标题: Sri Lanka tells the United Nations that LGBTIs are protected in its
constitution
新闻来源: GayStar News
http://goo.gl/PG1q3Q
Representatives of the Government of Sri Lanka have admitted to the United
Nations Human Rights Committee that LGBTI people are protected under its
constitution – though they maintain their country’s anti-sodomy law is not
discriminatory
The Sri Lankan Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has admitted for
the first time this month that its constitution protects people from
discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Representatives of the government made the admission to the United Nations
Human Rights Committee after being questioned on the issue.
‘Please indicate the measures taken to protect persons from stigmatization
and discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender
identity, and indicate whether they are protected by the constitutional
provisions on non-discrimination,’
Sri Lanka was asked by the OHCHR Experts Committee.
Representatives of the Sri Lankan Government responded that, ‘Article 12 of
the Constitution [of Sri Lanka] recognizes non-discrimination based on the
grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of
birth or any one of such grounds as a Fundamental Right.’
‘This measure protects persons from stigmatization and discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation and gender identities.’
When asked by the Experts Committee how specifically they were protected,
Bimba Jayasinghe Thilakeratne, Additional Solicitor General with the Sri Lankan
Attorney General’s Department, said ‘Article 12.1 ensures equality for sexual
orientation and gender identity.’
‘Article 12.2 Laws discriminating on the grounds of sexual orientation and
gender identity are unconstitutional.’
However she denied that Sri Lanka’s colonial era anti-sodomy law was
discriminatory against LGBTI people.
‘Sections 365 and 365A of the Penal code do not target any particular group
but is there to protect public morality,’ she said.
Sri Lanka’s penal code outlaw ‘gross indecency’ but has not specified the
gender of the parties involved since 1999 and does not define what gross
indecency is.
Article 12.1 of the Sri Lankan Constitution states that ‘all persons are equal
before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law.’
Article 12.2 states that ‘no citizen shall be discriminated against on the
grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of
birth or any one of such ground.’
The move by the Sri Lankan Government has been welcomed by LGBTI human rights
groups in both Sri Lanka and the region.
‘We are extremely pleased with this outcome and applaud the government for
clarifying the interpretations of the Constitution and the law regarding SOGI
in Sri Lanka,’ Sri Lanka LGBTI group Equal Ground said in a statement.
‘While this may not rain sunshine for the LGBTIQ community just yet, there is
now at least, a sense of hope things will start changing in Sri Lanka and that
the LGBTIQ community will be able to hold their heads a bit higher as the days
go by.
‘We also urge the Government to open dialog with the LGBTIQ community,
particularly those advocating for better treatment and equality for LGBTIQ
individuals in this country and put in place, nondiscriminatory laws and
statutes that will protect our community.’
Human rights group Kaleidoscope Australia helped Equal Ground submit one of
its shadow reports to the UN and its president, Dr Paula Gerber, thanked the
Sri Lankan Government for defining where it stood on the issue.
‘We congratulate the Sri Lankan Government for acknowledging that
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is
unconstitutional,’ Dr Gerber said.
‘While it is disappointing that the Sri Lankan Government did not address
the ongoing criminalization of homosexual conduct (both men and women), the
official response nevertheless marks a significant change in tone, which will
hopefully in turn lead to further reform.’
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