Geneva, 10 May 2011—UNAIDS is concerned over the renewed consideration by the Ugandan Parliament of an ‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill.’ UNAIDS considers the criminalization of people based on their sexual orientation a denial of human rights and a threat to public health in the context of the HIV response.

“Uganda’s early leadership in the HIV response under President Museveni helped reverse the rising tide of the epidemic across the country,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “Respect for the rights of all people, including those most vulnerable to HIV, led to the effective roll-out of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill risks undermining this progress and robs affected Ugandan citizens of their dignity and human rights,” he added.

Under the proposed law, anyone convicted of a homosexual act would face life imprisonment; accused individuals who are HIV-positive would be subject to the death penalty; and all citizens would be required to report any ‘homosexual activity’ to the police. Sex between men is already illegal under Uganda’s existing laws and punishable by imprisonment for up to 14 years.

As the world prepares for the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS in June to commemorate 30 years of the HIV epidemic and commit to the vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths, UNAIDS calls on governments to ensure that their laws uphold non-discrimination for all people affected by HIV.

Seventy-nine countries and territories around the world continue to criminalize same-sex behaviour. UNAIDS urges these countries and territories to review and repeal laws that discriminate against sexual minorities.

Bangkok, 16 February 2011—Thirty years after the first cases of HIV were diagnosed, 90 percent of countries in the Asia-Pacific region still have laws and practices that obstruct the rights of people living with HIV and those at higher risk of HIV exposure.

As part of a global drive to remove barriers to progress in the AIDS response, policymakers and community advocates will join experts from the Global Commission on HIV and the Law in Bangkok on 17 February for the first in a series of regional dialogues to be held across the world.

The Global Commission on HIV and the Law is an independent body comprising some of the world’s most respected legal, human rights and HIV leaders.  At this week’s dialogue, approximately 150 participants from 22 countries will discuss and debate region-wide experiences of restrictive and enabling legal and social environments faced by key populations in the Asia-Pacific region, including people living with HIV.

According to UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, “The law and its application can have a profound impact on the lives of people, especially those who are marginalized and disempowered.  The law is a powerful instrument to challenge stigma, promote public health, and protect human rights. We have much to learn from the positive and negative experiences in this region on the interactions between the law, legislative reform, law enforcement practices, and public health responses.”

Across the region, legislation and law enforcement often lag behind national HIV policies, with the result that the reach and effectiveness of HIV prevention, treatment and care programmes are undermined. For example, 19 countries still criminalize same-sex relations and 29 countries criminalize some aspect of sex work. Many countries in the region enforce compulsory detention for people who use drugs and in some cases (eleven countries in Asia) issue the death penalty for drug offences.

“In the Asia-Pacific region, and across the world, there are too many examples of countries with laws, policies and practices that punish, rather than protect, people in need of HIV services. Where the law does not advance justice, it stalls progress,” said Mr. Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), who will participate in the Commission’s dialogue in Bangkok. “Advancing human rights and gender equity would not only be a triumph for the AIDS response, but for human development as a whole.”

Responding on behalf of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, the Hon. Michael Kirby, Commissioner and Co-Chair of the Commission’s Technical Advisory Group stated “the effectiveness of the HIV response will depend not just on the scale up of HIV prevention, treatment and care, but on whether the legal and social environment support or hinder programmes for those who are most vulnerable. This requires bold and effective legal and policy measures to reach out to vulnerable communities and individuals at risk.”

The Regional Dialogue, hosted by the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, is jointly organized by UNDP and UNAIDS in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission on Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). In mid-2010, ESCAP’s Member States passed Resolution 66/10 in which countries committed to address policy and legal barriers to effective HIV responses.

“I am proud that, in our region, we have had such strong showing of collective will to handle these difficult issues,” said Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP. “In adopting Resolution 66/10, our Member States highlighted the urgency of ensuring universal access to comprehensive prevention programmes, treatment, care and support. A major step towards achieving these goals is to foster an equitable and just legal and policy environment, with particular regard for key populations.

