UNITED NATIONS: Russia Leads Effort To Block Resolution Calling For Decriminalizing Homosexuality

Radio Free Europe reports:

Russia led an effort at the United Nations to strip language from an AIDS resolution that would have called for the decriminalization of homosexuality and drug use.

Russia was joined by Iran, Poland, and several Gulf states in blocking the decriminalization language from being included in a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on June 8 that called for ending the AIDS pandemic by 2030.

An earlier draft resolution had called for treating homosexuality and drug use as “human rights issues.” Instead, it now stresses the need to help intravenous drug users, gay men, and transgender people who are at high risk of contracting HIV.

Russian health official Dilyara Ravilova-Borovik said that while more must be done to end HIV/AIDS, governments have a “sovereign right” to decide their own public health strategy.

Last week a Kremlin-backed group blamed condoms for the spread of HIV. Russia now has about one million citizens living with HIV, with 93,000 new cases recorded in 2015. Most new HIV infections in Russia are linked to IV drug use. The CDC last fall reported that 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV, with 50,000 new infections occurring annually.