The United Nations expert Vitit Muntarbhorn was given a three-year term on Sept. 30 to investigate abuses against LGBTI people.
Muntarbhorn is an international law professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, and has served on several UN committees. The council that appointed him overcame objections by Muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Human Rights Watch welcomed the appointment, saying the UN council “made history.”
Hundreds of LGBTI people have been killed and thousands injured in recent years, including various knife attacks, rape, genital mutilation and gay people being thrown from buildings.