8/2/2019 Senegal (on Behalf of the African Group) - English

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UNHumanRightsCouncil-PaneldiscussionsexualorientationandGenderIdentity-7March2012

SenegalonbehalfoftheAfricanGroup

Thankyou,MadamePresident.

MadamePresident,I ammakingthisstatementonbehalfofthemajorityof thememberstatesof

theAfricanGroup.

Wepayparticularattentiontothefightagainstdiscriminationandviolence,aswellasanyissuesthat

affecthumanbeings,boththeirsocial,economicandculturalrightsaswellastheircivicrights.Our

statementonthiscontroversialissueisanexpressionofourcommitmentwithinthisCouncilandour

determinationasagrouptomakesurethatourconcernsareheardwhichIwilldoonthebasisofthe

following points,which stems from the headsofgovernment and headsofstate summit held in

Kampala, Uganda, in 2010, and is on the basis of the governance document and charter of the

AfricanUnioninAddisAbeba,atourheadsofgovernmentandheadsofstatemeeting.

Wereaffirm theimportanceof theneed forrespect forregional systemsof culturalandreligious

values when it comes to reviewing human right issues. Wewould like tohighlight the need to

preservethecommonownershipoftheinternationalhumanrightsprogramme,andtoensurethat

humanrightsissuesbereviewedinanobjectiveandnotconflictingway.

Werejectcategoricallyanyattemptto tryandhijackthehumanrightssystembytryingto impose

conceptsornotionsofthesocialarea,particularlycertainbehavioursofprivateindividualswhichdo

notfallundertheinternationallegallyagreeddefinitionofhumanrights,whilebeingawarethatthis

seemstobeanactofcontempttowardstheuniversalityanduniversalnatureofhumanrights.

We would like to recall the importance of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and

Governance.

Thankyou.