Martyrdom of Bahai women and the Iranian regime

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A bit of History

In 1844, a young merchant from Shiraz, Seyyed Ali Mohammad, after having a vision, proclaimed himself the Báb, someone charged by God to prepare the way for the one to come. To use a simile related to Christianity, it would be like John the Baptist was for Jesus Christ. The followers of Ali Mohammad, the Báb, defined themselves as Baháís.

Very soon the Báb bestowed the title of Bahá’u’lláh, which in Persian means the Glory of God, on one of his first followers, Mirza Husayn-‘Alí, a nobleman, and he soon gained his claim to be the messenger of God. impulse. However, in Persia, as Iran was known until 1935, and both names coexist today, any manifestation that did not agree with the state religion was considered heretical and therefore punishable by death.

The Báb was shot in Tabriz on 9 July 1950, just six years after proclaiming the religion and four years of imprisonment. Bahá’u’lláh Himself, because of His influence, was condemned to exile by the Persians and also by the entire Ottoman Empire, to which He belonged. From country to country, finally exiled, he ended up in the penal colony of Acre (present-day Israel), where, after 40 years of pilgrimage, he died on 29 May 1892. His tomb on the outskirts of the city is venerated today, and his followers pray at his grave from all over the world.

From the beginning, Baha’is have been systematically tortured, convicted and executed in the state of Iran, and this has not changed to this day.

Today, thanks to the expansion promoted by many of his followers, and especially by his son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, who, until his death in Haifa on November 28, 1921, founded Bahá’í faith groups in Canada, the United States In the United States and Europe, there are more than ten million members, established in 247 countries, from more than 2,000 different ethnic, tribal and racial groups, although its strongest point of support is undoubtedly in India.

10 Bahai women murdered in Iran for their religious beliefs

However, in Iran (Persia) this did not save 10 young Baháí girls from being executed by the execrable regime of the ayatollahs on 18 June 1983. These young women remain today the symbol of all those who demonstrate every day in that territory. They are one of the largest on the planet, demanding some of the most basic human rights necessary for a life of peace and freedom.

In the early hours of 18 July 1983, night gave way to a faint light that illuminated the slow walk of 10 young women who during the previous days had been harassed and tortured by those who watched over morality in a totalitarian regime that does not understand reason and which, although applied with the greatest harshness, is increasingly being challenged.

Taheren Arjomandi Siyavushi, Simin Saberi, Nosrat Ghufrani Yaldaie, Ezzat-Janami Eshraghi, Roya Eshraghi, Mona Mahmoudnejad, Shahin (Shirin) Dalvand, Akhtar Sabet, Zarrin Moghimi-Abyaneh and Mahshid Niroumand, had been held in one of the most infamous places in Shiraz, the Revolutionary Guard Penitentiary Center, since the end of 1982. There they were interrogated so harshly to make them denounce their fellow believers that when they reached the gallows where they were to be executed, even though they held their heads high, they were is no longer strong enough. His only two crimes: being a Bahá’í and defending equal education for women in a country where women have fewer rights than dogs.

Days before, some of their parents or brothers had also been killed, suspected of the same practices, but that day, each and every one of them had to witness their sisters being hanged in the cult. Not even the youngest, Mona, just 17 years old, relented, even kissing the hands of the hangman who put the noose around her neck.

Forty years later, they are the symbols of the explosions that are taking place in Iran. Added to them every day are the corpses of those executed, whether they are lawyers, journalists, women or simply people who have tried to demonstrate for a “slightly fairer” society.

Women in Iran are second-class citizens, and not just in Iran; Their rights, permanently violated, are not the subject of debate as they are in the West, where the gender gap is clear, but where, in a permanent democratic context, dialogue between social layers makes it less and less visible. But in Iran this will never happen. Simply because there are some 24 laws designed specifically to oppress women.
Women in Iran can be raped, beaten and even mutilated if caught breaking any of the rules. And if they belong to a different religion, such as the Baha’is, they are likely to face the death penalty.

