Recently, activists from Turkey and the Philippines reported on the state of LGBT affairs in their respective countries before the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
The reports are a compliance review of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), one of the core human-rights treaties that expand and enforce the UN's founding principles.
Countries periodically go for review before the commissions, submitting their own official reports on human rights. These reports are supplemented by "shadow reports," intended to shadow the official reports with anecdotal and experiential evidence collected by activists.
From Turkey, Sevval Kilic, a representative from trans-rights organization Istanbul LGBTT, spoke before the commission on Oct. 18, according to a transcription of the remarks. She cited everyday violence, laws that allow perpetrators of violence to get reduced sentences, censorship and an overall lack of protections against discrimination as some of the most pressing concerns for LGBT people in her country.
"The Turkish LGBT community is not asking for exceptional privileges or special rights. All we are asking for is for the government of Turkey to respect its international obligations under international treaties, including ICCPR, and provide LGBT individuals with the same level of rights and protections that all human beings are entitled to," she told the committee.
This was Turkey's first report before the commission.
In 2011, revisions of the Turkish constitution originally included anti-discrimination measures based on sexual orientation and gender identity that were later left out.
In an interview with Windy City Times, Kilic said that even if material is not pornographic, it can be subject to censure because it is considered to encourage others to be gay. She said most trans women are forced into sex work because there are no alternatives, and because prostitution is subject to a fine but not arrest, it creates a climate of abuse.
"We get used to it, unfortunately," she said. "I want to believe that time is on our side; some day some things will change."
From the Philippines, Jonas Bagas, director of LGBT-rights group TLF Share, spoke before the commission Oct. 15, according to a transcription of the remarks. He discussed the Supreme Court's decision to ban the changing on one's gender in official documentation, discriminatory policies in the government and the executive branch's ability to take immediate action.
"The president has broad powers to provide for rules to execute his or her constitutional or statutory mandates," he said.
This was the Philippine's fourth review before the committee.
Bagas told Windy City Times about the "grave scandal" law, which allows citizens to file a criminal complaint against anything they find to be indecent, and the constant raids the police conduct on bars and clubs.
In 2010, a court ruled in favor of the allowance of the Philippine's first LGBT political party, Ang Ladlad, which means "coming out" in English.
Bagas hopes this case could be the basis for more progress.
As a result from the reports in Geneva, Bagas was able to establish a meeting with the Secretary of Justice of the Philippines, an executive cabinet official.
"It is refreshing to see public officials from the Philippines say that they're willing to step up. But it's really now a question of removing the distance between the official reporting and what's happening on the ground," he said.
Jessica Lynn Stern is the executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), an advocacy and human rights documentation organization that partners with other groups and activists around the world.
She said many of the groups are gathering this information for the first time, and it is a way for LGBT people to document the realities of their lives in an impactful way.
"People around the world depend on these bodies for justice," she told Windy City Times. "When you can't achieve justice in local courts, when your country lacks the rule of law, it is essential that you have a place to turn for help. For LGBT people specifically, international human rights norms and standards for our safety are paramount to our ability to achieve dignity."
The UN Human Rights Commission will issue its own concluding observations within several weeks.
The commission is slated to review the United States in November 2013.
