by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
The European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights has denounced the newest Cotonou Agreement, which delineates political and trade relations between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific states.
European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs had vowed to include non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in the agreement's revised terms, as demanded by the European Parliament, but he then failed to do so "despite blatant increases in state-supported violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the ACP region," the Intergroup said.
Forty-nine of the 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific nations that are parties to the agreement criminalize gay sex with up to 14 years in prison. Five punish gay sex with the death penalty.
"This is unacceptable for the European Parliament," said Intergroup Co-President Michael Cashman. "The (European) Commission backed down in the face of governments that increasingly discriminate, imprison, torture and kill people because of their sexual orientation. It is a dangerous signal that there is a hierarchy of rights: some will be defended, but others will not. This matter will not be left to rest here."
Intergroup Co-President Ulrike Lunacek added: "I would have expected Commissioner Piebalgs not to give in to pressure from ACP governments. … The European Parliament will confront the Commission with this decision."
The Cotonou Agreement will be signed in June in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
