IV
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. CON. RES. 173
Expressing the concern of Congress regarding human rights violations against
lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered (LGBT) individuals
around the world.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 26, 2001
Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. WEXLER, Mr.
MCGOVERN, Ms. LEE, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. ALLEN, Mr.
ENGEL, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. WYNN, Ms. RIVERS,
Mr. WEINER, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr.
FRANK, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. PELOSI, Ms.
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. STARK, and Ms.
WOOLSEY) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the concern of Congress regarding human rights
violations against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and
transgendered (LGBT) individuals around the world.
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring),
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This concurrent resolution may be cited as the
‘‘International Human Rights Equality Resolution’’.
•HCON 173 IH
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Treaties, conventions, and declarations to
which the United States is a party address govern-
ment obligations to combat human rights violations,
and the overall goals and standards of these treaties,
conventions, and declarations in promoting human
rights of all individuals have been found to be con-
sistent with, and in support of, the aspirations of the
United States at home and globally, as well as con-
sistent with the Constitution of the United States.
(2) Articles 3 and 5 of the 1948 Universal Dec-
laration of Human Rights and Articles 6, 7, and 9
of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Po-
litical Rights guarantee all individuals the right to
life, liberty, and security of person, and guarantee
that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment,
and the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punish-
ment reinforces the commitment of countries to pre-
vent torture within their jurisdictions.
(3) The fundamental human right not to be ar-
bitrarily deprived of life is violated when those con-
victed of homosexual acts in Afghanistan are sen-
tenced to be executed and are crushed by having
•HCON 173 IH
walls toppled over them, and there remain a number
of other countries around the world that call for the
possible execution of those convicted of homosexual
acts, including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Mau-
ritania, and Iran.
(4) The fundamental right not to be subjected
to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment is violated when, because of their real or
perceived 
sexual 
identity, 
gay 
men, 
lesbians,
bisexuals, and transgendered individuals (hereafter
referred to as ‘‘LGBT individuals’’) are subjected to
severe beatings while in police custody in Argentina
and Uganda, and individuals in these groups are
also routinely the victims of human rights abuses,
such as extortion, entrapment, physical assaults, and
rape, committed by the police in Mexico and Ecua-
dor, among other countries.
(5) A number of LGBT individuals are targeted
and tortured or killed because of their real or per-
ceived sexual identity by paramilitary groups in Gua-
temala and El Salvador, which collude with the mili-
tary, police, and other government officials in those
countries.
(6) Articles 2 and 7 of the Universal Declara-
tion of Human Rights and Articles 2, 14, and 26 of
•HCON 173 IH
the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights guarantee all individuals freedom from arbi-
trary discrimination and equal protection before the
law.
(7) Individuals in many countries, such as Ro-
mania, are convicted pursuant to penal laws which
criminalize sexual conduct between same-sex part-
ners, and these individuals are subjected to torture,
including rape, in prison, for which they have no
legal recourse for redress.
(8) In Pakistan and Saudi Arabia the sentence
for sexual conduct between same-sex partners who
are consenting adults includes flogging, and in
Singapore and Uganda the sentence for sexual con-
duct between same-sex partners who are consenting
adults can extend to life in prison.
(9) Many governments, on the basis of vague
laws, may target and persecute LGBT individuals
because of their real or perceived sexual identity, in-
cluding in Egypt where individuals in these groups
may be imprisoned under laws that penalize offenses
against public morals, and in Venezuela where indi-
viduals in these groups are imprisoned under the
laws against vagrants and crooks, and the vagueness
•HCON 173 IH
of these laws makes it difficult to monitor govern-
mental persecution.
(10) Articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Dec-
laration of Human Rights and Articles 19 and 22 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights guarantee all individuals freedom of expres-
sion and freedom of association.
(11) The fundamental rights of freedom of ex-
pression and association are violated when govern-
ments deny the right of LGBT individuals to form
organizations or advocate for rights under inter-
national humanitarian laws, such as in Zimbabwe
where members of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe
(GALZ) have been threatened and brutally assaulted
for mobilizing around issues of concern to LGBT in-
dividuals.
(12) In some countries, agents of the govern-
ment are directing or are complicitous in abuses
committed on the basis of sexual orientation and
gender identity, and investigation and prosecution of
those agents for these violations of international law
often do not occur.
(13) Due to the failure by governments to in-
vestigate and prosecute human rights violations
based on sexual orientation and gender identity, pri-
•HCON 173 IH
vate individuals feel encouraged to attack violently
LGBT individuals with impunity, contributing to an
atmosphere of fear and intimidation for LGBT indi-
viduals.
(14) The human rights violations that lesbian
and bisexual women suffer because of their real or
perceived sexual identity are particularly vitriolic be-
cause of their gender, and, moreover, the aggravated
abuse of these women often goes unreported because
of their gender.
(15) Violations of internationally recognized
human rights norms are to be considered crimes re-
gardless of the real or perceived sexual identity of
the victims and are to be punished without discrimi-
nation.
(16) Fundamental access to legal protection
from violations of internationally recognized human
rights norms is often unavailable to the victims.
(17) Lesbians and bisexual women face addi-
tional obstacles in these countries when seeking as-
sistance from police, judges, and other officials due
to pervasive gender bias.
(18) The preceding clauses constitute only a
few examples of the violations suffered by LGBT in-
dividuals because of their real or perceived sexual
•HCON 173 IH
identity, the full range and extent of such violations
are 
not 
known 
because 
governments 
create
atmospheres of immunity for those perpetrating
such human rights violations and prevent victims
from seeking effective protection and just redress,
and, thus, their suffering remains undocumented
and unremedied.
(19) Many nongovernmental human rights or-
ganizations, 
including 
Amnesty 
International,
Human Rights Watch, and the International Gay
and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, as well as
the United States Department of State and the
United Nations, have documented, and are con-
tinuing to document, the ongoing violations of the
human rights of LGBT individuals.
SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF POLICY.
Congress—
(1) condemns all violations of internationally
recognized human rights norms based on the real or
perceived sexual orientation or gender identity of an
individual;
(2)(A) recognizes that human rights violations
abroad based on sexual orientation and gender iden-
tity should be punished without discrimination be-
tween these and other crimes, regardless of the real
•HCON 173 IH
or perceived sexual identity of the victims, and that
such violations should be given the same consider-
ation and concern as human rights violations based
on other grounds in the formulation of policies to
protect and promote human rights globally; and
(B) further recognizes that the protection from
human rights abuses, such as torture and other
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punish-
ment, is fully embedded in international humani-
tarian law, regardless of the sexual orientation and
gender identity of the victim; and
(3) commends nongovernmental human rights
organizations, 
including 
Amnesty 
International,
Human Rights Watch, and the International Gay
and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, as well as
the United States Department of State and the
United Nations, for documenting the ongoing abuse
of human rights on the basis of sexual orientation
and gender identity.
Æ