Professor Robert Wintemute speaks on LGBTI human rights in Latin America

Robert Wintemute, Professor of Human Rights Law in The King’s Dickson Poon School of Law, travelled to South America last month to share his expertise on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Transsexual and Intersexed (LGBTI) human rights.

Professor Wintemute spoke at five events at universities and an equality commission in Ecuador and Mexico. On 21 February, he spoke at the Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar (UASB) in Quito, Ecuador on the groundbreaking ruling in the case of Flor Freire v Ecuador (Inter-American Court of Human Rights, 31 August 2016), in which he served as the expert witness of the Inter-American Commission.

Flor Freire is the Court’s first judgment on a blanket prohibition of same-sex sexual activity, in this case in the armed forces of Ecuador, and on dismissal from any kind of employment (civilian or military). The Court found that Mr Flor Freire’s dismissal from the armed forces was discrimination based on sexual orientation that violated the American Convention on Human Rights. The judgment will affect any similar dismissal policies in other Latin American countries (the UK had one until 1999 when the European Court of Human Rights ruled against it), and could encourage the repeal of the British-introduced laws criminalising all same-sex sexual activity (civilian or military) that still exist in 10 or 11 Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean.

L-R: Professor Wintemute, Professor Ramiro Avila Santamaria, Alejandro Ponce Villacis and Homero Flor Freire

Professor Wintemute participated in a panel discussion about the case along with the victim, Homero Flor Freire, and Alejandro Ponce Villacis, his lawyer before the Inter-American Court. The event was organised and chaired by Professor Ramiro Avila Santamaria, who served as Mr Flor Freire’s expert witness at the hearing.

Of his trip, Professor Wintemute said 'My work on LGBTI human rights cases in the European Court of Human Rights has led to invitations to serve as an expert witness in three cases in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in two of which I spoke at the hearing in Spanish about the relevant case law of the European Court. It has been a great pleasure to advise the Inter-American Court, and then cite its more detailed reasoning back to the European Court. This an example of potential "cross-pollination", which I hope will raise human rights standards on both sides of the Atlantic.'

Watch an interview with Professor Wintemute during his visit to Universidad Andina

On 22 February, Professor Wintemute met with lawyers from the Colectivo PAKTA ("equal" in the Kichwa indigenous language) to discuss strategic litigation regarding LGBTI human rights in Ecuador. 

On 24 February, he spoke to professors at the law school of the university ITAM (Instituto Tecnologico Autonoma de Mexico) in Mexico City about same-sex marriage (should international and national courts wait for consensus regarding this human rights issue before they find discrimination?), and to Masters in Human Rights Law students about the differences between the Inter-American and European Courts.

On 27 February, Professor Wintemute updated staff at Mexico’s Consejo Nacional para Prevenir la Discriminacion about developments in LGBTI human rights law in Europe.

Find out more about Professor Wintemute's research.