Six countries in South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) have established a national human rights institution (NHRI), all of which include complaint mechanisms. The establishment of these NHRIs has provided LGBT people with access to complaints mechanisms that can help resolve human rights violations these marginalised communities often face. However, several challenges remain limiting the use of this mechanism.
The 2015 Report of the Workshop on the Role of National Human Rights Institutions in Promoting and Protecting the Rights, including Health, of LGBTI People in Asia and the Pacific, published by UNDP, Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) and APCOM with the support from the Multi-Country South Asia Global Fund HIV Programme (MSA) and the Being LGBTI in Asia (BLIA) programme, noted that very few rights violations were reported to NHRIs due to the lack of knowledge of NHRI complaint procedures among the public.
APCOM has gone on an extensive desk review and surveys with the community partners in South Asia to solidify a documentation of relevant international and national human rights instruments, principles and legal obligations of the South Asian countries, as well as their good practice, in addressing the rights violation faced by South Asian LGBT persons. You can now read the narrative, packaged in a 5-part series, on our website by clicking here.