[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 259 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 259

 Expressing the concern of Congress regarding human rights violations 
  against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals 
                           around the world.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 1, 2000

Mr. Lantos (for himself, Mr. Abercrombie, Ms. Balwin, Mr. Campbell, Mr. 
Condit, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Engel, Mr. Forbes, Mr. Frank of 
  Massachusetts, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Kolbe, Ms. Lee, Ms. Lofgren, Mrs. 
 Mink of Hawaii, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Pelosi, Ms. Schakowsky, 
 Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Weiner, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Kucinich, and 
 Mr. Pastor) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the concern of Congress regarding human rights violations 
  against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals 
                           around the world.

Whereas treaties, conventions, and declarations to which the United States are a 
        party address government obligations to combat human rights violations, 
        and the overall goals and standards of these treaties, conventions, and 
        declarations in promoting human rights of all individuals have been 
        found to be consistent with, and in support of, the aspirations of the 
        United States at home and globally, as well as consistent with the 
        Constitution of the United States;
Whereas articles 3 and 5 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 
        articles 6 and 7 of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and 
        Political Rights, and the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other 
        Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, guarantee all 
        individuals the right to life, liberty, and security of person, and 
        guarantee that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, 
        inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment;
Whereas the fundamental human right not to be arbitrarily deprived of life is 
        violated when those convicted of homosexual acts in Afghanistan are 
        sentenced to be executed and are crushed by having walls toppled over 
        them, and there remain a number of other countries around the world that 
        call for the possible execution of those convicted of homosexual acts, 
        including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Mauritania, and Iran;
Whereas the fundamental right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, 
        inhuman, or degrading treatment is violated when gay men, lesbians, 
        bisexuals and transgendered individuals are subjected to severe beatings 
        while in police custody in Turkey and Albania, and individuals in these 
        groups are also routinely the victims of human rights abuses, such as 
        extortion, entrapment, physical assaults, and rape, committed by the 
        police in Mexico, Argentina, and Russia, among other countries;
Whereas a number of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals 
        are targeted and tortured or killed by paramilitary groups in Colombia 
        and El Salvador, which operate in collusion with the military, police, 
        and other government officials;
Whereas articles 2 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 
        articles 2, 14, and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and 
        Political Rights guarantee all individuals freedom from arbitrary 
        discrimination and equal protection before the law;
Whereas in many countries arbitrary detention or cruel, inhuman, or degrading 
        treatment or conditions in detention directly result from the 
        application of penal laws criminalizing same sex behavior between 
        consenting adults, such as a 5-year sentence for private same sex 
        behavior between consenting adults in Romania, and some of those 
        individuals who have been convicted in Romania report torture, including 
        rape, in prison, and all are unable to seek redress for abuses in 
        detention;
Whereas in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia the sentence for same sex behavior between 
        consenting adults includes ``flogging'' and in Singapore and Uganda the 
        sentence for same sex behavior between consenting adults can extend to 
        life in prison;
Whereas many governments, on the basis of vague laws, may target and persecute 
        lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals: in the 
        People's Republic of China individuals in these groups are imprisoned 
        under laws against ``hooliganism'', in Argentina, individuals in these 
        groups are imprisoned under the laws against ``vagrants and crooks'', 
        and the vagueness of these laws makes it difficult to monitor 
        governmental persecution;
Whereas articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 
        articles 19 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
        Rights guarantee all individuals freedom of expression and freedom of 
        association;
Whereas the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and association are 
        violated when governments deny the right of lesbians, gay men, 
        bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to form organizations or 
        advocate for rights, such as in Zimbabwe where members of Gays and 
        Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) have been threatened and brutally assaulted;
Whereas in some countries agents of the government are directing or are 
        complicitous in abuses committed on the basis of sexual orientation and 
        gender identity and investigations and prosecution of those agents for 
        violations often do not occur;
Whereas due to failure by governments to investigate and prosecute human rights 
        violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, private 
        individuals feel encouraged to violently attack lesbians, gay men, 
        bisexuals, and transgendered individuals with impunity, contributing to 
        the atmosphere of fear and intimidation;
Whereas lesbians and bisexual women who suffer human rights violations are often 
        abused because of their sexual orientation while their gender often 
        incites, compounds, and aggravates this abuse, and, moreover, since 
        their gender is not recognized as a factor, their abuse often goes 
        unrecorded;
Whereas violations of internationally recognized human rights norms are to be 
        considered crimes regardless of the status of the victims and are to be 
        punished without discrimination;
Whereas fundamental access to legal protection from violations of 
        internationally recognized human rights norms is often unavailable to 
        the victims;
Whereas lesbians and bisexual women face additional obstacles in these countries 
        when seeking assistance from police, judges, and other officials due to 
        pervasive gender bias;
Whereas the preceding clauses constitute only a few examples of the violations 
        suffered by lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered individuals, 
        the full range and extent of such violations are not known because 
        governments create an atmosphere of immunity for those perpetrating such 
        human rights violations and prevent victims from seeking effective 
        protection and just redress and thus their suffering remains 
        undocumented and unremedied; and
Whereas many nongovernmental human rights organizations, including Amnesty 
        International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Gay and Lesbian 
        Human Rights Commission, as well as the United States Department of 
        State and the United Nations, have documented, and are continuing to 
        document, the ongoing violations of the human rights of lesbians, gay 
        men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) condemns all violations of internationally recognized 
        human rights norms based on the real or perceived sexual 
        orientation or gender identity of an individual, and commends 
        nongovernmental human rights organizations, including Amnesty 
        International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Gay 
        and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, as well as the United 
        States Department of State and the United Nations, for 
        documenting the ongoing abuse of human rights on the basis of 
        sexual orientation and gender identity; and
            (2)(A) recognizes that human rights violations abroad based 
        on sexual orientation and gender identity should be equally 
        punished without discrimination and equally classified as 
        crimes, regardless of the status of the victims and that such 
        violations should be given the same consideration and concern 
        as human rights violations based on other grounds in the 
        formulation of policies to protect and promote human rights 
        globally; and
            (B) further recognizes that the protection of sexual 
        orientation and gender identity is not a special category of 
        human rights, but it is fully embedded in the overall human 
        rights norms defined in international conventions.
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