and
violent attacks against gay and trans activists in Guyana have been recorded.
Regarding
autonomous sex work, despite not being explicitly prohibited in most countries,
there are norms and laws that penalize activities related to sex work. This,
coupled with the absence of clear regulations that recognize sex work as work,
creates conditions that promote institutional violence - including sexual and
physical violence, extortion and illegal detention - and reinforce obstacles
that prevent sex workers from accessing basic health services and justice.
The OAS
Secretary General must reaffirm his commitment to human rights
The OAS needs
leadership that defends the human rights to non-discrimination and a life free from
violence, and one that upholds the recognition of the rights of LGBTI people,
sex workers, sexual and reproductive rights. In his 2015 inauguration speech as Secretary General, Luis Almagro stated
that “inequality and the generation of opportunities for all citizens,
regardless of their race, gender, place of birth, social status, or sexual
orientation continues to be a concern present in all of our countries from
Canada to Patagonia.”
The LGBTTTI
Coalition notes that during the first years of the Secretary General’s mandate,
he issued statements in favor of the full observance of human rights for all
people. For example, on May 17, 2019, the International Day against Homophobia,
Biphobia and Transphobia, the Secretary General stated on Twitter: “no one can
be discriminated against or must be denied access to their rights based on their
sexual orientation or gender identity. Our societies have no room for
inequality. Everyone has the right to be who they are, love who they want and
express themselves freely.” The Secretary General has also affirmed: ““We want
every country to resolve this discrimination that LGBTIQ people suffer. We want
every country to investigate and to resolve any matter of LGBTI peoples and
communities … We want every country to provide solutions for how the basic
principles of human rights can be made operative in order to resolve these
issues.” (Washington Blade, April 24, 2019).
Given the aforementioned, our Coalition
urges Luis Almagro, to commit during his second term as Secretary
General, to:
1. Meet
regularly with our Coalition and renew the commitment to the human rights of
all people without discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual
orientation, gender identity and gender expression, the human rights of sex
workers, sexual rights and reproductive rights.
2. Continue
issuing statements on commemorative days, including the International Day
against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, Women’s International Day (and in
said communiqué make reference to sexual and reproductive rights), and others,
including the Trans Remembrance Day, the International Day for the Elimination
of Violence against Women and Girls, and World AIDS Day. Further, to issue a
statement on the International Day of Sex Workers, urging the States to review
regulations and laws that criminalize activities related to sex work, and calling
on States to prevent and punish institutional violence and to eliminate the
obstacles sex workers face when attempting to access the justice system and
health services.
3. Make a
categorical statement affirming that religious freedom cannot be used to deny,
suppress or limit the human rights of LGBTI people, sexual and reproductive
rights, and that any exercise of religious freedom cannot negate the principles
of equality and non-discrimination.
4. Take all
effective measures to guarantee that organizations or groups are not allowed to
use OAS spaces to stigmatize IACHR commissioners, LGBTI persons, sex workers,
sexual and reproductive rights defenders, or engage in public speech that
denies the existence and full recognition of human rights for all people.
5. Continue his
support to the OAS Secretariat of Social Inclusion, the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Commission of Women.
Further, to defend these organs from undue interference by some OAS States that
seek to impose their agendas contrary to the human rights of LGBTI people, sex
workers and sexual and reproductive rights.
The following
organizations sign as part of the LGBTTTI Coalition of organizations in Latin
America and the Caribbean that work within the framework of the OAS:
1.
Argentina - AKAHATÁ Equipo de Trabajo en Sexualidades
y Género
2.
Argentina
- ATTTA (RedLACTrans)
3.
Belize
- TIA Belize (RedLACTrans)
4.
Belize
- United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM)
5.
Bolivia - Red Nacional de Mujeres Trans en Bolivia
(REDTREBOL) (RedLACTrans)
6.
Bolivia - Fundación Diversencia
7.
Brasil - Articulação Política das Juventudes Negras
8.
