Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 17:16:15 +0200 From: ilga Subject: Press Release: ROMANIA ILGA PRESS RELEASE: Romanian Parliament increases persecution of homosexuals! 12 September 1996 -Increased persecution of homosexuals -Romanian Parliament ignores Council of Europe's advise -Human Rights Organizations called "degenerates" -European Parliament estimated to be 35% homo On Tuesday, 10 September 1996, the Romanian Parliament agreed to a change in the Romanian criminal code which severely INCREASES the punishment for homosexual acts. In a surprise move, homosexuality becomes a criminal act under all circumstances. The previously proposed "Paragraph 200" made homosexuality punishable when it constituted a "public nuisance." It was feared by activists that this paragraph would be used by authorities to harass lesbians and gay men. Protest actions against Paragraph 200 have already been initiated by ILGA, Amnesty International and the International Gay Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). This latest development brings far worse news: the possibility of from six months to three years incarceration for homosexual acts committed in private and from one to five years imprisonment, if such acts constitute a public nuisance. The Parliamentary Assemby of the Council of Europe, as well as the European Parliament, have strongly urged member states to change their legislation to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and Romania, as a member of the Council of Europe since 1993, has been specifically asked to decriminalize homosexuality. Romania is the only state in the Council of Europe that criminalizes homosexuality. In the voting, 165 Mps voted for the new harsher measures, twenty were against, and eleven abstained. During the debate, When an allusion was made to the stated positions of international human rights groups, one Deputy referred to those groups as "organizations of degenerates." One Deputy estimated that 35% of members of the European Parliament are homosexuals. Because the chamber's version differs from that of the senate, another meeting is required to finalize document, but this could happen as soon as next week. ILGA is preparing an ILGA e-mail action alert. We ask you all to be on the alert at the moment for more news, and ready to participate in e-mail actions, and mail and fax actions. A full report is below, compliments of correspondent Scott Long. ****** THE ROMANIAN CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES HAS VOTED **NOT** TO DECRIMINALIZE CONSENSUAL HOMOSEXUAL ACTS BETWEEN ADULTS. The Romanian Chamber of Deputies voted today on Art. 200 of the Penal Code. This comes in the wake of a vote in the Senate last month. Since the Chamber's version differs from the Senate's, this vote does not represent a final decision, and discrepancies will have to be worked out in a conference committee. However, time is short--with a general election set for November--a final version could be worked out by next week, and the feeling here at the Helsinki Committee is that the Chamber of Deputies version, which is far worse than the Senate's, may well prevail. In brief: the Senate's version reads roughly as follows. Para. 1: Homosexual acts *committed in public or which cause public scandal* are punishable with 1-5 years' imprisonment. (Same as current language with addition of words in **) Para. 2-4 (dealing with sex w/minors, rape, and acts which cause grievous bodily harm or death): unchanged Para. 5 (substantially new): Organizing or associating, or any act of proselytism for the acts in the above paragraphs, is punishable with 1-5 years' imprisonment The CHAMBER's version now reads as follows: Para. 1: Sexual acts between persons of the same sex are punishable with imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years. Para. 2: Homosexual acts committed in public or which cause public scandal are punishable with 1-5 years' imprisonment. (Same as Senate para. 1) Para. 3-5: (dealing with sex w/minors, rape, and acts causing grievous bodily harm or death): unchanged from current paras. 2-4 Para. 6: Organizing or associating, or any act of proselytism for the acts in the above paragraphs, is punishable with 1-5 years' imprisonment PLEASE OBSERVE. The Chamber of Deputies voted NOT to decriminalize consensual homosexual acts between adults. This in spite of clear statements from the new Minister of Justice that Romania had international obligations requiring it to do so. Deputies, especially from the leading opposition party--the Christian Democrats--denied that any such obligation is binding. The decision to LOWER penalties for these acts was adopted by the Deputies as a "compromise." However, the proposed para. 6 (identical to para. 5 in the Senate version, and almost certain to be adopted) continues to penalize any public expression of homosexuality. Debate--held on Sept. 5--was heated and demagogic. At one point a measure was introduced which would penalize ANY sexual act not intended to result in procreation. When an allusion was made to the stated positions of international human rights groups, one Deputy referred to those groups as "organizations of degenerates." One Deputy estimated that 35% of members of the European Parliament are homosexuals. Another insisted that homosexuality is a "phenomenon placing in peril the birth rate of Romanians and the health of the Romanian people." In both 1994 and 1995, Parliament tentatively accepted a modification of the Penal Code criminalizing "homosexual acts which cause public scandal," only to have the final version of ALL reforms to all provisions of the Penal Code rejected. In 1995, the package of penal code reforms was rejected largely becuase 3 extremist parties refused to support it, citing the "liberalization" of Article 200 as their reason. The result has been that, for three years, no penal code reform whatsoever has passed the Parliament, and the Ceausescu-era legal code as a whole has remained in force. This year, it appears that the opposition Christian Democrats have promised to allow a penal code reform package to go forward--but only so long as homosexuality remains criminalized. For more information: contact ACCEPT c/o APADOR - Romanian Helsinki Committee 120 Calea Victoriei, Bucharest 70179 tel & fax: +40-1-312-4528 ; +40-1-312-4443 E-mail: ion@apador.sfos.ro ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ILGA - International Lesbian and Gay Association 81 Kolenmarkt, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium Phone/Fax +32-2-502-2471, E-mail: ilga@ilga.org A federation of over 300 groups from 75 countries fighting for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We also have over 100 supportive associate and individual members. Will you join us? Contact us for more info!