PARIS - An international petition calling "for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality" was signed by five Nobel laureates and a host of celebrities, organizer Louis-Georges Tin said.

Archbishop and Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu speaks during a mass in Port-au-Prince, February 2006. An international petition calling "for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality" was signed by five Nobel laureates, including Tutu, and a host of celebrities, organizer Louis-Georges Tin said.[AFP]

"Seventy countries in the world still make homosexuality a crime by law and punishable by death in twelve of them," stated the document which was endorsed by Nobel prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Economics laureate Amartya Sen and Nobel literature prize winners Dario Fo, Jose Saramago and Elfriede Jelinek also pledged their support.

Signatories listed on the www.idahomophobia.org campaign website included political figures, such as former European Commission president Jacques Delors, US intellectual Noam Chomsky, Spanish Actress Victoria Abril and the US Oscar winner Meryl Streep.

British pop star and long-time gay rights campaigner Elton John added his voice to Archbishop Tutu's, eight days after he told a British newspaper he would outlaw religion to reduce homophobia.

"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. From my point of view, I would ban religion completely," the Observer quoted the entertainer as saying.

The petition should be used as a blueprint for "a resolution to address the United Nations in the months to come."

"In 1994, the UN Commission on Human Rights (as it was called then) condemned Tasmania for making homosexuality a crime. As a result, Tasmania had to change its legislation," the website stated.

Related readings: Ban religion, says Elton John

The campaigners called on the UN to enforce similar decisions on all countries banning homosexuality.