by Rex Wockner
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
As the United Nations Human Rights Council continued its periodic review sessions on various nations, several developments took place this month.
Mongolia's representatives accepted recommendations that the nation address issues of violence against LGBT people.
Panama accepted a recommendation to synchronize its national laws with the norms of "The Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in Relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity," which were drawn up at a 2006 meeting in Indonesia by human-rights experts from around the world.
Honduras agreed to review its national laws to ensure that LGBT human rights are not abridged.
And Jamaica agreed to provide enforcement officials with sensitivity training on matters of sexual orientation, gender identity and HIV.
At the same time, representatives of four nations — Lebanon, Malawi, Maldives and Mauritania — rejected recommendations that they decriminalize gay sex.
In January at the Human Rights Council, Sao Tome and Principe said it will legalize gay sex by June, and Nauru said it also plans to decriminalize homosexuality.
The Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review officially analyzes the human-rights record of each of the 192 U.N. member nations on a rotating basis once every four years, and urges reviewed nations to protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
