Kenilworth, 27 September 2009 — Humanists have reacted angrily to the homophobic public pronouncements of Mr Ali Abdussalam Treki, the President of the UN General Assembly. These have been condemned by the UK gay humanist charity the Pink Triangle Trust (PTT) and the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) which has special consultative status with the UN (New York, Geneva and Vienna), and general consultative status at UNICEF (New York) and the Council of Europe (Strasbourg).
The PTT’s secretary, George Broadhead, commented: “The President’s pronouncements are despicable, but are hardly surprising given the intrinsic homophobia of the religion he adheres to. However, like other members of the General Assembly, he is surely duty-bound to represent the principles and the aims of the United Nations, according to the Charter adopted on 26 June 1945 with its respect for human rights and fundamental freedom for all human beings. Instead he has implicitly endorsed the barbaric treatment of thousands of gay people throughout the world, particularly in Islamic theocracies like Iran and Saudi Arabia. He should be asked to resign immediately or be removed from office.”
The IHEU’s long-serving representative at the UN at Geneva, Roy Brown, commented: “Of course, Mr Ali Abdussalam Treki is entirely right in saying, as a Muslim, that homosexuality ‘is not acceptable by our religion, our tradition’. What is deeply worrying is his clear but unspoken belief that Muslims’ primitive religious taboos should therefore trump human rights – a view that, sadly, is becoming increasingly common among Muslim delegations throughout the United Nations system.”