Note to editors:

The Global Commission on HIV and the Law was launched in June 2010 by UNDP on behalf of the UNAIDS family to provide global leadership on HIV-related legal and human rights issues by analysing what is known about the interactions between the legal environments, human rights and HIV; fostering evidence-informed public dialogue on the need for rights-based law and policy in the context of HIV; and identifying clear and actionable recommendations with a concrete plan for follow-up.  (www.hivlawcommission.org)

The members of the Commission are: former President of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil, Commission Chair), Justice Edwin Cameron (South Africa), Ms. Ana Helena Chacón-Echeverría (Costa Rica), Mr. Charles Chauvel (New Zealand), Dr. Shereen El Feki (Egypt, Commission Vice-Chair), Ms. Bience Gawanas (Namibia), Dame Carol Kidu (Papua New Guinea), the Honourable Michael Kirby (Australia), the Honourable Barbara Lee (United States), Mr. Stephen Lewis (Canada), His Excellency Mr. Festus Mogae (Botswana), Mr. JVR Prasada Rao (India), Professor Sylvia Tamale (Uganda), Mr. Jon Ungphakorn (Thailand) and Professor Miriam Were (Kenya).

GENEVA, 31 January 2011—The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is concerned about reported government-led investigations of programmes run by the All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV and other non-governmental organizations working in the field of AIDS across Ukraine. UNAIDS calls on the Government of Ukraine to ensure the investigations do not lead to a disruption of HIV services provided by these organizations to thousands of people.

The All-Ukrainian Network of People Living with HIV and other community and non-governmental organizations play a key role in Ukraine’s response to the HIV epidemic. Working together, the Ukrainian government and civil society organizations have achieved considerable success in providing services for HIV prevention, treatment, care and support to populations at higher risk of HIV infection and people living with HIV.

UNAIDS commends the Government of Ukraine on the recently endorsed State Law on AIDS that promotes a human rights-based AIDS response. The law guarantees harm reduction services—including needle exchange and substitution treatment—for people who inject drugs; confidentiality of HIV status for people living with HIV; post-exposure prophylaxis for health care providers and victims of sexual violence; and independent access to HIV-related services for adolescents.

This endorsement of the provision of harm reduction services for people who inject drugs—an evidence-informed measure that has proven effective in many countries, including Ukraine, and endorsed by UNAIDS, WHO and UNODC—will strengthen existing programmes run jointly by the government and non-governmental organizations.

“This law represents a major turning point for the AIDS response in Eastern Europe,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. “The new law must be fully implemented by all parts of the government in letter and spirit.”

With this law, Ukraine also joins a growing list of countries that have lifted entry, stay and residence restrictions for non-nationals living with HIV, aligning the country’s HIV legislation with international public health, social and human rights protection standards.

The new law represents an important commitment by Ukraine to the country’s HIV epidemic, which remains the most severe in all of Europe. HIV prevalence in Ukraine is estimated at 1.3% and annual HIV diagnoses in the country have more than doubled since 2001. Between 39% and 50% of the estimated 375 000 people who inject drugs in Ukraine are living with HIV.

GENEVA, 27 January 2011— UNAIDS expresses grave concern over the killing of David Kato, a prominent gay activist and human rights defender in Uganda.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of Mr Kato,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “I urge the Government of Uganda to conduct a thorough investigation into his death, as well as to ensure adequate security for its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.”

Mr Kato was a primary school teacher and a leading voice against Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Sex between men is considered illegal under Uganda’s existing laws. The United Nations including UNAIDS and many development partners have called on the Ugandan Parliament to drop the bill and to decriminalize same-sex behaviour.

Mr Kato’s death comes days after the High Court of Uganda ruled that Uganda’s constitution protects the right to dignity and privacy for all Ugandans regardless of their sexual orientation. Specifically, the court ruled that inciting violence against people based on their sexual orientation threatens their right to human dignity.

This ruling came from a case against a local publication that had published a photograph of Mr Kato and others, urging citizens ‘to hang them because of their sexual orientation’. UNAIDS denounces homophobia and actions that incite violence against individuals and communities.

