'Include lesbians, gays in list of people vulnerable to extrajudicial killings'

MANILA, Philippines - A non-government organization urged yesterday the Philippine government to support moves in the United Nations to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people (LGBT) in list of groups vulnerable to extrajudicial killings.

Clara Rita Padilla, executive director of EnGendeRights, made the call ahead of the United Nations General Assembly voting on Monday on whether to include protection for LGBT people in a resolution on extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings.

“We urge the Philippine government to support the resolution and send a clear message to uphold the rights of LGBTs,” Padilla said in a statement.

She noted that there have been numerous reports of gay men being murdered in the Philippines in the past years without clear investigations and active prosecution being conducted.

“The Philippines must perform its obligation to prevent, investigate and prosecute all killings including (those) on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” she said.

Last November, Padilla said a number of states proposed an amendment of the UN resolution to remove the reference to “sexual orientation from this important resolution and the amendment surprisingly passed.”

For the last 10 years sexual orientation has been included in a list of discriminatory grounds for executions, she added.

Seventy-nine states voted to remove the reference to sexual orientation, 70 supported its retention, and 43 states, including the Philippines, abstained.

“The abstention of the Philippines is a step backwards from its previous support when it voted to include sexual orientation in the extrajudicial executions resolution at the UN General Assembly in 2008,” said Padilla.

“The removal of LGBTs in the resolution is a setback, however, the states will have the opportunity to restore the reference to sexual orientation and even extend it to include gender identity when the resolution comes up before the UN General Assembly this Monday,” she said.