With
Obama
Proud
of UN Gay Amendment, 10 Who Did Not
Vote include Uzbekistan, Turkey & Gabon, "Strong-Armed"
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee, Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
December
22 -- After the sexual
orientation amendment to UN
General Assembly's resolution against extrajudicial executions passed
on December 21, US President Barack Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs
issued a statement that “President Obama applauds those countries
that supported” the amendment.
Ambassador
Susan
Rice
tweeted that the US had gone “all in” to win passage of the
amendment, with 93 for, 55 against and 27 abstentions -- that is, 175
votes casts of the UN's 192 member states.
Little
noticed
were
the ten countries which did not vote at all of the LGBT
amendment, but were present and voting minutes later on the overall
resolution on extrajudicial executions, on which 185 votes were cast.
Late
Tuesday,
sources
told Inner City Press this was reflexive of “arm twisting”
or advocacy by the US over the weekend. “They conveniently walked
out of the room,” as one source put it, appearing satisfied.
The
countries
which were conveniently absent on the LGBT vote included Central Asia
countries with dubious human rights records: Uzbekistan, which former
UK Ambassador Craig Murray accused of boiling to death the opponents
of Islam Karimov; Kyrgyzstan with its recent ethnic cleansing and
support from the US, and Turkmenistan, where Turkmenbashi's former
dentist rules the roost.
Also out of
the room or not voting on the LGBT text, but suddenly back for the
executions resolution were the African nations of Gabon, Cameroon and
Madagascar.
More
tellingly,
when
Inner City Press on Wednesday morning in front of the Security
Council asked one of the absent country's Ambassador about his
country's sudden absence
for the LGBT amendment, he acknowledged without hesitation or
equivocation the pressure from the United States.
Obama, Hillary Clinton & Susan Rice, 3 'Stans
& Gabon not shown
As
one example among those countries which did vote, advocates pointed
at the abstention, rather than "no" vote, of Jamaica.
Footnotes:
A
country
that may have walked out and not voted for its own internal
reasons is Turkey. Another, Tuvalu, is small and climate change
focused. The final two are harder to understand: Myanmar and Cuba,
which spoke after the vote to pillory the US' hypocrisy for
abstaining from the overall extrajudicial executions resolution.
The
US
Mission
has yet to clearly state its reason, which most take to be
about its drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. Watch this site.
* * *
At
UN
Gays
Added
to Executions Resolution, US
Overall
Abstains
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December
21
-- Lesbians and gays were added Tuesday to a UN
resolution against extrajudicial executions from which the US
abstained.
In
the
run up to the vote, not only the United Arab
Emirates for the Arab Group and Tajikistan for the Organization of
the Islamic Conference but also Benin for the Africa Group urged that
the LGBT amendment be opposed.
Zimbabwe
went
further,
openly
referring to bestiality and saying “we won't have
it foisted on us!” To the surprise of some, both South Africa and
Rwanda said they would vote for the LGBT amendment, both based on
evidence that gays and lesbians are disproportionately targeted.
Rick
Barton
of
the
US Mission to the UN introduced the amendment, and did not mention
that the US would in fact abstain from the resolution barring
extrajudicial executions, related it's reported to criticism of the
US' use of drones in Pakistan and elsewhere.
The
vote on the
LGBT amendment was 93 for, 55 against and 27 abstaining. With it
added, the overall extrajudicial executions resolution passed 122
for, 1 against, 62 abstaining - including the US.
Prior
to
the
vote,
Inner City Press asked the acting Deputy Spokesman for
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon if he had any guidance for member
states on the LGBT amendment. No, spokesman Farhan Haq said.
In
other voting, a
resolution for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty passed
109 for moratorium, the US and 40 more against it, and 35 abstaining.
The Defamation of Religion resolution passed 79 for, 67 against and
40 abstaining.
, 
