Status on the reasons for South Africa voting in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly for the removal of a reference to sexual orientation from a resolution on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NO: 337 (NW362E)

PUBLISHED IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 3-2011

Mr J Selfe (DA) to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation:
What were the reasons for South Africa voting in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly for the removal of a reference to sexual orientation from a resolution on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions?

REPLY

South Africa, guided by its Constitution which guarantees the Right to life, holds a strong view that no killing of human beings can be justified under any circumstances what so ever.
During the negotiations in the 3rd Committee on the matter at hand, South Africa supported a proposal that advocated for the principle of non-discrimination. South Africa therefore did not vote to remove any reference to sexual orientation, but voted in favour of the principle of non-discrimination which was broad enough to include all forms of discrimination, including sexual orientation. There was a general feeling among the majority of Members of the Committee, especially Africa that it was not necessary to list the forms of discrimination, to avoid the risk of either creating a hierarchy or not mentioning others.  

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