Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 14:31:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Ron Buckmire Subject: LATVIA: good news on age of consent and asylum From: "Juris Lavrikovs" Subject: Two pieces of good news from Latvia Date: Wed, 22 Jul 98 15:05:59 PDT TWO PIECES OF GOOD NEWS FROM LATVIA: I. AGE OF CONSENT EQUALISED ... This summer the Saeima (Latvian Parliament) adopted a new Criminal Law ("Latvian Herald", N0. 199/200, 8 July 1998). Until then the Criminal Code of the Republic of Latvia, which was an amended version of the Soviet model of the Criminal Code, was in force. Under the former Criminal Code the age of consent for heterosexuals and lesbians was 16 and for gay men 18 years of age (see Euroletter No. 57). Article 161 of the new Criminal Law "Sexual acts with a person who has not reached the age of 16" provides for imprisonment of up to 4 years for "sexual acts with a person who has not reached the age of 16, where the latter is in material or other dependence on the person comitting the sexual act, or where such act is committed by a person who has reached the age of 18." Thus the new Criminal Law does not distinguish between heterosexual and homosexual acts and defines 16 as the minimum age for all sexual acts. The only remaining difference between heterosexuals and homosexuals in the new Criminal Law is that the legislator has separated heterosexual rape from violent homosexual and lesbian acts. At the same time, both Articles define criminal action in a similar fashion: Article 159 "Rape" deals exclusively with heterosexual acts committed with violence or threats of violence, or taking advantage of victim's defencelessness (Article 159.1), and Article 160 "Violent sexual gratification" penalises "pederasty or lesbianism or other forms of unnatural sexual gratification" if such are committed with violence or threats of violence, or taking advantage of the victim's defencelessness (Article 160.1). Similarly, both Articles define circumstances in which the penalty is increased - where the victim is younger than 18 years of age, where the act is committed by a person who has previously committed a similar offence or where the act is committed by a group of persons (Article 159.2 and Article 160.2), or where the act causes serious damage to the victim or is committed against a person younger than 14 years of age (Article 159.3 and Article 160.3). The reason for such separation becomes clear when the penalties are examined. For the criminal activities covered by Article 159 the legislator has provided for heavier punishments compared to those covered by Article 160: 159.1 - imprisonment for up to 7 years, 160.1 - imprisonment for up to 6 years; 159.2 - imprisonment for 5 to 15 years, 160.2 - imprisonment for 3 to 12 years; 159.3 - life sentence or imprisonment for 10 to 20 years, 160.3 - imprisonment for 5 to 15 years. Dr.jur. Aivars Niedre, Chairman of the Latvian Council of Sworn Advocates, who is the author of the new Criminal Law, explained that the only reason for such separation and the heavier penalty for heterosexual rape is that heterosexual rape can have more damaging consequences for the victim in the form of unwanted pregnancy. Dr.jur. Niedre also said that documents of the Council of Europe and European Union regarding equal age of consent were taken into account during the adoption of the new Criminal Law. ..AND II. ASYLUM MADE POSSIBLE FOR PERSECUTED HOMOSEXUALS In 1997 Latvia ratified the UN 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and adopted a law on "Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the Republic of Latvia" ("Bulletin of the Saeima and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia", No. 16, 4 July 1997). Article 2 of this law defines refugees as individuals "who enter or have already entered Latvia because they have a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion". The same law established, as part of the Ministry of the Interior, the Centre for Refugees, which deals with applications from asylum seekers in Latvia. Representatives of the Homosexuality Information Centre met Ms Baiba Kozule of the Centre for Refugees and learned that despite the fact that lesbians and gay men are not specifically mentioned in the law, the Centre will closely follow the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' interpretation of the phrase "social group", which appears in the Latvian law, as including lesbians and gay men. Ms Kozule said that opressed lesbians and gay men have to demonstrate a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of their sexuality. Ms Kozule also gave examples when such fear is well-founded: homosexual acts are totally banned, homosexual persons are persecuted or their rights violated by the State authorities, or by other individuals where the State fails ro provide adequate protection.