Canadian and Swedish gay groups frowned on at UN
Source: Reuters
By Evelyn Leopold UNITED NATIONS, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A U.N. committee rejected credentials of a Canadian gay and lesbian organization seeking consultative status with the United Nations and deferred the application of a similar body from Sweden, according to documents circulated on Friday. Accreditation, which has been given to more than 2,000 groups, enables them to take part in U.N. conferences and offer advice in their field of expertise, such as human rights, health and humanitarian aid. Envoys from the Canadian and Swedish U.N. missions criticized the U.N. Committee on Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) at its Wednesday meeting, with Canada's Nell Stewart expressing dismay at the panel's "pattern of discrimination" in treating groups on sexual orientation. The Canadian group was the Coalition of Gays and Lesbians of Quebec (Coalition Gaie et Lesbienne du Quebec), a national organization. The Stockholm group was the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights. On the rejection of the Canadian group, the vote was 8 to 6. Against were Burundi, China, Egypt, Guinea, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia and Sudan. Voting in favor were Colombia, Israel, Peru, Romania, Britain and the United States. Abstaining were Angola, India and Turkey. The U.N. committee is a subsidiary of the U.N. Economic and Social Council, which can reverse the panel's decisions. But with notable exceptions it agrees with the committee's rulings. British delegate Thomas Woodruffe told the panel that every NGO that met the criteria approved by the U.N. Economic and Social Council should be admitted in the fields of health, gender and human rights. He noted that 100 groups had been accepted with varying viewpoints not all governments accepted. Human rights groups are often turned down, particularly when they deal with dissidents in authoritarian countries. Even the influential New York-based Human Rights Watch was rejected in 1992 before being admitted a year and a half later. Jewish groups also have a problem, and their applications are usually deferred or rejected. Hadassah, the women's Zionist organization that runs hospitals in Israel, succeeded after lengthy diplomatic fights in 2001. In its decisions this week, the committee admitted the American Conservative Union and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the (U.S.) Southern Baptist Convention.
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