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the United Nations |
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By Rex Wockner International News Report
 Indian gay activist Aditya Bondyopadhyay addressed the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva
April 8 detailing anti-gay discrimination, harassment,
arrests, beatings, torture, blackmail, extortion and
rape in his native land.
Much of the abuse is carried out by police, the judiciary and other state institutions, he said. High-ranking U.N. officials made an historic appearance at the briefing, affirming the organization's commitment to sexual rights, activists said. Representatives also spoke from some of the groups that sponsored the briefing -- the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission, the International Lesbian and Gay Association, the International Lesbian and Gay Law Association, Switzerland's Pink Cross, the World Organization Against Torture, Amnesty International, and the International Service for Human Rights.
"One of the arrested had his glasses stamped on and broken and had to spend 45 days' incarceration with impaired vision." Bondyopadhyay's speech is online at http://www.iglhrc.org/world/s_asia/India2002Apr_2.html. |
