A letter to Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa 

In a letter to Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa today, the Blue Diamond Society (BDS) urged the nation to vote for the Human Rights and Sexual Orientation resolution at the upcoming 60th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Sunil Babu Pant, director of The Blue Diamond Society (Nepal) and ILGA Co-Secretary General Rosanna Flamer-Caldera attend a Plenary Session at the last ILGA World Conference.

"BDS believes it is essential for the commission to adopt a resolution affirming that human rights cannot be denied on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity," said the letter signed by the director of BDS, Sunil Babu Pant.

According to the letter, such a resolution is important not only to assist the UN in shedding light on violations that are often concealed in silence and stigma, but also to uphold the basic principle that all human rights must be enjoyed equally by all.

The letter also states that such abuse is persistent all over South Asia where countries still legally prohibit sexual relations between persons of the same sex. And people detained on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender equity are tortured and ill-treated in police custody.

Himalayan News Service Kathmandu, February 3