The United Nations' (UN) first
independent expert on LGBT rights on Friday delivered his first
report on the violence and discrimination lesbian, gay and bisexual
people around the globe face.
Vitit Muntarbhorn addressed a General
Assembly committee on Friday, the
AP reported.
Muntarbhorn reported that at least five
countries – Belize, Lesotho, Mozambique, Palau and Seychelles –
have repealed laws criminalizing sex between two people of the same
sex in the last five years. Over the past 20 years, 25 countries
have nixed such laws. But having consensual same-sex relations
remains a crime in more than 70 nations, sometimes punishable by
death. Some laws also target transgender people.
He added that in many places, LGBT
people live in “a crucible of egregious violations” of human
rights.
The UN's Human Rights Council appointed
Muntarbhorn last year. A coalition of African states led by Botswana
twice tried and failed to suspend Muntarbhorn's work.
Botswana's ambassador to the UN,
Charles Ntwaagae, said at the time that the coalition was opposed to
the Human Rights Council's focus on people's “sexual interests and
behaviors,”while ignoring race- and religion-based discrimination.
Citing illness in his family,
Muntarbhorn, a Thai law professor, is resigning as of Tuesday. A
successor is expected to be named in December.