Caribbean groups urge OAS Secretary General to fulfil commitments

Caribbean groups in the LGBTTTI Coalition urge OAS Secretary General to fulfil his commitments to the sub-region in his second term.

In the wake of Luis Almagro’s controversial re-election as OAS Secretary General, Caribbean civil society groups are seeking to hold him accountable to the human rights mandate of the office. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Transsexual, Travesti and Intersex (LGBTTTI) Coalition of Latin America and the Caribbean working within the framework of the OAS urges him to reaffirm his commitment to the human rights of all people without discrimination, based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics, as well as the human rights of sex workers.

Proliferation of discourses against human rights

In the context of the election, the Secretary General portrayed positions that may be considered contrary to the right to non-discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, and in general, against sexual and reproductive rights. For several years we have denounced the growing discourse that attacks LGBTI people in the OAS spaces, including the General Assembly. According to various experts from the United Nations and the OAS, there is a link between the spread of speech promote intolerance and dehumanise LGBTI people and the increase in hate crimes against them. These messages usually also include a narrative that ignores the legitimacy of the organs of the Inter-American Human Rights System to monitor the States’ compliance with the obligation to guarantee the rights to equality and non-discrimination. Many of these messages use precepts such as «gender ideology» – an empty term void of real content, which has been criticised by experts and international human rights organisations because it seeks to attack any progress in favour of equality and all human rights for all people.

Human rights violations in the Caribbean 

Despite gains through the courts in countries like Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana and legislatures in the Bahamas, Barbados and St. Lucia, serious threats persist to the full exercise of the human rights of LGBTI people and there are high levels of violence, discrimination and criminalisation. Recently, unpunished incidents of anti-LGBTI violence have been reported in Jamaica and St. Vincent, while the murder of a prominent LGBTI human rights defender in Haiti and violent attacks against gay and trans activists in Guyana have been recorded.

Regarding autonomous sex work, despite not being explicitly prohibited in most countries, there are norms and laws that penalise activities related to sex work. This, coupled with the absence of clear regulations that recognise sex work as work, creates conditions that promote institutional violence – including sexual and physical violence, extortion and illegal detention – and reinforce obstacles that prevent sex workers from accessing basic health services and justice.

The OAS Secretary General must reaffirm his commitment to human rights

The OAS needs leadership that defends the human rights to non-discrimination and a life free from violence, and one that upholds the recognition of the rights of LGBTI people, sex workers, sexual and reproductive rights. In his 2015 inauguration speech  as Secretary General, Luis Almagro stated that «inequality and the generation of opportunities for all citizens, regardless of their race, gender, place of birth, social status, or sexual orientation continues to be a concern present in all of our countries from Canada to Patagonia».

The LGBTTTI Coalition notes that during the first years of the Secretary General’s mandate, he issued statements in favour of the full observance of human rights for all people. For example, on May 17, 2019, the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, the Secretary General stated on Twitter: «no one can be discriminated against or must be denied access to their rights based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Our societies have no room for inequality. Everyone has the right to be who they are, love who they want and express themselves freely.». The Secretary General has also affirmed: «We want every country to resolve this discrimination that LGBTIQ people suffer. We want every country to investigate and to resolve any matter of LGBTI peoples and communities … We want every country to provide solutions for how the basic principles of human rights can be made operative in order to resolve these issues». (Washington Blade, April 24, 2019).

Given the aforementioned, our Coalition urges Luis Almagro, to commit during his second term as Secretary General, to:

1. Meet regularly with our Coalition and renew the commitment to the human rights of all people without discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, the human rights of sex workers, sexual rights and reproductive rights.
2. Continue issuing statements on commemorative days, including the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, Women’s International Day (and in said communiqué make reference to sexual and reproductive rights), and others, including the Trans Remembrance Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, and World AIDS Day. Further, to issue a statement on the International Day of Sex Workers, urging the States to review regulations and laws that criminalise activities related to sex work, and calling on States to prevent and punish institutional violence and to eliminate the obstacles sex workers face when attempting to access the justice system and health services.
3. Make a categorical statement affirming that religious freedom cannot be used to deny, suppress or limit the human rights of LGBTI people, sexual and reproductive rights, and that any exercise of religious freedom cannot negate the principles of equality and non-discrimination.
4. Take all effective measures to guarantee that organisations or groups are not allowed to use OAS spaces to stigmatise IACHR commissioners, LGBTI persons, sex workers, sexual and reproductive rights defenders, or engage in public speech that denies the existence and full recognition of human rights for all people.
5. Continue his support to the OAS Secretariat of Social Inclusion, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Commission of Women. Further, to defend these organs from undue interference by some OAS States that seek to impose their agendas contrary to the human rights of LGBTI people, sex workers and sexual and reproductive rights.