Some 80 countries or areas around the world have laws that make same-sex behaviour a criminal offence. UNAIDS believes that such laws are discriminatory and create obstacles for people accessing HIV services.

GENEVA, 17 January 2011—UNAIDS is concerned by the recent reported killings of transgender people in Honduras. Since late November 2010, five individuals from the transgender community have been reportedly killed in separate incidents in the country. The motive for these killings has not been determined.

“UNAIDS urges the Government of Honduras to take every step to investigate these killings thoroughly,” said Mr Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “All forms of discrimination, including transphobia, block access to HIV prevention programmes and impact the quality of care for people living with HIV.”

Honduras has committed to protecting the human rights of all individuals in various international and regional resolutions. “I urge all states to provide adequate protection to transgender people,” said Mr Sidibé.

UNAIDS expresses its full support for the community of transgender people in Honduras and for the Latin American Network of Transgender People (REDLACTRANS) in their efforts to stop intimidation and violence against transgender individuals.

UNAIDS urges countries to improve legal and social environments to protect human rights in the context of the HIV epidemic and reiterates its call for global freedom of movement for people living with HIV

GENEVA, 10 December 2010— As the AIDS epidemic enters its fourth decade, stigma based on HIV status remains unacceptably high across the globe. Discrimination, inequality and social exclusion based on health status, gender, sexual orientation, drug dependency, disability and migrant and refugee status, prevent people from accessing life-saving HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.

This week, UNAIDS adopted a new five-year strategy which positioned ‘advancing human rights and gender equality’ as one of three pillars necessary to halt and reverse the spread of HIV, alongside HIV prevention and treatment. This will help realise UNAIDS’ vision of Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.

The strategy tasks UNAIDS to work more intensively with countries to halve the number of countries with punitive laws by 2015; eliminate HIV-related restrictions on travel in half of the countries that continue to have them; address the specific needs of women and girls in at least half of all national HIV responses; and adopt zero tolerance for gender-based violence.

“Zero discrimination is a prerequisite to preventing new HIV infections and ensuring people who are infected have access to treatment and support services,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “This strategy will help to ensure that the response to HIV is not only effective in protecting health but also in protecting the dignity and security of people affected by HIV.”

UNAIDS remains concerned about the 49 countries, territories and areas around the world that still impose some kind of restriction on people living with HIV who seek to enter, stay or work in the country. Such restrictions are an indicator of continuing discrimination based on HIV status. Furthermore, there is no evidence that such restrictions prevent HIV transmission or protect public health.

In growing recognition of these facts, three countries during 2010—China, Namibia and the USA— removed their travel restrictions based on HIV status. India and Ecuador also issued clarifications to underline that they too no longer employ such restrictions.

On this year’s Human Rights Day, UNAIDS urges the 49 remaining countries to lift their HIV-related travel restrictions and ensure protection against HIV-related discrimination. 

GENEVA, 15 July 2010—Five United Nations agencies—UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS, and UNDP—express concern that health and social workers have suffered as a result of their professional activities in the response to HIV in several countries in eastern Europe and central Asia.

Persecution, criminal investigation, arrests and sentencing of HIV activists as well as health and social workers affect not only the lives of the people involved but also discourage other activists and professionals, and deprive societies of some of the most valuable and vital resources in the response to the epidemic—people’s commitment and energy at the community level.

Health, social and outreach workers are at the front line of the response to HIV, providing critical assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people who need it. They also help countries meet their goals and obligations in the HIV response, linking government efforts with the most vulnerable to HIV—young people and populations at high risk of infection.

In several countries of eastern Europe and central Asia, health and social workers and volunteers have been prosecuted because of their professional activities—activities they felt compelled to carry out in order to save lives, as the epidemic does not wait for societies to adjust and re-examine principles and approaches.

The activities of these practitioners have been guided by scientific evidence on how best to achieve good public health outcomes. Often challenging taboos, health and social workers inform adolescents about the behaviours that lead to HIV infection, help injecting drug users through harm reduction activities, support prevention programmes for sex workers and men who have sex with men, and work in oral substitution centres for drug users or in health facilities in conditions that are far from perfect.

