The United States joined states like Iraq and Saudi Arabia to vote against a United Nations resolution condemning the death penalty sentences against gay people for having sex. The reason that prompted US to vote against the motion was its fear that it could lead to total abolition of capital punishment in other cases as well.
In a press briefing, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, “We voted against that resolution because of broader concerns about the resolution’s approach to condemning the death penalty in all circumstances; and, it called for the abolition of the death penalty altogether,”
“We had hoped for a balanced and inclusive resolution that would better reflect the positions of states that continue to apply the death penalty lawfully, as the United States does.”
She added: “The United States unequivocally condemns the application of the death penalty for conduct such as homosexuality, blasphemy, adultery, and apostasy. “We do not consider such conduct appropriate for criminalization.”
Trump administration has invited the ire of Human rights advocates and LGBT activists as it became one of just 13 countries, including China that refused to condemn the “imposition of the death penalty as a sanction for specific forms of conduct, such as apostasy, blasphemy, adultery and consensual same-sex relations”.
The proposal, however, was passed by a vote of 27 in favor, 13 voted against it and 7 abstentions. After the vote, the US said,it “unequivocally condemns” executions ordered over cases of gay sex but stood by its decision to vote against the motion. The countries which voted against motion were
- Bangladesh
- Botswana
- Burundi
- China
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- India
- Iraq
- Japan
- Qatar
- Saudia Arabia
- The United Arab Emirates
- United States
Condemning the US move to vote against the motion, Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global, told news site Advocate: “This administration’s blatant disregard for human rights and LGBTQ lives around the world is beyond disgraceful.”
“It is unconscionable to think that there are hundreds of millions of people living in States where somebody may be executed simply because of whom they love.”
ILGA, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association, director said in a press statement.
Six countries punish homosexuality with death (Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen). If we included parts of Syria and Iraq occupied by ISIS, it rises to eight.
