UNITED
NATIONS, May
24 -- A week
after the day
against
homophobia,
the
Australian
Lesbian
Medical
Association
won a vote at
the UN for
recommendation
as special
consultative
status to
ECOSOC.
When
ALMA's
application
came up,
Pakistan
sought to put
it off, asking
for
a copy of a
scientific
paper
mentioned in
its
application.
Bulgaria
took the floor
to call this a
delay tactic,
and called for
a vote.
There
are 19 members
of the NGO
Committee. Two
were listed as
"absent"
-- Burundi and
Cuba. Of those
listed as
present, nine
voted yes, six
voted no, and
two abstained.
The
nine "Yes"
votes as
recorded by
Inner City
Press in the
room were the
USA,
Venezuela,
Belgium,
India, Israel,
Nicaragua,
Peru
and Turkey.
The
six "No" votes
were China,
Morocco --
which also
opposed or
questioned
groups dealing
with Western
Sahara --
Pakistan,
Russia,
Senegal and
Sudan.
The
abstainers
were
Kyrgyzstan and
Mozambique,
which
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon
just visited.
Inner
City Press has
asked, does
Ban's
Secretariat
monitor this
NGO
Committee, and
try to assert
leadership?
On
the other
hand, the US
alone blocked
or delayed the
Islamic
African
Relief Agency,
saying it
funded Osama
Bin Laden, and
asking for
more
information:
which UN
agencies
funded it?
Sudan
complained
that while the
US question
blocked the
groups,
questions
about ALMA did
not. But ALMA
had the votes.
Did the
Islamic
African
Relief Agency?
Watch this
site.
Footnotes:
China spotted
a group which
said it had
consultative
status on its
web site while
applying for
it; Russia
wondered if
those who
disagree with
gay rights
don't
themselves
have their
rights
violated. The
NGO Committee
is one of the
few places in
the UN where
such clashes
occur in the
open, on the
record.
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