Statement by Global Rights (international human rights law group)

Honourable chair, honourable commissioners,

We express our deepest disappointment, dissatisfaction and concern for the decision of the commission to deny observer status to the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL).

By denying observer status, the commission has betrayed two of its major functions, established by article 45 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, that is to say its mandate to protect and promote human rights.

Article 45(1)(a) states that the commission shall promote human and peoples' rights by, inter alia, collecting documents, organising studies and research, disseminating information, and encouraging national and local institutions concerned with human and peoples' rights. Furthermore, the resolution on the criteria for granting and enjoying observer status to non-governmental organisations working in the field of human rights with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, approved in Bujumbura in 1999, founds its rationale on the opportunity of cooperation, consultation and exchange of information, as also established by the Rules of Procedure of the commission. The commission, by denying the Coalition of African Lesbians the possibility to participate in this forum and directly interact with this institution, has created the conditions to impede that information related to human rights violations that undermine the life, the integrity and the inherent dignity of African women because of their real or perceived sexual orientation and/or gender identity will be conveyed to this forum.

The lack of information with regard to human rights violations against African women on the grounds of their real or perceived sexual orientation and/or gender identity and the denial of access to this space for the Coalition of African Lesbians will, as a consequence, seriously undermine the capacity of this institution to ensure protection as mandated by article 45(2).

By stating that CAL does not promote or protect any right established by the charter, the commission is actually arguing that the rights enshrined by the charter, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from torture and other inhuman and degrading treatments, cease when they are committed on human beings because of their alleged or real sexual orientation or gender identity. If this is what this decision on CAL observer status means, then the commission is arguing that there are individuals that do not have human rights, and thus is questioning the principle of universality of human rights.

By denying observer status to the Coalition of African Lesbians, the commissioners have betrayed their duty of impartiality established by articles 31 and 38 of the charter. Considering that there was no irregularity in the CAL application and no formal impediment for the commission to decide otherwise based on chapter I of the criteria for the granting and maintaining observer status; considering that the objectives and activities of the Coalition of African Lesbian are fully compatible with the principles and objectives of the charter; considering that the Coalition of African Lesbian works in the field of human rights, focusing on human rights violations against African women on the grounds of their perceived or real sexual orientation and/or gender identity; we can infer that the decision of this institution has nothing to do with formal issues or with an objective assessment of the contribution that the Coalition of African Lesbians might offer to this forum on the specific issue of human rights violations of women on the grounds of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. It is rather a decision based on personal, and therefore subjective and partial, values of the individual commissioners that goes beyond their mandate as established by the charter or, even worse, a political judgment based on what is considered controversial by the majority of the signatory parties.

The degree of maturity of a society with regard to the respect for the dignity in all of its components is measured by the way the society treats its minorities and those individuals that are most exposed to abuses and violations by the hand of the majority. The commission has decided to give up on its commitments and to embrace the majoritarian rule on an issue just because it is considered controversial. Today it is about women on the grounds of their sexual orientation; tomorrow may be about a religious or ethnic minority, or any other controversial group or issue. The decision of the commission creates a serious vulnus that undermines the credibility of this institution in the continent and before the international community and will not be reparable if it does not reconsider the issue.

I thank you madam chair.

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