The United States of America, together with 12 other countries, among which China, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, voted against UN resolution condemning the death penalty for having gay sex. But in the end, the vote passed with 27 of the 47-member Human Rights Council in favor.
As The Independent reported, the Council’s resolution condemned the imposition of the death penalty as a sanction for specific forms of conduct, such as apostasy, blasphemy, adultery and consensual same-sex relations and attacked the use of execution against persons with mental or intellectual disabilities, persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime, and pregnant women. “The application of the death penalty for adultery is disproportionately imposed on women,” the resolution says.
The U.S. supported amendments introduced by Russia that say that the death penalty was not necessarily a human rights violation. The amendments also state that the death penalty is not a form of torture, but in some cases can lead to it.
Renato Sabbadini, International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) Executive Director, said. “It is unconscionable to think that there are hundreds of millions of people living in states where somebody may be executed simply because of whom they love. This is a monumental moment where the international community has publicly highlighted that these horrific laws simply must end.”
In the meantime, U.S. officials say that the press releases are misleading. “The headlines, reporting and press releases on this issue are misleading. As our representative to the Human Rights Council in Geneva said on Friday, the United States is disappointed to have to vote against this resolution. We had hoped for a balanced and inclusive resolution that would better reflect the positions of states that continue to apply the death penalty lawfully, as the United States does,” Heather Nauert, State Department spokesperson, told The Independent.
He added that the U.S. condemns application of the death penalty for conduct such as homosexuality, blasphemy, adultery and apostasy. “We do not consider such conduct appropriate for criminalization and certainly not crimes for which the death penalty would be lawfully available as a matter of international law.”
Botswana, Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, China, India, Iraq, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates were the countries that voted against the resolution. Belgium, Benin, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia and Switzerland introduced the vote.
In six countries in the world death penalty is used for people in same-sex relationships: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria and Somalia. If we count the Isis-occupied territories of Iraq and Syria, we can say that the number rises to eight. In another five countries that it is allowed, but it is not used in reality.
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