ILGA OCEANIA STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF POLIKALEPO KEFU

(this is a statement issued by ILGA Oceania, on the death of Polikalepo Kefu, president of ILGA World member organsiation Tonga Leitis Association. The original statement can be accessed here)

Poli Kefu played a pivotal role in coordinating the Tongan Hub for our recent Human Rights and Law Reform Virtual Symposium held recently (February) in Suva, Fiji. Poli was a humble gentle inspiring leader who displayed a proactive interaction with ILGA Oceania on its various projects and conferences.

We extend to the family of Poli Kefu our sincere and respectful condolences as well as the members of the Tonga Leiti Association, its esteem Patron Hon Salote Lupepau’u Tuita Taione, its interim President Agabe Tu’inukuaf, illustrious Co-Founder Joleen Joey Mataele, and all Poli’s colleagues and friends.

Polikalepo Kefu

The Co-Chairs of ILGA Oceania, Vanessa Lee-Ah Mat and Ken Moala, with the ILGA Oceania Board, call upon the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga and the Tongan Police Authorities to identify the perpetrator/s of this heinous crime and bring the person/s to justice.

Throughout Oceania, members of ILGA Oceania still face violence and discriminationunequal or unfair treatment which can be based on a range of grounds - such as age, ethnic background, disability, and diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions or sex characteristics, amongst others. More because of our sexual orientationrefers to a person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to - and intimate and sexual relations with - individuals of a different gender or the same gender or more than one gender. More, gender identityrefers to a person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth. More and expression or intersexan umbrella term for the spectrum of variations of sex characteristics that naturally occur within the human species. Intersex people are born with variations of sex characteristics (such as genitals, reproductive organs, hormonal and chromosomal patterns) that are more diverse than stereotypical definitions of male or female bodies. Up to 1.7% of the global population are born with such traits; yet, because their bodies are seen as different, intersex children and adults are often stigmatised and subject to harmful practices – including in medical settings - and discriminated against. More status.  For the majority, these issues are linked to broader issues of genderrefers to a social construct which places cultural and social expectations on individuals based on their assigned sex. More equality, autonomy over our bodies and lives, sexual and reproductive health and rights. As well as multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination on the basis of factors such as class, poverty, occupation as sexrefers to the classification of a person as male, female, or other - usually made at birth, written on a birth certificate, and usually based on the appearance of their external anatomy. A person’s sex, however, is actually a combination of bodily characteristics, including chromosomes, hormones, internal and external reproductive organs, and secondary sex characteristics. More workers, religion, race, HIV status and disability.

In the spirit of activism and friendship, we will miss you Poli for your pro-active, strong activism, your commitment and dedication to LGBTIacronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people. Although this is not the acronym available to describe people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics, it is the most commonly used in United Nations spaces and advocacy. More issues and movement throughout the Kingdom of Tonga, the Pacific Islands and Oceania.  ILGA Oceania will continue to stand up for human rights and social justice as we stand in solidarity against violence in all its form.

Rest in Love and Rest in Peace.
#JusticeforPoli

Ken Moala & Vanessa Lee-Ah Mat
Co- Chairs ILGA Oceania