In recent months, the Iranian regime has taken to the streets with all its artillery of totalitarian repression, more than 20,000 people have been arrested and at least a hundred have been officially assassinated, although there could be many more if other sources are consulted.

While in the West we seek gender confrontation as a populist issue, the real struggle is taking place in other societies where we don’t usually look and forget. I hope that the memory of Mona and those Bahá’í women will help us to rethink gender discourse and focus it exactly where it belongs, in the achievement of the most basic human rights for all women in the world who live subject to the arbitrariness of totalitarian laws and, above all, the interests of their “masters”.

Urgent reform needed to shield women and children from violence during custody battles

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23 June 2023

Urgent reform needed to shield women and children from violence during custody battles

“The tendency of family courts to dismiss the history of domestic violence and abuse in custody cases, especially where mothers and/or children have brought forward credible allegations of domestic abuse, including coercive control, physical or sexual abuse is unacceptable,” said Reem Alsalem, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, in a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday.

A history of intimate partner violence against women was often neglected in family courts and shared custody or parental authority, treated as the default ruling, regardless of the child’s perspective.

“When custody decisions are made in favour of the parent who claims to be alienated without sufficiently considering the views of the child, the resilience of the concerned child may be undermined.

“The child may also continue to be exposed to lasting harm,” Ms. Alsalem said. She also called out the failure of child custody processes to use child sensitive approaches that focus on the best interest of children.

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Harder for minority women

The report underscores that minority women face additional barriers when being accused of using “parental alienation” in part due to increased barriers in accessing justice as well as negative stereotypes.

Parental alienation is defined as the situation when a child refuses to have a relationship with one parent, as a result of manipulation or falsehoods spread by the other parent.

In some family court systems, for example in state judicial systems in the US, some mental health professionals contend that parental alienation is a form of emotional child abuse.

The independent expert’s report, argues that the use of the unfounded and unscientific concept, is highly gendered.

While it is invoked against both fathers and mothers, it is predominantly used against mothers, the report states, with the woman being accused of turning children against the father.

The consequences of biased custody decisions can be detrimental and irreversible to those concerned leading to a continuum of violence before and after separation, the expert said.

‘Pseudo concepts’

Despite these grave consequences “parental alienation” and related pseudo concepts are embedded and endorsed in legal systems across different jurisdictions, including amongst evaluators tasked with reporting to family courts on the best interest of the child.

Ms. Alsalem’s report also provides recommendations for States and other stakeholders to reverse the long-lasting harm done to individuals, families and societies.

She said the international community needed to develop a greater “collective conscience” when considering the human rights dimension of multi-layered violence that many mothers and children experience when using family court systems.

“The protection of women and children from violence, a victim-centered approach, and the best interests of the child, must take precedence over all other criteria when establishing arrangements for custody and visitation rights,” she said.

Special Rapporteurs and other UN Human Rights Council-appointed rights experts, work on a voluntary and unpaid basis, are not UN staff, and work independently from any government or organisation.

Killings drive Israelis and Palestinians ‘deeper into an abyss’, warns Türk

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23 June 2023

Killings drive Israelis and Palestinians ‘deeper into an abyss’, warns Türk

“These latest killings and the violence, along with the inflammatory rhetoric, serve only to drive Israelis and Palestinians deeper into an abyss,” said the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as his Office warned of the “terrible impact on both Palestinians and Israelis” of the escalation, before calling for an immediate end to the bloodshed.

Mr. Türk’s comments followed remarks by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who on Thursday “condemned all acts of violence against civilians” in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and deplored the loss of life.

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Refugee camp victims

Echoing Mr. Guterres’s deep concern about an Israeli military raid on Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank on Monday that killed at least seven Palestinians, including a boy and a girl, the UN rights chief said that the use of airstrikes was “more generally associated with the conduct of armed hostilities rather than a law enforcement operation”.

According to reports, Israeli gunships were used for the first time in the area since the early 2000s to extract injured soldiers, while a long gun battle raged.

