Vojin Dimitrijevic Yugoslavia , Mr. Omran El Shafei Egypt , Mr. Laurel B. Francis Jamaica , Mr. Kurt Herndl Austria , Mrs. Rosalyn Higgins United Kingdom , Mr. Rajsoomer Lallah Mauritius , Mr. Andreas V. Mavrommatis Cyprus , Mr. Birame Ndiaye Senegal , Mr. Fausto Pocar Italy , Mr. Julio Prado Vallejo Ecuador , Mr. Waleed Sadi Jordan All the members attended fiftieth session of the Committee.
Ban attended only part of the fiftieth session. GAOR, 49th Sess. EE, at Sep. V, at , U. Sales No. The author of the communication is Nicholas Toonen, an Australian citizen born in , currently residing in Hobart in the state of Tasmania, Australia. He is a leading member of the Tasmanian Gay Law Reform Group and claims to be a victim of violations by Australia of articles 2, paragraph 1; 17; and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The facts as submitted by the author 2. He challenges two provisions of the Tasmanian Criminal Code, namely, sections a and c and , which criminalize various forms of sexual contact between men, including all forms of sexual contact between consenting adult homosexual men in private.
He adds that the Director of Public Prosecutions announced, in August , that proceedings pursuant to sections a and c and would be initiated if there was sufficient evidence of the commission of a crime. Toonen further argues that the criminalization of homosexuality in private has not permitted him to expose openly his sexuality and to publicize his views on reform of the relevant laws on sexual matters, as he felt that this would have been extremely prejudicial to his employment.
In this context, he contends that sections a and c and have created the conditions for discrimination in employment, constant stigmatization, vilification, threats of physical violence and the violation of basic democratic rights. These include statements made by members of the Lower House of Parliament, municipal councillors such as "representatives of the gay community are no better than Saddam Hussein" and "the act of homosexuality is unacceptable in any society, let alone a civilized society" , of the church and of members of the general public, whose statements have been directed against the integrity and welfare of homosexual men and women in Tasmania such as "[g]ays want to lower society to their level" and "You are 15 times more likely to be murdered by a homosexual than a heterosexual In some public meetings, it has been suggested that all Tasmanian homosexuals should be rounded up and "dumped" on an uninhabited island, or be subjected to compulsory sterilization.
