According to an article at GayStarNews 56 Islamic states of the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Cooperation) have sent to the United Nations Human Rights Council a letter which reveals members will not be attending the March 7th panel which will discuss "Discrimination and Violence based on Orientation and Gender Identity".In the letter members of OIC are opposed to the panel being held and will not accept any considerations or recommendations which may come from the panel regarding the Human Rights of LGBT people.
Two points in the OIC letter are, We are even more disturbed at the attempt to focus on certain persons on the grounds of their abnormal sexual behaviour, while not focusing on the glaring instances of intolerance and discrimination in various parts of the world, be it on the basis of colour, race, gender or religion, to mention only a few.
and, It must also be recognized that the international community agreed during the World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, that while considering the issue of human rights, national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind. From this perspective, the issue of sexual orientation is unacceptable to the OIC.
In response to Pakistan being one of the countries which will not be in attendance and have denounced the idea of Human Rights for LGBTs, international LGBT activist Peter Tatchell has said, "Pakistan has signed up to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees equal treatment and non-discrimination to all people.
I urge the Pakistani President and Prime Minister to repudiate this intolerant, ignorant letter. The Ambassador's rejection of universal human rights is deplorable. It casts the government of Pakistan in a bad light."
