Gov’t responds to CAT questioning over domestic violence law

The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) heard the responses of delegates of the Chinese, Hong Kong and Macau governments on November 18 at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, addressing the topic of discrimination towards LGBTI individuals.
Director of the Legal Reform and International Law Affairs Bureau, Chu Lam Lam, responded to the questions raised by CAT members about the removal of same-sex relationships from domestic violence legislation. Chu said that the removal was due to the fact that Macau law does not recognize same-sex marriage.
Chu affirmed that violent acts between same-sex couples could still be handled in alignment with general offenses against physical integrity.
However, according to Jason Chao, who is attending the event as a Non-Governmental Organization delegate, the CAT Member and Nepalese lawmaker, Sapana Pradhan Malla, urged that Macau’s domestic violence legislation should be extended to same-sex relationships.
She reportedly told Chao that the general offense of assault is not “gender law” and does not protect intimate relationships, and that these relationships should not be confused with marriage.
UNHRC jurisprudence (Edward Young v. Australia in 2003, and X v. Colombia in 2007) has established that rights and benefits granted to unmarried heterosexual couples shall also be granted to unmarried same-sex couples.
The replies of the delegates of the Chinese, Hong Kong and Macau governments come only days after the MSAR government rejected the CAT’s suggestion to establish an independent human rights body in Macau. It is not yet clear whether the government’s refusal is due to Macau’s status as a territory or to Beijing’s rejection of human rights as universal values.