Eastern Europe and central Asia is the only region in the world where new HIV infections remain on the rise. The contribution of these front-line practitioners is essential in responding to the epidemic in the region. They need the support and protection of authorities, and their basic human rights must be ensured.

The UN agencies urge governments to acknowledge the critical role of health and social workers in the prevention and treatment of HIV infection and to better understand the complexity of their work. We appeal to the governments of the region to bring an end to counterproductive persecution and harassment, to discontinue procedures that hamper their work and release those who have been detained.

 
Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director and Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator launch HIV and the Law commission.
Credit: UNAIDS

Geneva, 24 June 2010 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the support of the UNAIDS Secretariat, launched the Global Commission on HIV and the Law today. The Commission’s aim is to increase understanding of the impact of the legal environment on national HIV responses. Its aim is to focus on how laws and law enforcement can support, rather than block, effective HIV responses.

The Global Commission on HIV and the Law brings together world-renowned public leaders from many walks of life and regions.  Experts on law, public health, human rights, and HIV will support the Commissions’ work. Commissioners will gather and share evidence about the extent of the impact of law and law enforcement on the lives of people living with HIV and those most vulnerable to HIV.  They will make recommendations on how the law can better support universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Regional hearings, a key innovation, will provide a space in which those most directly affected by HIV-related laws can share their experiences with policy makers. This direct interaction is critical. It has long been recognized that the law is a critical part of any HIV response, whether it be formal or traditional law, law enforcement or access to justice. All of these can help determine whether people living with or affected by HIV can access services, protect themselves from HIV, and live fulfilling lives grounded in human dignity.

Nearly 30 years into the epidemic, however, there are many countries in which negative legal environments undermine HIV responses and punish, rather than protect, people in need. Where the law does not advance justice, it stalls progress. Laws that inappropriately criminalize HIV transmission or exposure can discourage people from getting tested for HIV or revealing their HIV positive status. Laws which criminalize men who have sex with men, transgender people, drug-users, and/or sex workers can make it difficult to provide essential HIV prevention or treatment services to people at high risk of HIV infection. In some countries, laws and law enforcement fail to protect women from rape inside and outside marriage – thus increasing women’s vulnerability to HIV.

At the same time, there are also many examples where the law has had a positive impact on the lives of people living with or vulnerable to HIV.  The law has protected the right to treatment, the right to be free from HIV-related discrimination in the workplace, in schools and in military services; and has protected the rights of prisoners to have access to HIV prevention services.  Where the law has guaranteed women equal inheritance and property rights, it has reduced the impact of HIV on women, children, families and communities.

With more than four million people on life-saving treatment and a seventeen per cent decrease in new infections between 2001 and 2008, there is hope that the HIV epidemic is at a turning point.  To reach country’s own universal access targets and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), persistent barriers like punitive laws and human rights violations will need to be overcome.

UNDP Administrator Helen Clark believes that the next generation of HIV responses must focus on improving legal, regulatory, and social environments to advance human rights and gender equality goals. “Some 106 countries still report having laws and policies present significant obstacles to effective HIV responses. We need environments which protect and promote the human rights of those who are most vulnerable to HIV infection and to the impact of HIV, and of those living with HIV/AIDS,” Helen Clark said.

Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director has made removing punitive laws a priority area for UNAIDS. “The time has come for the HIV response to respond to the voice of the voiceless,” he said. “We must stand shoulder to shoulder with people who are living with HIV and who are most at risk. By transforming negative legal environments, we can help tomorrow’s leaders achieve an AIDS-free generation.”

The Global Commission on HIV and the Law is being supported by a broad range of partners and stakeholders, including donors such as the Ford Foundation and AusAID. Murray Proctor, Australia’s Ambassador on HIV, expressed strong support for the Commission and the work it is tasked to do. “We commend UNDP and the UNAIDS programme for courageously taking this work forward, and we welcome the opportunity to contribute and support.”

The Commission’s work will take place over an 18 month period –mobilizing communities across the globe and promoting public dialogue on how to make the law work for an effective response to HIV. The findings and recommendations of the Commission will be announced in December 2011.

