Date: 08 May 94 21:41 PDT
From: International Gay Lesbian Human Rights Commission <iglhrc@igc.apc.org>
Lines: 66

Update  (April '92; & July / August '93 Action Alerts)

Romanian Court Considers Constitutionality of Article 200

	In a case that could have far reaching implications for
	lesbians and gays in Romania, the Constitutional Court in
	Bucharest is scheduled to begin a hearing on May 5th to
	consider the constitutionality of Article 200 of that
	country's Penal Code. Under the current Romanian penal
	code, Article 200, paragraph 1 imposes a total ban on
	lesbian and gay relations with a prison sentence of 1 to 5
	years for any gay or lesbian sexual relationship.
	Paragraph four of the same Article prohibits the
	"incitement or enticement of a person to commit the acts
	referred to in paragraph 1". Letters need to be sent to
	the judges at the Constitutional Court asking them to find
	Article 200 unconstitutional.  The arrest, prosecution,
	torture and harassment of gay Romanians has continued
	unabated since President Ceausescu's regime.  At least 57
	persons are thought to be currently incarcerated under
	authority of Article 200. The case the court will consider
	beginning on the 5th of May involves four defendants all
	of whom were arrested for private, consensual sex acts.
	The round up occurred in Sibiu, Romania between January
	and February of 1993.

Letters should make the following points:

1. Separation of church and state, respect for a private sphere
unencroached by unnecessary state regulation, tolerance for
diversity, and guaranties of freedom of speech and assembly are
fundamental to democratic and civil societies. Article 200 runs
contrary to all of those values.

2. Article 200 of the Romanian Penal Code contradicts Romania's
own constitutional guarantees of equal protection (Article 16),
right to privacy (Article 26), freedom of assembly (Article 36),
and the constitutionally stated commitment to subordinate national
laws to the international human rights treaties and covenants to
which Romania is a signatory. As such the Court should find
Article 200 of the Romanian Penal Code unconstitutional.

3. Recommendations passed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (Recommendation 924/81 and Motion for
Recommendation Document 6348/90), decisions issued by the European
Court of Human Rights (Dudgeon vs United Kingdom, 1982; Norris vs
Ireland, 1988; and Modinos vs Cyprus, 1993), as well as the recent
resolution passed by the European Parliament of the European Union
(A3-0028 / 94), have all called for the decriminalization of
private, consensual homosexual relations and in some cases for an
end to state sanctioned discrimination against lesbians and gay
men. What's more, the United Nations Human Rights Committee
recently found Tasmania's sodomy law to be in violation of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. As a
signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
European Convention on Human Rights, Romania has an obligation to
honor the emerging international consensus that private sexual
acts are not a legitimate sphere for state regulation.

Write to:

Presidente Vasile Gionea Curtea Constitutionala Cabinetul
Presedinteiui Casa Republicii Cal. 13 Septembrie nr.1, et. 5
Sector 5 Bucuresti ROMANIA

fax: +40-1-312-5480