by Staff writer
A United Nations resolution banning the death penalty for homosexuality was opposed by a total of 13 countries in the U.N. Human Rights Council.
And as you might have guessed, majority of those countries were in Africa and the Middle East.
The U.S. surprisingly voted against the decision as well.
Fortunately the resolution was still passed on Friday anyway, after a total of 27 countries voted in support.
The 4 African countries that voted against the measure are:
1. Botswana
2. Burundi
3. Egypt
4. Ethiopia
Other countries who voted against the resolution are:
5. Bangladesh
6. China
7. Japan
8. Qatar
9. India
10. Iraq
11. The United Arab Emirates
12. Saudi Arabia and
13. The United States of America.
Surprisingly, some of these countries have been thought to be good upholders of the rights and welfare of LGBT people.
The eight nations—Belgium, Benin, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia and Switzerland—who brought forward the motion have been praised globally by different human rights group.
There are currently six countries where the death penalty is enforced for same-sex relations and they are Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen, plus some regions of Nigeria and Somalia.
The death penalty is also carried out by ISIS-controlled areas in northern Iraq and northern Syria.
