International Human Rights Defense Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 424 To establish in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of State a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI Peoples, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 24, 2021 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COONS, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WARNER, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To establish in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of State a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI Peoples, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Human 4 Rights Defense Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S424.IS S424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 424 IS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 3 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 4 mittees’’ means— 5 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 6 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 7 Senate; and 8 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 9 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 10 of Representatives. 11 (2) GENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘‘gender 12 identity’’ means the gender-related identity, appear- 13 ance, or mannerisms or other gender-related charac- 14 teristics of an individual, regardless of the individ- 15 ual’s designated sex at birth. 16 (3) INTERSEX.—The term ‘‘intersex’’ means in- 17 dividuals born with sex characteristics (including 18 genitals, gonads, or chromosome patterns) that vary 19 from typical binary notions of male or female bodies 20 and is an umbrella term used to describe a wide 21 range of natural bodily variations. 22 (4) LGBTQI.—The term ‘‘LGBTQI’’ means 23 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or 24 intersex. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S424.IS S424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 424 IS (5) SEXUAL ORIENTATION.—The term ‘‘sexual 1 orientation’’ means actual or perceived homosex- 2 uality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. 3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 4 Congress makes the following findings: 5 (1) Around the world, LGBTQI people face vio- 6 lence, discrimination, hatred, and bigotry. 7 (2) Sixty-nine countries criminalize same-sex re- 8 lations and at least three countries prohibit the pub- 9 lic support of the LGBTQI community. That is 10 equal to 35 percent of United Nations member 11 states. 12 (3) In several countries, homosexuality is a 13 crime that is punishable by death. 14 (4) Intersex people experience prejudice and 15 discrimination, including the common performance 16 of medically unnecessary surgeries without their con- 17 sent or approval, because their bodies do not con- 18 form to other people’s expectations about sex and 19 gender. 20 (5) Violence and discrimination based on sexual 21 orientation and gender identity are documented in 22 the Department of State’s annual Human Rights 23 Report to Congress. The 2019 report continues to 24 show a clear pattern of human rights violations in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S424.IS S424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 424 IS every region of the world based on sexual orientation 1 and gender identity. These violations include mur- 2 der, rape, torture, death threats, extortion, and im- 3 prisonment, as well as loss of employment, housing, 4 access to health care, and other forms of societal 5 stigma and discrimination. The report further docu- 6 ments LGBTQI-specific restrictions on basic free- 7 doms of assembly, press, and speech in every region 8 of the world. 9 (6) In 2013, the Russian Duma passed a law 10 banning so-called ‘‘homosexual propaganda’’, which 11 effectively makes it a crime to publicly support 12 LGBTQI equality or even discuss homosexuality. 13 This pernicious law is the basis for similar so-called 14 ‘‘anti-propaganda’’ legislation in countries across 15 Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including in 16 Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus. 17 (7) On April 1, 2017, the Russian newspaper 18 Novaya Gazeta reported that the government of the 19 autonomous republic of Chechnya had been arrest- 20 ing, detaining, and torturing gay and bisexual men 21 in secret prisons since early 2017. An Organization 22 for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) 23 fact-finding report released in December 2018 con- 24 firmed the atrocities, documenting ‘‘several waves of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S424.IS S424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 424 IS violations of human rights abuses of persons based 1 on their sexual orientation and gender identity’’. Re- 2 ports throughout 2020 suggest the purge has contin- 3 ued. 4 (8) In May 2020, the Hungarian Parliament 5 voted to eliminate the ability for transgender and 6 intersex Hungarians to legally change their gender 7 on official documents. In June 2020, Poland’s presi- 8 dent pledged to ban the ‘‘propagation of LGBT ide- 9 ology,’’ and nearly a third of Polish towns and mu- 10 nicipalities have now declared themselves to be 11 ‘‘LGBT-free zones’’. 12 (9) In December 2013, under the guise of pro- 13 hibiting marriage equality through the Same Sex 14 Marriage (Prohibition) Act, the Government of Nige- 15 ria adopted a law that further criminalized same-sex 16 relations and support for LGBTQI people, endan- 17 gering neighbors, friends, doctors, and landlords of 18 LGBTQI people. In August 2018, 57 men at a party 19 in Lagos were arrested under this law and 47 were 20 later charged in December 2019 for ‘‘public show of 21 same sex amorous relationship’’. While the case was 22 thrown out in October 2020 due to deficiencies in 23 the prosecution, the men suffered significant harm 24 over the course of the two-year trial. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S424.IS S424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 424 IS (10) Several countries in South Asia continue 1 to have draconian laws that criminalize homosexual 2 acts, which place LGBTQI people in danger and un- 3 dermine their ability to live free from persecution. 4 (11) In February 2014, the Government of 5 Uganda adopted a law making ‘‘aggravated homo- 6 sexuality’’ a crime punishable with life imprisonment 7 and concurrently, the Government of Uganda also 8 passed laws severely limiting the basic freedoms of 9 speech and assembly for LGBTQI citizens. Although 10 the Constitutional Court overturned the Anti-Homo- 11 sexuality Act on a technicality in August 2014, 12 LGBTQI Ugandans continue to be subjected to dis- 13 crimination and violence, and their government has 14 in recent years forcibly shut down even private Pride 15 celebrations in Kampala. 