Mr. Türk added that on Wednesday evening, other reports emerged of an Israeli military drone strike near Jenin that killed three alleged Palestinian militants.

“Israel must urgently reset its policies and actions in the West Bank in line with international human rights standards, including protecting and respecting the right to life”, insisted the High Commissioner.

Following the Jenin raid, Mr. Türk’s Office said that he had been “appalled” that some Palestinians had celebrated the killing of four Israeli settlers – reportedly including a 17-year-old boy – by two armed Palestinian men near the community of Eli in the occupied West Bank.

Vicious circle

Highlighting the tinderbox situation, OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said that several Palestinian communities had reportedly been assaulted by Israeli settlers, amid “confrontations between Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli Security Forces, and Palestinians”.

According to UN rights office OHCHR, so far this year, Israeli Security Forces have killed at least 126 Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Among them were 21 boys and one girl.

This compares with last year, when 155 Palestinians were killed by Israeli Security Forces in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, representing the highest number in the past 17 years.

Data from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights indicates that 24 Israelis were killed inside Israel and the occupied West Bank last year – “the highest number of Israelis were killed last year since 2016”.

“For this violence to end, the occupation must end,” said Mr. Türk. “On all sides, the people with the political power know this and must instigate immediate steps to realize this.”

Tunisia must ‘change course’ amid media crackdown: UN rights chief

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23 June 2023

Tunisia must ‘change course’ amid media crackdown: UN rights chief

“It is troubling to see Tunisia, a country that once held so much hope, regressing and losing the human rights gains of the last decade,” Mr. Türk said, urging the country to “change course”.

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said that over the past three months, the Tunisian authorities have used security and counter-terrorism legislation as well as a presidential decree on cybercrimes, to arrest and convict six journalists for spreading “false news, information or rumours”.

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Civil and military prosecutions

Since July 2021, OHCHR has documented 21 cases of alleged human rights violations against journalists, including prosecutions before civilian and military courts, likely initiated to counter criticism of the authorities.

Under international human rights law all public figures including heads of State may legitimately be subject to criticism.

“People have the right to be informed and to do so, journalists must be able to do their job without any undue restriction,” Mr. Türk insisted.

On 15 June, parliamentary authorities decided to ban journalists from covering parliamentary committee meetings. Just two days later, a judge banned media outlets from covering two cases of alleged “conspiracy against State security affairs” in which dozens of people have been prosecuted and detained since mid-February.

Independent media silenced

“These decisions undermine the principle of transparency in public affairs. People have the right to be informed and to do so, journalists must be able to do their job without any undue restriction,” said the High Commissioner.

“Silencing the voices of journalists, in a concerted effort, undermines the crucial role of independent media, with a corrosive effect on society as a whole,” he said.

The High Commissioner called on the Tunisian Government to respect due process and fair trial standards in all judicial proceedings.

Authorities also called on the authorities to stop trying civilians before military courts and release all those arbitrarily detained, including anyone held for exercising their right to seek, receive and impart information.

The inventor of the hydrogen bomb hanged himself in Moscow

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Newsdesk

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23 June 2023

The scientist who created the Russian hydrogen bomb was found dead in his apartment in Moscow. The 92-year-old physicist Grigory Klinishov hanged himself, reports “Daily Mail”.

He left a suicide note, but details of it have not been released by Russian investigators. According to local media, Klinishov committed suicide on June 17.

Grigory Klinishov received the Lenin Prize for his contribution to the physical and mathematical sciences in 1962. He was among the creators of the first Soviet two-stage hydrogen bomb, known as the RDS-37 and first tested in 1955 at a nuclear test site in the steppes of Eastern Kazakhstan .

Photo: Twitter/Bystander Maydar@Tatarmai

Argentina, 9 women sue a state institution abusively calling them ‘victims of sexual abuse’

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Willy Fautre

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23 June 2023

Five women older than 50, three in their forties and one in mid-thirties are suing on appeal two prosecutors of the state agency PROTEX on unfounded claims of their being victims of sexual abuse in the framework of a yoga school. Their complaint had previously been turned down by a court of first instance.

