UN Human Rights Committee calls Azerbaijan to combat harassment of LGBT by state employees

I posted about this earlier. Now ILGA-Europe provides details on developments. Not that I think this will have any practical impact on Azeri government, but good to know that LGBT discrimination in Azerbaijan was discussed and noted in the UN.

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August 09 EUROLETTER - ILGA-Europe

UN Human Rights Committee makes recommendation to Government of Azerbaijan to combat harassment of LGBT by state employees

by Beth Fernandez, ILGA-Europe’s Programmes Officer

From 20 to 21 July the UN Human Rights Committee considered the third periodic state report of Azerbaijan on meeting its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

ILGA-Europe together with Global Rights (www.globalrights.org) and Azeri LGBT organization, Gender and Development (www.lgbt.az) submitted a shadow report in respect of LGBT which can be found at www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/ngos/LGBT_Azerbaijan96.pdf . The joint report contained numerous cases of blackmail and harassment by the police of men having sex with men (MSM) and transgender sex workers in particular.

Once a State has signed the ICCPR, governments are required to provide a report on actions that it has taken, or plans to take, to implement and safeguard the rights contained in the treaty. The practice of shadow reporting provides an alternative source of information concerning state compliance. At the beginning of August the Human Rights Committee released its recommendations after consideration of the State report, shadow reports and other sources of information. With regard to Article 26 (Non Discrimination) the Human Rights Committee expressed its concern ‘at reports that individuals have been harassed by police and prison officials because of their sexual orientation’. It made the recommendation that ‘The State party should take measures in this respect by providing training activities to its law enforcement and penitentiary authorities and by elaborating a relevant Code of Conduct’.

This recommendation is an important recognition of the need for governmental action to tackle a serious human rights violation which Gender and Development have been documenting over the three years of their existence. It therefore constitutes an important advocacy tool which can be used by Gender and Development in persuading the Azeri Government of the need for tolerance programmes in state structures.

Report on violations of LGBT rights in Azerbaijan presented at UN Human Rights Committee

Via Friends of Azerbaijan, Gender and Development local LGBT NGO, in partnership with Global Rights and ILGA-Europe, presented a report on The Violations of the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people in Azerbaijan at the 96th session of the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva. It's not clear what was the outcome of that meeting, or whether any practical actions will follow, but the precedent was set as LGBT rights were specifically discussed as part of the overall state of human rights in Azerbaijan at the highest international level. However, when it comes to human rights, UN mechanisms are slow and frequently inefficient.

Earlier Reuters reported that the decision is to be expected on 31 July.

The committee session was held as a top-level delegation from the European Union, with which Azerbaijan is seeking to boost economic relations especially in the energy sector, was expressing alarm in Baku about rights.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who headed the EU team, told reporters there on Monday that he had expressed concern to President Ilham Aliyev over the arrest of two opposition bloggers who were accused of hooliganism.

At the same time, ambassadors of the 27 EU member states voiced disquiet "about the condition of human rights and freedoms" in the country where Aliyev and his late father have held power almost uninterrupted for nearly three decades.

But at a Geneva news conference, NGOs said they feared the EU was unlikely to go beyond words in its criticism of Azerbaijan, a key supplier of oil and gas from Caspian Sea fields offering an alternative to energy from Russia.

"In our experience, the countries most likely to take a strong stance are the United States and (non-EU member) Norway -- they have their own oil," said Florian Irminger of the Geneva-based Human Rights House Foundation.

Azerbaijan and ILGA-Europe: first step to conducting strategic advocacy for LGBT rights

by Beth Fernandez, ILGA-Europe’s Programmes Officer

*via ILGA-Europe June 2009 newsletter

As part of the PRECIS project (Prevention and Empowerment in the CIS), ILGA-Europe organised a two and a half day advocacy planning session in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 2 to 4 June 2009 with our Azeri partner, Gender and Development. The session was attended by 7 staff members and volunteers of Gender and Development and its women’s initiative group Mehriban, plus 2 staff members from Za Ravnie Prava (For Equal Rights) from Kherson in Southern Ukraine.

The aim of such sessions is to build the capacity of our partner organizations to advocate effectively and strategically on LGBT issues on a national and international level so that they maximize the potential of their staff and existing resources.

The session provides the participants with a framework and tools to produce a basic advocacy plan with two or three advocacy objectives which they can use to structure the advocacy work of their organisation. During this session, participants selected the passing of national legislation protecting the rights of LGBT people and the promotion of tolerant attitudes in state structures and society at large as their two advocacy objectives.

The session covers the concepts of advocacy and advocacy planning, identification and prioritisation of problems to be solved by advocacy, analysis of those problems, formulation of advocacy objectives and specific objectives, identification of key audiences, allies and opponents and selection of suitable tactics to use in each case. Time is also allowed for discussion of activities, resources and realistic timeframe.

The training received a positive evaluation by participants and we are looking forward to supporting Gender and Development, Mehriban, and Za Ravnie Prava in their future advocacy work.

Gender and Development is the only LGBT organisation registered in Azerbaijan and has been working for three years. They run a community centre which now attracts 300 regular visitors and conduct outreach on HIV/ AIDS prevention and monitoring within Baku. They assist LGBT people on specific cases where their human rights have been violated, offer psychological counseling and social activities. They are currently producing a film with ILGA-Europe’s financial support documenting discrimination in Azerbaijan and in the future they intend to conduct strategic advocacy with national and international institutions and expand their outreach activities to other cities in Azerbaijan.

This training was one of a series of advocacy planning sessions held within the PRECIS project. Trainings were held with Inclusive Foundation (Georgia), LiGA (Ukraine) and Labrys (Kyrgyzstan) in 2008 and we will organise similar sessions with We For Civil Equality (Armenia) in December 2009 and in March 2010 with Amulet (Kazakhstan).

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia marked in Baku

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia was marked by the only LGBT NGO in Azerbaijan - “Gender & Development”, at their local office in Baku. The event was attended by more than 50 representatives of other human rights related NGOs, in particular, by members of «Clean World» NGO and youth group «Dalga». LGBT activists distributed badges calling for the fight against homophobia and the spread of AIDS.

*photos - via LGBT.az

First LGBT Azerbaijani web site launched

http://www.lgbt.az/

The first website for local LGBT community was launched by the only LGBT-related NGO in Azerbaijan - “Gender & Development”. This NGO was founded on 15 March 2007 with the support of the Netherlands government and the Dutch gay group COC.

The aim of this web site is to provide local LGBT community with the LGBT-related news, educational materials, fight homophobia in Azeri society including media, and serve as a forum for LGBT Azerbaijani people.

Among upcoming plans of the “Gender & Development” NGO is to publish LGBT magazine.

Web site will be available in three languages - Azeri, Russian, and English.

Very welcome and long-awaited addition to LGBT-related resources in the South Caucasus. Will keep an eye on it.

Thanks to Tert.am (and 1st News Azerbaijan) for disseminating this info. Btw, Tert.am is one of my favourite Armenian web sites. Highly recommend it.