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	No Customs, Cultural Values, Religious Beliefs can justify the Denial of Human Rights by Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary-General   Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message to the Human Rights Film Festival screening of Call Me Kuchu, delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonović, in New York on 28 June, 2012:   The film you are about to see tells the story of a group of brave, committed men and women who stand up against bigotry and discrimination at great personal risk to themselves.   They are harassed, threatened and attacked. They are treated with a callous cruelty that no human being should have to endure. Yet, despite all this, they conduct themselves with calmness, optimism and dignity. It is truly remarkable.   Violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people is a human rights violation — a violation that States have a moral duty and a legal obligation to address. At the end of last year, the High Commissioner for Human Rights published the first official United Nations report on the problem.   In all regions of the world, LGBT people suffer discrimination — at work, at home, at school, in all aspects of daily life. Too often, they have trouble in finding housing or obtaining basic health care and pension benefits. Too often, they are subjected to verbal abuse or singled out for attack, torture and even murder.   In 76 countries, having a partner of the same sex is a prosecutable crime. People are arrested, imprisoned, in some cases executed, just because they are in a loving relationship.   This is an affront to the principles on which the United Nations was founded — equality, freedom, tolerance and the inherent dignity of each individual.   No custom or tradition, no cultural values or religious beliefs, can justify depriving a human being of his or her human rights.   That is why, as United Nations Secretary-General, I take every opportunity to push leaders to listen and to act.   But I am conscious that the hardest work is done by local activists like those you will see in this film.   To them I want to say: You are an inspiration to me and to millions of people around the world. I am proud to join in this great human rights cause. However hard and however long it may take, I know that justice will prevail and that all people can enjoy the rights and dignity they deserve.
	UN health expert hails European Parliament’s rejection of trade agreement by Anand Grover UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health   9 July 2012   The European Parliament’s rejection of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a step in the right direction to ensure access to affordable medications, a United Nations independent expert on health said today.   “ACTA’s defeat in Europe is a welcome blow to the flawed agreement that has failed to address numerous concerns related to access to medicines, such as unnecessary inclusion of patents and civil trademark infringements and unjustified stricter civil enforcement provisions that could impede access to generic medicines,” the Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Anand Grover, said in a news release.   On Wednesday, the European Parliament rejected the agreement, which intended to establish international standards to enforce intellectual property rights, as well as an international legal framework to target generic medicines, counterfeit goods, and copyright infringement online, among others.   Mr. Grover cautioned against “heightened enforcement standards, envisioned by agreements like ACTA, that would hinder the legitimate trade and transit of medicines and adversely affect the availability of, and access to, affordable generic medicines,” and argued that sufficient intellectual property enforcement standards are already in place, such as the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).   “Had ACTA come into force, it would have exposed third parties – producers of active pharmaceutical ingredients, distributors, retailers, non-governmental organizations and funders of health programmes to the risk of liabilities for trademark or patent infringements,” Mr. Grover said.   The Special Rapporteur also highlighted other concerns about ACTA, such as the lack of protection of measures and judicial review, and absent penalties for abusive litigation and baseless allegation. Mr. Grover had previously stressed – in a 2009 report on access to medicines and intellectual property rights – that the agreement failed to consider the public interest and had warned about the lack of transparency and secrecy surrounding its negotiations.   “It is encouraging that the public scrutiny led to ACTA’s setback by the elected democratic body,” Mr. Grover said. “I hope that other signatories to ACTA and countries negotiating similar trade agreements would consider implications of such agreements on their people’s right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and allow for more public scrutiny of the agreements fundamental to their health.”   * See also MSF Access to Essential Medicines campaign: http://www.msfaccess.org/ Visit the related web page
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