Beyond this case, it is obviously the Buenos Aires Yoga School (BAYS) that is targeted. According to a complaint by a person whose name was not disclosed, the founder of the BAYS recruited people through deceit in order to reduce them to a situation of servitude and/or sexual exploitation. The purpose was allegedly to put in place an illegal business structure in Argentina and the United States under the umbrella of a cult-like yoga group for the laundering of funds obtained as a result of their activities.

The lawyers of the nine women consider it is a new attempt made by the same anti-BAYS activist 30 years ago who unsuccessfully lodged a similar complaint against the yoga school and its leadership. The charges were then declared unfounded and the accused were all cleared.

In the aftermath of the adoption of the law on the prevention and punishment of human trafficking (Law No 26.842), PROTEX started to misuse two concepts introduced in amendments in December 2012: the promotion of prostitution without coercion (Article 21), which is a crime, and the ambiguous idea of vulnerability (Articles 22, 23 and 26) as a form of coercion. On the one hand, the purpose of PROTEX is the instrumentalization of the BAYS case to increase its statistics and give an image of growing efficiency, which will allow it to demand a bigger budget. On the other hand, the accuser’s objective is to try to destroy the BAYS on personal grounds.

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A hurdle race for access to justice on appeal

It has been a hurdle race for the female plaintiffs to have access to the appeal procedure. The complaint was first rejected by the judge for non-existence of a crime committed by the PROTEX prosecutors. The nine women were refused to be considered plaintiffs but their lawyers insisted, basing their arguments on two legal provisions:

Art. 82 of the Code of Criminal Procedure – “Any person with civil capacity particularly offended by a crime of public action shall have the right to become a plaintiff and as such to promote the process, provide elements of conviction, argue about them and appeal with the scope established in this Code”.

Art. 5 of the Victim Law– “The victim shall have the following rights: …. h) To intervene as plaintiff or civil plaintiff in the criminal proceeding, in accordance with the constitutional guarantee of due process and the local procedural laws”.

As of mid-June, the case is pending.

Some accusations against the PROTEX prosecutors

According to the lawyers of the plaintiffs, the PROTEX prosecutors have reportedly failed to denounce certain criminal acts that have occurred during the raids carried out by fully armed SWAT team police in the BAYS building in August 2022: robbery of items not mentioned in the search records, mistreatment, harassment, threats and damages to the residents’ properties by the personnel in charge of the search. The victims of facts stated that prosecutors Mángano and Colombo, in spite of being aware of the facts denounced, omitted to report them.

During the investigation and court proceedings, the right to privacy of the nine female plaintiffs was outrageously violated as their names were disclosed by PROTEX to all the people handling the file and even to the press. The media and social media published some of them with the socially negative connotation of prostitution but there is worse.

Interviews between one of the plaintiffs and a psychologist of PROTEX victims’ assistance program conducted in an isolated environment that the prosecutors and lawyers watched without being seen – the Gesell Chamber* procedure – finally happened to be streamed in a TV show! On the one hand, the confidentiality of such a procedure is the responsibility of PROTEX and on the other hand, it is absolutely illegal to stream such interviews on TV, all the more so since the nine women had explicitly asked their identity not to be disclosed.

Moreover, the prosecutors are also said to have disproportionately abused their power by extending the investigation on the plaintiffs to the international sphere, as cooperation was requested abroad to collect bank and financial data and information on the assets that the plaintiffs might have had in Uruguay and the United States. This resulted for three plaintiffs in the denial of access to the territory of the United States.

Not credible claims of sexual abuse

While prostitution is not illegal in Argentina, exploiting prostitution is criminalized. However, the plaintiffs strongly deny having been involved in prostitution.

