Thai expert picked for first-ever LGBTI role

The United Nations’ Human Rights Council on Friday appointed Prof Vitit Muntarbhorn, a UN expert who has served on many of its panels, as the council’s first-ever independent investigator to help protect homosexual and transgender people worldwide from violence and discrimination. 

He will have a three-year mandate to investigate abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.

Vitit is an experienced human rights expert and an international law professor at Chulalongkorn Univer-sity. He is a household name with LGBTI activists in Thailand although he is not an activist himself.

The UN agreed on the new role in June, after the 47-member council overcame strong objections by Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries to adopt a Western-backed resolution by a vote of 23 states in favour and 18 against with six abstentions.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the appointment on Friday, saying the UN council “made history”.

“This critical mandate will bring much-needed attention to human rights violations against LGBT people in all regions of the world,” John Fisher, the group’s director in Geneva, said in a statement.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) said the newly created role was critical in providing justice to LGBTI people who had been attacked, abused or discriminated against.

“Never has there been a more urgent need to safeguard the human rights of LGBTI persons around the world,” executive director of ILGA, Renato Sabbadini, said in a statement to the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Jessica Stern, executive director of OutRight Action International, which is formerly the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, described Vitit’s appointment as “a huge leap forward”.

She said the governments of the world have appointed an expert to document anti-LGBT rights violations and provide technical assistance to identify solutions and bring about lasting social change. 

“We celebrate that his appointment went through the Human Rights Commission today [Friday] and we will work to put resources at his disposal to ensure the success of this vitally important mandate,” Stern said.

Social media yesterday was full of messages congratulating Vitit.

French Ambassador to Thailand Gilles Garachon said on Twitter: “Congrats #VititMuntarbhorn! For the first time in its history @UN appoints an expert to protect people against discrimination #LGBT.”

German Ambassador to Thailand Peter Pruegel tweeted: “Now official! Prof Vitit Muntarbhorn from #Thailand appointed 1st ever independent #UN #SOGI expert on #LGBT rights. Congrats!!!”

Vitit has served on several UN bodies, including the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, and as a special rapporteur on North Korea. He also participated in the drafting of the Yogyakarta Principles, which detail the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity.

As the independent expert on SOGI issues, Vitit will be tasked with assessing the implementation of existing international human rights laws; identifying best practices and gaps; raising awareness of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; engaging in dialogue and consultation with states and other stakeholders; and facilitating provisions for advisory services, technical assistance, capacity-building, and cooperation to help address violence and discrimination on these grounds.

On August 30, the UN Human Rights Council president announced Vitit as his chosen candidate for the independent expert on SOGI. The choice was made from a short list of three candidates submitted to him by a consultative group, which placed the Thai at the top of the list. 

The group interviewed five candidates from a list of 21 people who had applied for the post before submitting the three names to the president.

Hundreds of LGBTI have been killed and thousands injured in recent years, in violence that included knife attacks, anal rape and genital mutilation, as well as stoning and dismemberment, the UN said in a report last year.

More than 2,000 transgender and gender diverse people were murdered in 65 countries between 2008 and 2015, according to The Trans Murder Monitoring project, which is coordinated by LGBT rights group Transgender Europe.