Brasil - Grupo Ativista de Travestis, Transexuais e
Amig@s (GATTA)
9.
Brasil - Grupo Esperança
10. Brasil - Liga
Brasileira de Lesbicas (LBL)
11. Brasil - Rede
Nacional de Negr@s e Afros LGBTTT (Rede-afros-lgbts)
12. Canadá - *The
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network – Canada (*Miembro Asociado)
13. Chile - Asociación
OTD Organizando Trans Diversidades
14. Chile - Sindicato
Amanda Jofré (RedLACTrans)
15. Colombia -
Asociación Lideres en Acción
16. Colombia – Caribe
Afirmativo
17. Colombia - Colombia
Diversa
18. Colombia - Fundación
Santamaría
19. Colombia - Red
Comunitaria Trans (RedLACTrans)
20. Costa Rica - Mulabi - Espacio
Latinoamericano de Sexualidades y Derechos
21.
Costa
Rica - TRANSVIDA (RedLACTrans)
22. Costa Rica -
ASOCIACIÓN CIUDADANA ACCEDER
23.
Dominica
- Dominica Chapter of the Caribbean HIV and AIDS partnership (ChapDominica)
24. Ecuador - Asociación
Alfil (RedLACTrans)
25. Ecuador - Taller de
Comunicación Mujer
26. El Salvador -
Asociación Aspidh Arcoiris (RedLACTrans)
27.
Grenada
- Grenada Chapter of the Caribbean HIV and AIDS Partnership (GrenCHAP)
28. Guatemala -
Organización Trans Reinas de la Noche (OTRANS) (RedLACTrans)
29.
Guyana
- Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)
30. Honduras –
Asociación para una Vida Mejor (APUVIMEH)
31. Honduras - Colectivo
Unidad Color Rosa (RedLACTrans)
32.
Jamaica
– Equality for All Foundation, J-FLAG
33. México - Letra S
SIDA, Cultura y Vida Cotidiana
34. México - Red
Mexicana de Mujeres Trans (RedLACTrans)
35. México - Fundación
Arcoíris por el Respeto a la Diversidad Sexual A.C.
36. México - LAS REINAS
CHULAS, CABARET Y DERECHOS HUMANOS A.C
37. Nicaragua - Red
Nicaragüense de Activistas Trans (REDTRANS)
38. Nicaragua - ODETRANS
(RedLACTrans)
39. Panamá - Asociación
Panameña de Personas Trans (RedLACTrans)
40. Panamá – Fundación Iguales
41. Paraguay - Aireana
Grupo por los Derechos de las Lesbianas
42. Paraguay - Asociación
Panambi (RedLACTrans)
43. Paraguay -
Asociación Escalando
44. Perú - Centro de
Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos (PROMSEX)
45. Perú - Instituto
Runa de Desarrollo y Estudios sobre Género
46.
Perú – Trans Organización Feminista por los Derechos Humanos (RedLACTrans)
47.
Regional
- Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities
(CARIFLAGS)
48. Regional - Red
Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Personas Trans (REDLACTRANS)
49. Red de Trabajadoras
Sexuales de Latinoamérica y el Caribe (RedTraSex)
50. Regional - Synergía
– Initiatives for Human Rights
51. República Dominicana
- Comunidad
de Trans Travesti y Trabajadoras Sexuales Dominicana COTRAVETD (RedLACTrans)
52.
República Dominicana – Diversidad Dominicana
53.
St.
Lucia - United & Strong Inc.
54.
Sub-Regional
- Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE)
55.
Suriname
- Women's Way
56.
The
Bahamas - The D’ Marco Organization (RedLACTrans)
57.
Trinidad
and Tobago – CAISO: Sex & Gender Justice
58. Uruguay - Asociación
Trans del Uruguay (ATRU)
59. Uruguay - Colectivo
Ovejas Negras
60. Venezuela -
Venezuela Diversa Asociación Civil
61. Venezuela - Diversidad e Igualdad a Través de la
Ley (DIVERLEX)
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