PROTEX recognized in a workshop in 2017 that most victims of sexual abuse are young women who have rarely completed primary education and have no or hardly any livelihoods. In addition, it asserted that 98% of the seven thousand victims assisted by PROTEX did not consider themselves victims although they were.

In the current case of the nine female yoga practitioners, they are educated and have means of existence coming from their professional activities as teachers, artists, real estate agents or company managers. They do not have the profile of the victims assisted by PROTEX and the statistics of the state agency are not an argument to forcefully put the ‘victim label’ on them.

During the procedure, the plaintiffs declared that PROTEX considered them in a false and arbitrary manner as victims of a coercive cult-like organization allegedly “brainwashing” and abusing the vulnerability of its female followers (Source: Judge Ariel Lijo’s dismissal of the complaint in May 2023).

The term “cult” that was extensively used by the media to characterize the BAYS is not a valid category but a label used to slander unpopular minorities. As to the concept of “brainwashing”, it is a pseudo-scientific theory weaponized for the same purpose and it is rejected by serious scholars on religious issues.

The plaintiffs consider that they were not in a “cult” and were not “brainwashed”.

The expansion of the PROTEX controversial theory of the enforced status of victim

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== Argentina, 9 women sue a state institution abusively calling them ‘victims of sexual abuse’ — Entrance of sued state agency Protex

In the aftermath of the adoption of Law 26.842, PROTEX intensified its training program of “Workshops on Gender Perspective and Trafficking in Persons for Sexual Exploitation” launched in 2011 and started diffusing the idea that victims of prostitution rings were not any more able to think freely and to choose because if they could, they would make other choices. The new controversial philosophy of PROTEX is to rethink prostitution in the light of vulnerability.

In that year, Assistant Prosecutor Marysa S. Tarantino attended the Training Program organized by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation – through its Women’s Office – and the Attorney General’s Office – through the then called UFASE (an anti-trafficking prosecutor unit nowadays turned into the Attorney General’s Office under the name PROTEX). She shared her critical thoughts about PROTEX philosophy in a 13-page paper titled “La madre de Ernesto es puro cuento/ Una primera crítica a los materiales pedagógicos de la PROTEX” and published in Revista de Derecho Penal y Procesal Penal, Nr. 3/ 2018, Buenos Aires, Abeledo Perrot. I extract a few of the author’s ideas hereafter.

The Program was designed jointly by the two agencies to be given to officials and employees of the National Judicial Branch and the National Public Prosecutor’s Office. Its purpose was to train legal operators (especially judges, prosecutors and other legal officials) so that they could acquire “the” gender perspective necessary to deal with cases of trafficking in persons, with special emphasis on cases of sexual exploitation.

Once the participants successfully completed the course, they could become trainers and disseminate their new knowledge and sensitivities in their different territorial jurisdictions, throughout the country. The objective was to create a snowball effect: the expansion of the theory that people can be qualified by PROTEX as victims without their consent and even against their will. This dangerous trend observed in Argentina may inspire other countries and urgently needs to be publicly questioned and debated not only in the country itself but also on a global level.

Concerning the experience of the nine female yoga practitioners at BAYS, their case has obviously been fabricated at various levels to make it a case of prostitution exploitation to be dealt with by PROTEX with the aim of feeding an indictment against the BAYS.

Giorgia Meloni, “Religious freedom is not a second-class right”

By

Giorgia Meloni

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23 June 2023

Religious Freedom / Freedom of Religion or Belief /

Good morning to all.

I greet and thank “Aid to the Church in Need” for the extraordinary work it has carried out since 1947 and for the great service it offers to institutions, the media and public opinion with the publication of its Report on Religious Freedom.

Religious freedom is a natural right and precedes any legal formulation because it is written in the heart of man.

It is a right proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but, unfortunately, it is still trampled upon in too many nations of the world and, all too often, in almost total indifference.

Thus it happens that so many men, women and children not only have to suffer the pain of being denied the right to profess their faith but also the humiliation of being forgotten. And this is doubly unacceptable because keeping silent about the denial of religious freedom is tantamount to being complicit in it. We do not intend to do this.

