89.
For its part, the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights has
determined that sexual orientation may be included in “another social condition”106.
Similarly, in the context of their general observations and recommendations, the Committee
on the Rights of the Child,107 the Committee against Torture,108 and the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women109 have made references to the inclusion of
sexual orientation as one of the prohibited categories for discrimination.
90.
On December 22, 2008 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the
“Declaration on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity”, reaffirming the
“principle of non-discrimination, which requires that human rights apply equally to every
human being, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”110 Likewise, on March 22,
2011 the “Joint statement on ending acts of violence and related human rights violations
based on sexual orientation and gender identity” was filed before the Human Rights Council
of the United Nations.111 On June 15, 2011 the Council approved a resolution on human
rights, sexual orientation, and gender identity in which it expressed its grave concern over
acts of violence and discrimination, in all the regions of the world, committed against
106
Cf. United Nations, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No. 20. Nondiscrimination and economic, social and cultural rights (Article 2, paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), E/C.12/GC/20, 2 of July of 2009, para. 32 (“any other social condition", as
stated in Article 2.2 of the Covenant, includes sexual orientation”). Cf. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, General Comment No. 18. The right to work, E/C.12/GC/18, February 6, 2006, para. 12 (“Under paragraph
2 of Article 2, as well as Article 3, the Covenant prohibits any discrimination in access to and maintenance of
employment for reasons of […] sexual orientation”); General Comment No. 15. The right to water (Articles 11 and
12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), E/C.12/2002/11, of January 20, 2003,
para. 13 (“the Covenant prohibits any discrimination for reasons of […] sexual orientation”); General Comment No.
14. The right to enjoy the highest attainable level of health (Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights), E/C.12/2000/4, August 11, 2000, para. 18 (“By virtue of the provisions in paragraph 2
of Article 2 and in Article 3, the Covenant proscribes all discrimination in access to health care and the underlying
determinants of health, and to the means for their procurement, on the grounds of […] sexual orientation”).
107
Cf. United Nations, Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 3 (2003). HIV/AIDS and
the rights of the child, CRC/GC/2003/3, of March 17, 2003, para. 8 (“of concern also is discrimination based on
sexual orientation”); General Comment No. 4 (2003). The health and development of adolescents in the context of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, CRC/GC/2003/4, July 21, 2003, para. 6 (“States Parties have the
obligation to ensure that all human beings under 18 enjoy all the rights set forth in the Convention without
discrimination (Art. 2), regardless of "race, color, sex, language, religion, or political or other opinion, national,
ethnic or social origin, property, birth, disability or other status". These grounds also cover sexual orientation”).
108
Cf. United Nations, Committee Against Torture, General Comment No. 2, Application of Article 2 by States
Parties, CAT/C/GC/2, of January 24, 2008 para. 20, 21 (“The principle of non-discrimination is a basic and general
principle in the protection of human rights and fundamental to the interpretation and application of the Convention.
[…] States Parties must ensure that, insofar as the obligations arising under the Convention are concerned, their
laws re in practice applied to all persons, regardless of their […] and sexual orientation”).
109
Cf. United Nations, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General
Recommendation No. 27 on women of age and the protection of their human rights, CEDAW/C/GC/27, December
16, 2010, para. 13 (“The discrimination experienced by older women is often multidimensional, with the age factor
compounding other forms of discrimination based on […] sexual orientation”); Draft of General Recommendation
Nº 28 in relation to Article 2 of the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women,
CEDAW/C/GC/28, December 16, 2010, para. 18 (“The discrimination of based on sex and gender is inextricable
linked with other factors that affect women, such as race, ethnic origin, religion or belief, health, status, age, class,
caste, sexual orientation”).
110
Declaration on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, United Nations General Assembly,
A/63/635, December 22, 2008, para. 3.
111
Joint declaration on ending acts of violence and related human rights violations based on sexual
orientation and gender identity, presented by Colombia in the 16th session of the United Nations Human Rights
Council, March 22, 2011. Available at: http://www.iglhrc.org/binary-data/ATTACHMENT/file/000/000/494-1.pdf
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