Costa Rica consults the Inter-American Court on gender identity rights
Does a person have the right to modify their name according to their gender identity? Should the State recognize that name change through an agile and free process in the administrative way?
Should the economic rights derived from a bond between two persons of the same sex be protected?
These and other questions were asked by the Costa Rican government to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to be answered based on the provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights.
The consultation also asks to clarify whether the internal regulations of Costa Rica would be in accordance with the Convention.
"The two consultations reaffirm the Government's commitment to move towards full compliance with human rights," said a statement from the Presidency.
Sexual identity
The first question seeks to determine if the American Convention would protect the right of people to modify their name according to their sexual identity. In this regard, the question seeks to determine if the procedure in force in Costa Rica, of going to court, is the correct one or if the legislation should be modified to establish a procedure “agile, free and in the administrative way”.
The second consultation is aimed at determining whether property rights, derived from a link between people of the same sex, are protected by the Convention, and if there is a need for a legal figure to regulate these relationships.
"The Advisory Opinion is a procedure that grants the possibility to countries that are part of the Inter-American Human Rights System, to ask the Court for a criterion on issues related to the interpretation and application of the Convention," said an official statement. .
“In the Government we reaffirm our commitment to move towards full compliance with human rights in the country, and eliminate behaviors that are considered discriminatory because of sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition, we ratify our full confidence in the organs that make up the Inter-American Human Rights System, where it is the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, its main exponent, ”said Vice President Ana Helena Chacón.
The official will be part of the official team that will represent the country in this consultation.
INE will guarantee the right and exercise of the vote of transsexuals
The General Council of the National Electoral Institute (INE) unanimously approved the Protocol to adopt measures aimed at guaranteeing transvestites, transgenders and transsexuals to exercise the vote on equal terms and without discrimination in all types of election and mechanisms of citizen participation.
The Electoral Councilor Marco Antonio Baños, president of the Election Organization and Training Commission, explained that with this Protocol during the Electoral Day all transgender people can cast their vote.
"On the day of the election, in no case the disagreement between the gender expression of the voter or the photograph of the credential to vote with the name or sex male or female, based on it may be cause for prevent voting. ”
He said that for the implementation of this Protocol in the current electoral process, the Institute will train those who will participate as civil servants and box officials.
The INE President Advisor, Lorenzo Córdova, explained that "it is that each person, regardless of their differences, has the same rights before the law and that the right to vote is not only universal and worth the same at the polls, but that can not be violated by other people, or by authorities or the interests of the contests.
He stressed that the only condition imposed by the Constitution for the exercise of suffrage is to have the updated voting credential, a condition that is universal and applicable to all persons of legal age registered in the Nominal List.
Lorenzo Córdova affirmed that the Protocol fully complies with the parameters established by the main legal instruments and conventions of international origin for the protection of human rights, specifically those of a political-electoral nature, eliminating stereotypes and prejudices motivated by sexual orientation and gender identity.
For her part, Counselor Dania Ravel, president of the Temporary Commission for the Strengthening of Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination in Political Participation in the framework of the 2017-2018 Electoral Process, recognized the work done by COPRED of Mexico City and of civil society organizations that are defenders of the rights of trans people, their participation in the elaboration of this Protocol.
He said that with the implementation of this Protocol, "under no circumstances may the reason for preventing the lack of concordance between the gender expression of the voter or the photograph of the voting card or the photograph with the name be considered or sex, male or female, based on it. ”
The Minister Adriana Favela said that this Protocol "is an instrument that will guarantee trans people the exercise of political-electoral rights and effective participation in the political life of this country in the context of violence, discrimination and inequality that they live daily "
"You can't talk about democracy when some of the people who are part of a society are not recognized and included as part of it because they are different from the majority of the population," he said.
It is an obligation - added Minister Favela - of democratic states to implement the necessary mechanisms so that all and all members of a society are recognized and included in the political life of the country.
Counselor Jaime Rivera expressed his support for the Protocol that seeks to guarantee and facilitate the exercise of the vote to all persons, without any form of discrimination, reconciling the principles of non-discrimination with electoral certainty.
"It is an affirmative action that is based on a general principle of equal rights, which to be effective must recognize the differences when they exist and can detract from the full enjoyment of rights and opportunities for any individual, in this case for any citizen, ”he said.
This Protocol seeks, said Counselor Rivera, to combat the exclusion, persecution and various forms of oppression suffered by people who decide to change their identity.
As part of the Protocol, it is up to any person present in the box, to refrain from carrying out any conduct that restricts the right to the free development of the personality, to grant equal treatment without distinction, for reasons of gender identity, sexual orientation, gender expression and / or appearance not coinciding with the socially accepted standards of female and male bodies.
To avoid any discriminatory act, officials must resolve any observation or questioning made by any of the persons present in the box, whether they are persons who participate as representatives of an independent political party or candidacy, electoral observers or electing citizens. If this occurs, this situation must be recorded on the incident sheet, specifying whether the person was allowed to vote and if there was opposition to it by the persons mentioned in the previous paragraph.
During the session, the General Council declared unfounded the procedure for the removal of Electoral Councilors formed on the occasion of the hearing ordered by the Comptroller General of the Tlaxcalteca Institute of Elections, against Elizabeth Piedras Martínez, President Counselor of said Institute; and received the Report presented by the Executive Secretary of the INE with the purpose of disseminating the realization and conclusion of the stages, acts and transcendent activities of the electoral organs of the Institute, in response to the principle of finality of the acts of the electoral authority.