Geneva, 18 December 2009 – The Parliament of Rwanda is currently meeting to consider the Draft Penal Code of Rwanda, which contains two proposed provisions of concern to UNAIDS. One is a provision which criminalises ‘engaging in, and inciting, homosexual acts’, and the other provides for criminal penalties for sex work. UNAIDS urges Rwanda to show leadership in Africa and beyond by rejecting these punitive laws that will negatively impact the AIDS response, as well as the human rights of those affected.

UNAIDS notes the progress attained by the Republic of Rwanda as well as the commitment of national stakeholders at all levels in its response to AIDS, and salutes its regional and global leadership on AIDS. UNAIDS is concerned, however, that the above-mentioned provisions of the draft Penal Code may jeopardise the efforts of Rwanda to realise the goal of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

Laws that provide criminal penalties for populations at high risk of HIV infection, such as sex workers and men who have sex with men, drive these populations underground and out of reach of HIV services that protect their health and the public’s health. For this reason, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé, has called for the removal of punitive laws, policies, practices, stigma and discrimination that act as obstacles to national AIDS responses.

“In light of commitments to attain universal access and uphold human rights in national AIDS responses, I ask countries to avoid imposing criminal sanctions on populations at risk of HIV infection. Instead I urge compassion, solidarity and pragmatism in the response to HIV - not punishment and marginalization”, Mr. Sidibe said.

UNAIDS therefore urges Rwandan Parliamentarians and all national stakeholders to sustain their positive commitment and exceptional leadership in the HIV response by rejecting the criminalisation of same sex relations and sex work and adopting a legislative framework that enables an effective response to AIDS. Such a position is consistent with the evidence-informed and rights-based Rwandan National Strategic Plan on HIV and AIDS 2009-2012 which ensures access to HIV prevention, treatment and care services for all, including sex workers and men who have sex with men.

UNAIDS reiterates its full support to the Republic of Rwanda in the pursuit of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Geneva, 1 December 2009 – On World AIDS Day, as we reflect on universal access and human rights, UNAIDS calls on governments to refrain from passing criminal laws that fuel discrimination, prevent effective national responses to HIV and violate human rights.
2009 has seen some important advances in creating a legal environment conducive for HIV prevention, especially among one of the most affected groups, men who have sex with men, most notably in the Delhi High Court decision to strike down the anti-sodomy law in India.

UNAIDS calls for governments to refrain from laws that criminalize men who have sex with men, lesbians, and transgender people, as well as those that apply criminal penalties for “promotion or recognition” of such behaviour or failing to report such behaviour to the police. These laws, which are in place or are now being considered in some countries, pose a serious threat to human rights and risk to undermine effective responses to the HIV epidemic.

“The gay community has historically been at the forefront of the global AIDS response. As a social movement, the gay community changed AIDS from simply another disease to an issue of justice, dignity, security, and human rights,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “In my view, any attack on homosexuality is an attack on the all aspects of the AIDS response and a set-back to reaching universal access goals.”
 
In the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS (2001), adopted by all United Nations Member States, Governments committed to address the needs of those at risk of infection based on sexual practices. In the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS (2006), Governments reiterated their commitment to support the full and active participation of vulnerable groups and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against them while respecting their privacy and confidentiality. All UN Member States also committed to promote a social and legal environment that is supportive of safe and voluntary disclosure of HIV status.

UNAIDS supports countries and communities to achieve these commitments as essential to reach universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support and to achieve Millennium Development Goal 6—to halt and begin to reverse the HIV epidemic by 2015.  Achieving these goals will not be possible where discrimination and criminalization continues against people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, lesbians, and transgender people. 

The human rights of people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, lesbians and transgender people must be fully respected. Where they have been able to access HIV information, prevention and treatment and avoid discrimination, these populations have become a force for health and community empowerment. Countries which protect men who have sex with men from discrimination tend to have significantly greater access to HIV prevention services than in countries where no such protection exists.

Presently 80 countries penalize homosexuality. UNAIDS calls for all governments to protect their citizens from discrimination, denial of health care, harassment, or violence based on health status or sexual orientation and gender identity.