Delhi High Court decision-Talk of the town at ICAAP, Bali

August 10, 2009

Nusa Dua, Bali, August 10 2009: The Delhi High Court decision of striking down

the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is being discussed everywhere in the

9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) being held

here in Bali.

Anand Grover, Director of the Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit and UN Special

Rapporteur on the right to Health, " told in a special interview that very soon

the good news will come from Supreme Court of India. Criminalization poses great

challenges in addressing public health issues and presents a direct barrier in

providing relevant HIV services, he added.

He said that courts in Nepal, India and Pakistan have been instrumental in

recognizing and upholding the rights of sexual minorities which means that they

will no longer be considered criminals in accessing life-saving prevention, care

and treatment services.

The read out message of Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS at the

inaugural ceremony of the conference was also full of congratulation note saying

`I want to salute the Delhi High Court of New striking down Section 377 of the

Indian Penal Code- an outdated and discriminatory law'.

Kyung wha-Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights at UN said that the

UNAIDS family has recently reinvigorated its collective efforts to advocate for

the removal of punitive laws, policies and practices which are thwarting

effective HIV responses so as to tackle inappropriate criminalization. The

criminalization will only make the marginalized communities underground, she

added.

O'Malley, Director of the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP)

HIV Group said that the laws which criminalize sex work are used to blackmail,

exploit, harass and hamper the implementation of evidence based harm reduction

services.

Many countries in the Asia Pacific region criminalize male to male sex while

only in 4 countries this is permitted by law.

Dr. JASVINDER SEHGAL

at ICAAP in Denpasar.

email: <jasvindersehgal@...>

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