It is everyone’s duty to defend religious freedom, but to carry out this commitment it is necessary to know data and numbers, to understand in depth the scenario in which we move, to have in our eyes and in our hearts the stories of those who suffer abuse, persecution, violence.

This is what I saw in the eyes of Maria Joseph and Janada Markus, two very young Nigerian Christian women victims of the ferocity of Boko Haram terrorists. I met them on Women’s Day and was left breathless by their courage, their strength, and their dignity. It was an encounter I will not forget and it left me with great lessons.

This is why the ACN Report is so valuable because it does not make abstract analyses or reasoning but gets to the heart of persecution and discrimination, to the heart of the victims, their history, and their lives.

It is a bit like a guide for drawing a course of action. One of them is very clear: religious freedom is not a second-class right, it is not a freedom that comes after others or can even be forgotten for the benefit of self-styled new freedoms or rights.

Similarly, we cannot forget another phenomenon that affects more developed societies. Pope Francis has warned us of the danger of a polite persecution, disguised as culture, modernity and progress, which in the name of a misunderstood concept of inclusion limits the possibility of believers to express their convictions in the sphere of social life.

It is an analysis that I share because it is profoundly wrong to think that in order to welcome the other one must deny one’s identity, including religious identity. Only if you are aware of who you are can you dialogue with the other, can you respect him, know him in depth, and draw enrichment from that dialogue.

But we must not, of course, forget the first type of persecution, the material persecution that afflicts many nations around the world, a reality on which we must open our eyes and act now, without wasting any more time. This is what the government intends to do and has begun to do, starting with the call for over 10 million euros to finance interventions in favour of persecuted Christian minorities, from Syria to Iraq, from Nigeria to Pakistan. A first step that will be followed by many others.

Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that religious freedom is an essential good that belongs to the core of human rights, to those universal and natural rights that human law can never deny and that requires the utmost commitment from everyone, no one excluded.

Italy can and must set an example. Italy intends to set an example, at a European and international level. This is one of our many missions.

Thank you all and good work.

VOICED OVER:

A strawberry and fruit war broke out between Spain and Germany.

By

Gaston de Persigny

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23 June 2023

A strawberry and fruit war broke out between Spain and Germany

A petition calls for the northern European country not to buy or even sell fruit from the southern country, because it is grown with illegal irrigation, which destroys biodiversity

Spanish strawberry growers have criticized a German consumer campaign calling on supermarkets to boycott berries grown near Spain’s Donana wetland, Reuters reported earlier this month.

Spain’s strawberry growers’ association Interfresa said the campaign on German online petition site Campact, which has so far been signed by 150,000 people, was “insidious and harmful to the strawberry and red fruit industry” “.

The lack of rain has put water management under the spotlight in Spain, particularly around the Donana wetland, a reserve in Andalusia threatened by climate change and illegal irrigation on nearby strawberry farms.

The petition in Germany notes that the country sells a huge amount of Spanish strawberries and calls on Edeka, Lidl and other supermarkets to stop selling imported berries grown near the endangered wildlife reserve in southern Spain.

The province of Huelva, where the park is located, produces 98 percent of Spain’s red fruit and 30 percent of the EU’s. It is the largest exporter of strawberries in the world.

The regional government plans to legalize irrigation around Donana, despite scientists warning that the park is in critical condition with lagoons drying up and biodiversity disappearing amid a prolonged drought.

Reducing the amount of water extracted is one of the main solutions to save the wetland, according to scientists.

The association denied that farmers were using water from illegal wells in the national park or that huge amounts of water were being pumped out, as alleged in the petition. She added that they use cutting-edge techniques to ensure efficient use of water.

Interfresa added that the nearest farms to Donana are 35 km away, and the majority of companies in the berry sector are 100 km or more from the area, meaning that only a small proportion of farms will use the irrigation system , which will be legalized if the law is approved.

