By Mark Riley
AgeJune 27, 2001
An Islamic bloc of nations, led by Malaysia, has thrown new doubt over a United Nations pact on AIDS as world leaders meet in New York to discuss ways of fighting the worsening pandemic.
UN officials were stunned on Monday when Malaysia declared that Islamic countries would not support the pact, despite having won a concession that cut all mention of homosexuals, prostitutes and drug users from the document. The countries now object to another section of the pact linking guidelines on AIDS to international human rights covenants that offer specific protections to the same groups of people.
The crisis over the document prompted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to make an impassioned plea for countries not to let moral objections get in the way of an unprecedented global agreement on fighting AIDS. "We cannot deal with AIDS by making moral judgments (or) by stigmatising those who are infected and making out that it is all their fault," he said in opening a three-day special UN session on AIDS. "We can only do it by speaking clearly and plainly about the ways that people become infected, and about what they can do to avoid infection. And let us remember that every person who is infected - whatever the reason - is a fellow human being, with human rights and human needs."
The so-called "declaration of commitment" drafted by Australia would commit 189 nations to achieving a 25 per cent reduction in the incidence of AIDS worldwide by 2010 and to supporting a series of coordinated measures to improve prevention and treatment of the disease. It was hoped that the pact would be adopted by consensus at the end of the special session as a symbol of global unity against the disease.
The Islamic bloc initially teamed with the Vatican to protest against a passage that said homosexuals, prostitutes and drug users were worthy of special attention because they were "particularly vulnerable" to getting and spreading the disease. Australia reluctantly agreed to drop that passage, believing it would clear the way for approval of the pact. But the Organisation of Islamic Countries immediately raised the new objections and threatened to force the pact to the uncertainty of a vote on the floor of the UN General Assembly.
The Islamic bloc also forced a two-hour delay to proceedings on the first day of the session by raising arguments aimed at stopping the president of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, Karyn Kaplan, joining a round-table discussion. The group's "moral objection" to Ms Kaplan's inclusion was eventually lost 62-0 in a vote. There were 30 abstentions, including many of the Islamic nations, China and several small African states.
Observers said the vote had been staged as a show of force by the Islamic countries to prove they posed a real threat t o the passage of the AIDS pact. The pact would support the creation of a global fund, proposed by Mr Annan, that would provide up to $US10 billion ($A20 billion) a year towards fighting the disease. The executive director of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations, Robin Gorna, said the Islamic bloc's tactics were "part of the denial and discrimination that is helping to fuel the epidemic".
Health Minister Michael Wooldridge said in his speech to the session that Australia had been disappointed that the references to the at-risk groups had been dropped from the document. "In Australia, the support and commitment of such groups and their active involvement and partnership has been the basis upon which the Australian national response to HIV/AIDS has been based. AIDS activism has been directed towards constructive participation not destructive protest," he said.
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