November 25, 2010                                                                                    OPEN LETTER

The Hon. Lawrence Cannon, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Foreign Affairs
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1L1

Dear Minister,

We write to you in reference to recent actions taken by the United Nations General Assembly. As you are surely aware, the General Assembly voted last week to remove a reference to sexual orientation from a resolution that condemns extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. The deletion of this reference, which has been included in the resolution for the past ten years, is extremely disturbing and dangerous. It eliminates the important recognition of the particular vulnerability faced by sexual minorities around the world at a time when homosexuality is still criminalized in 76 countries and considered a capital offence by 5 of these.

While Egale Canada appreciates that Canada voted against removing the reference in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, we now call on the Government of Canada to publicly condemn this failure of the international community to protect and uphold the rights and security of sexual minorities. We ardently request that steps be taken promptly and unequivocally to affirm Canada's commitment to fundamental human rights around the globe and to hold accountable those Member States who failed in their duty to protect the rights of all people, regardless of sexual orientation.

Sincerely,

Helen Kennedy
Executive Director
Egale Canada

CC: The Hon. Bob Rae, P.C., M.P.
Paul Dewar, M.P.
Ambassador John McNee

Egale Canada ©2011

Canada's LGBT human rights organization: advancing equality, diversity, education, and justice.