press conference on issues of exclusion against people living

with hiv, marginalized at-risk populations

 

A diverse civil-society panel representing key marginalized and at-risk groups called today for United Nations leadership in the global fight to end the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and the discrimination faced by many people living with the virus who had been rejected by their families or persecuted by their communities.

With nearly 100 Health Ministers in New York for the General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, activists and representatives of non-governmental organizations held a press conference this afternoon spotlighting the need to dispel dangerous myths about AIDS, protect and promote the human rights of all people living with HIV, and take concrete measures to end discriminatory practices such as HIV-related travel restrictions.  “The enemy is the virus, not the persons living with it,” they declared.

First among a panel of activists working on behalf of sex workers, men who had sex with men, transgender persons and intravenous drug users, Johannes Petrus Heath, of the African Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Affected by HIV, said that science, human rights, and HIV management had all advanced, but more than 70 United Nations Member States still retained “antiquated, irrational ineffective and outdated” laws restricting the movement of people for tourism, conference attendance, immigration or work simply because of their HIV status.  Accompanying Mr. Heath were Meena Seshu of Sampada Gramin Mahila Sastha (SANGRAM); Robert Carr of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition; Laxmi Tripathi, Chair of ASTIVA, an organization for the support and development of sexual minorities; and Stijn Goossens of the International Network of People Who Use Drugs.

Mr. Heath said that 10 of the current 15 members of the Security Council had HIV-related travel restrictions and three of its permanent members -- China, the Russian Federation and the United States -- had a total ban on the entry of people living with HIV.  The Republic of Korea, home of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was among the 13 countries worldwide which completely barred people with HIV.

“There is no evidence that travel restrictions related to HIV in any way limit its further spread,” he said, stressing that, on the contrary, such restrictions frequently caused people to refrain from testing for HIV, stop taking their medication, and enhanced the discrimination faced by people living with the disease.  “The only medical, moral and common-sense response would be for countries to immediately and unconditionally remove or revoke all current travel restrictions related to HIV.”

Ms. Seshu of SANGRAM, an organization of volunteers and sex workers providing education and support for people living with AIDS, welcomed the Secretary-General’s recent call for the decriminalization of sex work and his urging of Governments and other international actors to avoid programmes that accentuated AIDS-related stigma and could be counterproductive.  Unfortunately, many countries had begun changing their laws to accommodate the anti-prostitution policy of the United States, which conflated sex work and trafficking.

“Sex work is not trafficking, it is not criminal,” she said, stressing that conflating a criminal offence with adult consensual exchange of sexual services for money was unacceptable.  Such laws had led to discrimination, exclusion and violence against sex workers.  For example, the recent passage by the Cambodian Government of a law against sex work had led to raids against certain establishments, as well as arrests, detentions beatings and rapes by police.

Speaking about the situation of men who had sex with men, Mr. Carr said it was important for everyone to realize that the AIDS pandemic was not over.  Though cast as a “concentrated epidemic” affecting a few specific communities, it was indeed a generalized epidemic, and despite the “hoopla” surrounding civil unions in the North, the political and cultural environment in the developing world, home to nearly 95 per cent of people living with HIV, was becoming increasingly hostile.

Citing examples of the depth of hostility towards gays and people living with HIV in some countries, he said one African leader had recently threatened to behead all homosexuals in his country, while the Prime Minister of Jamaica had recently caused a stir by vowing that his Cabinet would never have room for a homosexual.  The deterioration of the social and political rights of sexual minorities had, sadly, come at a time when marginalized populations were experiencing increased relevancy rates.  “Without fundamental respect for human rights, the gains we have made in the response to date will be undermined and the important work ahead overwhelmed by a climate of exclusion, violence, imprisonment and death.”

Ms. Tripathi said transgender persons were the only sexual minority that could not be invisible, and they were persecuted ruthlessly for it.  No Government had ever called for the protection and promotion of the rights of transgender communities.  In fact, the present meeting was the first United Nations event on HIV/AIDS that had included transgender persons in the work of the civil society caucus.  “The fact that I’m here should be a big achievement, but it amounts to nothing.”

She explained that throughout the global South, especially in countries where transgender persons were also part of an ethnic group, sexual minorities were forced to beg for basic services and health care or forced into sex work because there was no political will to recognize their fundamental rights.  “Health services for HIV are out of the question because doctors don’t want to touch you.”  Transgender persons were often threatened with stoning and death.  Where there were transgender communities, people were often afraid to assert their rights because they knew the authorities would not back them up.  It was up to the United Nations to “wake people up so we will be recognized as human beings”.

Mr. Goossens said 10 per cent of all new HIV-infections worldwide were associated with drug use and people who used drugs.  In many countries, especially in Asia and those of the former Soviet Union, AIDS was driven largely by drug-related transmission.  However, a disproportionately small amount of the resources made available for AIDS care, treatment and support was targeted to drug users.

While the Secretary-General had specifically mentioned drug users and men who had sex with men as key intervention targets for the United Nations, current repressive drug policies had left people who used drugs on the margins of the global response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  The criminalization and discrimination that such policies caused, forced drug users to hide from services, which meant they had little or no access to information.  “There will be no universal access for people who use drugs if our human rights keep on being violated,” he declared.

Responding to questions, he urged relevant United Nations bodies to speak “with one voice”, especially regarding drug users.  The agency responsible for people who used drugs was not the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) or the World Health Organization (WHO), but the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which handled drugs, crime, and, lately, terrorism.  “So UNODC deals with people who commit crimes, perpetrate terrorist acts and use drugs.”  It was that very structuring within the United Nations that prevented the much-needed health approach to the fight against HIV/AIDS among drug users.

Asked if there was a role for the United Nations to play in ending discriminatory policies against migrants with HIV, Mr. Heath said that, by taking a stand on the issue, the Organization could help level the playing field.  “Across the globe, we need people to be able to move freely and work where they need to work.  We need to usher in legislation that takes HIV out of the equation.”

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For information media • not an official record