16 (12) In November 2016, the Government of 17 Tanzania banned all HIV and AIDS outreach 18 projects aimed at gay men, including those funded 19 by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief 20 (PEPFAR), forcing the closure of United States- 21 funded programs providing testing, condoms, and 22 care to gay men, exacerbating the health needs of 23 gay men in Tanzania, about 30 percent of whom are 24 HIV positive. In 2018, various government officials 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S424.IS S424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 424 IS announced crackdowns on the LGBTQI community, 1 including a threat by the governor of the largest 2 city, who announced a purge on LGBTQI individ- 3 uals and asked the public to report them. 4 (13) A 2020 report by Human Rights Watch 5 found that in the Northern Triangle countries of El 6 Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, ‘‘gangs specifi- 7 cally target LGBT people, killing, assaulting, threat- 8 ening or extorting them’’. A 2016 report noted that 9 transgender women in El Salvador have an average 10 life expectancy of less than 35 years due to violence, 11 discrimination, and femicide. 12 (14) Extreme violence in El Salvador, Nica- 13 ragua, Guatemala, and Honduras has driven 14 LGBTQI people to flee their countries or origin to 15 the United States for protection. At the United 16 States border with Mexico, LGBTQI asylum seekers 17 face additional violence and many have been re- 18 turned to face persecution in their home countries or 19 in third countries that are not safe. 20 (15) On May 23, 2017, and again on July 13, 21 2018, gay men were publicly caned in the Indo- 22 nesian province of Aceh, while thousands of spec- 23 tators snapped pictures outside a mosque. More re- 24 cently, including in August 2020, police in Indonesia 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S424.IS S424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 424 IS have arrested men at private parties, sometimes re- 1 leasing their photographs to the news media, endan- 2 gering their lives. The August 2020 raid fits a dis- 3 turbing pattern of Indonesian authorities using the 4 pornography law as a weapon to target LGBTQI 5 people. 6 (16) The Department of State Human Rights 7 Report for 2019 notes that Egyptian police arrest 8 LGBTQI persons on charges such as ‘‘debauchery’’, 9 ‘‘prostitution’’, and ‘‘violating the teachings of reli- 10 gion’’, leading to prison sentences of up to 10 years. 11 According to a local group, there have been more 12 than 250 arrests since 2013. Arrests have continued 13 apace in 2020. Rights groups also have reported on 14 the discredited use of ‘‘virginity’’ and ‘‘anal tests’’ 15 by Egyptian authorities to attempt to prove sexual 16 activity, assaults that may constitute cruel, degrad- 17 ing, and inhuman treatment that can rise to the 18 level of torture under international human rights 19 law. 20 (17) Anti-LGBTQI laws not only endanger all 21 LGBTQI individuals, but also pose serious risks for 22 those associated with or caring for LGBTQI people. 23 Studies have shown that when LGBTQI people, es- 24 pecially LGBTQI youth, face discrimination, they 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S424.IS S424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 424 IS are less likely to seek HIV testing, prevention, and 1 treatment services. 2 (18) According to the Trans Murder Monitoring 3 Project, which monitors homicides of transgender in- 4 dividuals, 350 trans and gender-diverse were killed 5 between October 1, 2019, and September 30, 2020, 6 representing a 6 percent increase in reported mur- 7 ders from the 2019 update. 8 (19) According to the International Guidelines 9 on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, as published by 10 the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 11 Rights, and according to the reports of the United 12 Nations Independent Expert on protection against 13 violence and discrimination based on sexual orienta- 14 tion and gender identity, countries should review 15 and reform criminal laws and correctional systems to 16 ensure that they are consistent with international 17 human rights obligations and are not misused or 18 targeted against vulnerable groups. 19 (20) Removing institutionalized discrimination 20 and targeted persecution against LGBTQI people 21 around the world is a critical step in the promotion 22 of human rights and global health internationally. 23 (21) Anti-LGBTQI laws and discrimination 24 pose significant risks for LGBTQI youth who come 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S424.IS S424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 424 IS out to their family or community and often face re- 1 jection, homelessness, and limited educational and 2 economic opportunities. These factors contribute to 3 increased risks of substance abuse, suicide, and HIV 4 infection among LGBTQI youth. 5 (22) On December 6, 2011, President Barack 6 Obama released the ‘‘Presidential Memorandum— 7 International Initiatives to Advance the Human 8 Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender 9 Persons’’. The memorandum directed all Federal 10 agencies engaged abroad to ensure that United 11 States diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and 12 protect the human rights of LGBTQI persons. 13 (23) On February 23, 2015, Secretary of State 14 John Kerry appointed senior diplomat Randy Berry 15 as the Department of State’s first-ever Special 16 Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons. 17 No person was named to that position during the 18 Trump Administration. 19 (24) On June 30, 2016, the United Nations 20 Human Rights Council passed a resolution cospon- 21 sored by the United States that established an Inde- 22 pendent Expert on violence and discrimination based 23 on sexual orientation and gender identity to help 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:56 Mar 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S424.IS S424 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 424 IS monitor and track discrimination and violence expe- 1 rienced by LGBTQI persons around the world. 2 (25) At the annual Summit of Commonwealth 3 Nations in April 2018, United Kingdom Prime Min- 4 ister Theresa May issued an apology for discrimina- 5 tory laws criminalizing same-sex relationships that 6 were imposed on British colonies around the world. 7 She also announced the creation of a fund to sup- 8 port legal reform efforts. 9 (26) In April 2018, Trinidad and Tobago’s 10 High Court of Justice issued a landmark ruling de- 11 claring that laws which criminalize same-sex rela- 12 tionships between consenting adults are unconstitu- 13 tional. 14 (27) In September 2018, the Supreme Court of 15 India decriminalized same-sex relationships. The 16 same court also has affirmed the rights of 17 transgender people as a protected ‘‘third gender’’ 18 under the Constitution of India. 19 (28) Angola decriminalized same-sex relation- 20 ships in January 2019, and prohibited discrimina- 21 tion against people on the basis of sexual orienta- 22 tion. In December 2020, the parliament of Bhutan 23 voted to decriminalize same-sex relationship [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]