Our Statement at the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture: The Urgent Need for Protections for LGBTIQ+ People in Detention
Kahleem Ali presenting at the UN
"True justice is measured not only in laws, but in the dignity we uphold. When detention erases identity instead of protecting it, we must ask, Whose humanity is being safeguarded?" - Khaleem Ali
At the United Nations Human Rights Council, The Advocates
for Human Rights and Khaleem Ali spoke out for accountability and action on
human rights violations against transgender individuals in detention. Around the
world, including in the United States, recent policy shifts have intensified
the risks facing those already vulnerable.
The current U.S. administration’s executive order “defending
women from gender ideology extremism” requires the federal government to
recognize that “women are biologically female, and men are biologically male,”
dismissing well-established scientific, medical, and legal standards. These
changes are being challenged in court. Yet, they already threaten
discrimination against transgender and intersex people in detention, and if left intact, they
would strip protections from transgender people.
In the U.S., the executive order to forcibly relocate
transgender people in detention based on their sex assigned at birth rather
than their gender identity is harmful. This practice disregards their safety,
dignity, and fundamental human rights, exposing them to violence, harassment,
and psychological harm. Requirements to deny access to gender-affirming medical
care in detention leave transgender individuals without the treatment they
need.
Worldwide, in many detention facilities, under the guise of
"protection," LGBTIQ+ individuals are placed in prolonged solitary
confinement. The United Nations has long recognized solitary confinement as a
form of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment—yet detention facilities
continue to use it to isolate and erase LGBTIQ+ people.
Principle 9 of the Yogyakarta Principles demands that
protection must not come at the cost of greater restriction of rights. Yet across
detention facilities, LGBTIQ+ individuals are being mistreated, dehumanized,
and denied the basic protections afforded to all people under international
human rights law.
During our advocacy at the UN Human Rights Council this
March, The Advocates called on the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to
investigate, document, and issue clear recommendations on the treatment of
LGBTIQ+ individuals in detention.
The world is watching. We cannot allow state-sanctioned harm to continue unchecked.
Read our official statement on the Trump Administration's actions here.
