Petrelis Files

Gay & HIV Citations in 2007
Amnesty International Report

The human rights organization Amnesty International, which adopted gay political prisoners and LGBT issues only after gay activists mobilized a global campaign forcing the group to expand its vision to include sexual minorities, today issued its 2007 annual report of human rights practices around the world.

While not nearly as wide-ranging or comprehensive as the 2007 annual human rights survey from the US State Department, which contained hundreds of gay and HIV references, it is still necessary for gay advocates to applaud Amnesty for such inclusions in their yearly summaries. To be fair, one really can't compare the State Department and Amnesty reports because obviously the former, with far superior budgeting, simply has vastly more resources to monitor and report abuses. I mention the State Department report to provide some context to different annual reports and how they deal with gay and HIV matters.

At the same time, let me point out Amnesty does something crucial that the US government doesn't face up to, and, that is acknowledging and condemning America's perpetration of human rights abuses in the recent past. Oh, I long for the day when my country is a leader in global human rights affairs. Bravo to Amnesty leaders for raising their voices, again and again, demanding better protection of human rights treaties from US leaders.

From today's AP wire story:

Amnesty International's annual report on the state of the world's human rights accused the U.S. of failing to provide a moral compass for its international peers, a long-standing complaint the London-based group has against the North American superpower.

This year it also criticized the U.S. for supporting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last November when he imposed a state of emergency, clamped down on the media and sacked judges . . .

As in the past, the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay came in for criticism. Irene Khan, Amnesty's secretary-general, appealed for the American president elected in November to announce the jail's closure on Dec. 10, 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights.

The State Department had no immediate comment on the report, but said the U.S. was justified in detaining enemy combatants at Guantanamo to prevent them from returning to the battlefield. The State Department has previously said Amnesty uses the U.S. as "a convenient ideological punching bag."

Well, unfortunately, the past eight horrendous years under the Bush/Cheney administration have provided too many human rights violations and legal reasons allowing Amnesty to see our nation, in some aspects, as that punching bag. Close Guantanamo, as a start, and maybe Amnesty's view of us would change.

Here are all of the gay and HIV/AIDS citations I found in the new Amnesty report:

Region: Africa

Southern Africa continued to have the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world.

The space for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists was particularly restricted. In Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda, LGBT activists came under attack from various groups within society in reaction to efforts to defend and promote their human rights.

Region: Americas

Gender discrimination was often compounded by other forms of discrimination. If a woman is black, Indigenous, lesbian or poor, she will often face even greater barriers in getting justice.

Discriminatory laws criminalizing same-sex relationships remained in force in the Caribbean and Central America. However, in Nicaragua a new Penal Code removed provisions criminalizing gay and lesbian relationships.

HIV/AIDS continued to affect women more than men, with the highest incidence among women in the Caribbean (especially in Haiti and the Dominican Republic); Cuba remained the exception with low reported infection rates. Disproportionate rates of both HIV infection and maternal mortality among Indigenous Peoples across the region also reflected the impact of discrimination in access to health services.

Region: Asia Pacific

In Papua New Guinea, violence against women was seen as a key reason for the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which, in turn, fuelled further abuses against women.

Also in March, the Taiwanese legislature passed several amendments to the Domestic Violence Prevention Law to include cohabiting same-sex and unmarried couples.

Region: Europe and Central Asia

Authorities in Lithuania, Moldova, Poland and Russia continued to foster a climate of intolerance against lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities. Some highly placed politicians used openly homophobic language, for example, and public events were obstructed. In Latvia, however, unlike in two previous years, an LGBT march was permitted and adequately protected by the police against counter-demonstrators.

Region: Middle East and North Africa

No gay or HIV/AIDS citations.