Strawberries are not the only ones in the spotlight. Early last month, 26 people were arrested for digging illegal wells to grow tropical fruits such as avocados and mangoes in southern Spain amid a prolonged drought. During a four-year investigation, authorities have uncovered more than 250 illegal wells, boreholes and ponds in the Axarquia region of Andalusia, which has been suffering from a drought since 2021.

Out-of-School Education in Uzbekistan

By

Juan Sanchez Gil

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22 June 2023

In a story from Euronews, it is reported that the country of Uzbekistan is undergoing a transformation with its out-of-school education and training offerings. Bacmal avlade centers, which translates to “harmonious generation” in Uzbek, are spread across the country and provide children with a variety of after-school activities.

From learning robotics, to chess, to hair styling, the programs are diverse and aim to create an environment where children can develop their hidden talents and apply these skills to future careers.

Traditional design classes and computer science programs are also highly popular, with the government prioritising digital technologies as an educational priority and offering opportunities for disadvantaged groups, such as girls with disabilities. The aim is to make these individuals competitive in the local and global labor market.

Additionally, specialized IT schools offer esports as a way to develop strategic, logical thinking, leadership qualities, and communication skills among students. Bacmal avlade centers and other forms of out-of-school education are part of Uzbekistan’s national education system and are affordable, with the equivalent of four US dollars per month in big cities and even less in small towns.

The hope is to inspire a new generation of inventors, designers, and creative individuals who are well-equipped to thrive in the future.

Health data, women’s and LGBT rights in spotlight at Human Rights Council

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22 June 2023

Health data, women’s and LGBT rights in spotlight at Human Rights Council

The Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, warned that technology enabled easy sharing of sensitive health data of adolescents, migrants and people whose sexual orientation or health status was subject to discrimination.

“Accessibility of information through digital tools should not impair the right to have personal health data treated with confidentiality,” Ms. Mofokeng insisted.

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Technology used to prosecute abortion seekers

Ms. Mofokeng highlighted the dangerous use by State and non-State actors of mobile communication, geo-mapping and search history data against people seeking contraception or abortions in jurisdictions – such as some states in the US – which criminalize these health services, resulting in prosecution, arrest and further stigma.

The Special Rapporteur also pointed out that while technology can enable broader access to healthcare through solutions such as telemedicine, the global digital divide results in major inequalities in this area between countries, genders and social and age groups.

Special Rapporteurs and other independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council serve in their individual capacity; they are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work.

Poverty an obstacle to women’s rights

In a related discussion at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, the disastrous effects of poverty and socio-economic inequality on female health were among the glaring injustices highlighted by the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls. The Group’s Chair, Dorothy Estrada-Tanck, presented a report to the Council showing that globally, women and girls are disproportionately represented among those living in poverty.

She stressed that they often face stigma and criminalization when seeking reproductive healthcare and services, including abortion.

“When women and girls cannot access sexual and reproductive health education, information, goods and services, family planning services, gender-based inequalities and poverty are further entrenched and may be transmitted to future generations,” Ms. Estrada-Tanck warned.

LGBT exclusion in the name of religion

Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse (LGBT) persons featured on agenda at the Council, which heard on Wednesday that LGBT rights were not incompatible with freedom of religion – as some Member States insisted.

Presenting his latest report to the Council, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, said that LGBT persons are often marginalized, stigmatized and excluded from religious communities “simply because of who they are”.

He warned against the use of religious narratives to justify denying LGBT persons their human rights and said that embracing spirituality and faith is a path that must be available to all, including those with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.

The world’s most pressing rights issues

Throughout its 53^rd session, the Council will continue to address the world’s most pressing human rights emergencies. Since the session’s kick-off on Monday, Member States have discussed the situation in Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka and Sudan.

Looking ahead, highlights will include a review of the impact of climate change on human rights, as well as a focus on Belarus, Burundi, Central African Republic, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela.

Before closing its session on 14 July, the Council will also take action on a number of resolutions resulting from these discussions, put forward by its 47 Member States.