Date: Thu, 4 Apr 1996 17:46:02 -0800 Subject: Romania action alert From: skolander@bahnhof.se (Bjoern Skolander) Due to the number of suggested faxes in this action I will announce a joint e-mail/fax action after the Easter weekend. If you know already now, that you want to join this action, you are welcome to send me your NAME and (snailmail)ADDRESS, and I will include it in the action. Bjoern Skolander skolander@bahnhof.se --------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 04 Apr 96 16:27:00 E From: Lorita Constantinescu Subject: URGENT: Romania Calls for Support FROM: ACCEPT (Bucharest Acceptance Group) c/o APADOR-CH Calea Victoriei 120 70179 Bucuresti ROMANIA Tel/Fax: +401.312.4528 DATE: 4 April 1996 The Romanian Parliament is at it again. Last month, the Senate approved a draft law for the revision of Romania's Penal Code that would continue to prosecute consensual same-sex relations among adults, and would, for the first time, forbid the association of gays and lesbians in Romania. This draft law, with the exception of a few commas and periods, is identical to the one rejected by the Chamber of Deputies last Fall. However, since 1996 is a critical election year in Romania, there is no guarantee that it will be rejected again. The Chamber of Deputies is to begin debate on revisions to the Penal Code soon. WE NEED YOUR HELP! The continuing refusal by Romanian authorities to acknowledge the legitimate rights of homosexuals and to allow them any form of public expression is not only unconstitutional and anti-democratic, but also a blatant violation of regional and international human rights standards. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has strongly urged its member states to change their legislation to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In September 1993, Romania was admitted as a member of the Council of Europe, despite its anti-homosexual legislation. At the time, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council urged Romania to "change its legislation in such a way that: ..."(ii) Article 200 of the Penal Code will no longer consider as a criminal offence homosexual acts perpetrated in private between consenting adults." [For a concise analysis of the draft law, see attached summary from Amnesty International. Please note that ACCEPT has taken the liberty of updating the wording of the draft law. Nevertheless, these slight revisions do not affect the substance of Amnesty's analysis.] We are writing to urge your organisation to send letters - AS SOON AS POSSIBLE - to key members of the Chamber of Deputies imploring them to end Romania's state-sponsored discrimination against gays and lesbians once and for all. A list of key parliamentarians, along with their addresses and fax numbers is below. You will note that the list is rather long, and divided into two categories. Because of the importance of this issue, and our convictioin that the Parliament is determined to act on this issue this year, we are requesting that you send letters to all of those appearing on the attached list. If for some reason this is not possible, we ask that you contact at least those in category 1. We also ask that you send our appeal to other sympathetic persons and organizations. Finally, we would appreciate receiving a copy of any letters you may send. Please fax them to the fax number above. As you know, ACCEPT is an effort of Romanian citizens and expatriates living in Romania to promote and protect the rights of Romania's sexual minorities. The group was first organized in November 1994 - under the name "Bucharest Acceptance Group" - by a core group of Romanians and non-Romanians committed to promoting an open dialogue about the human rights of homosexuals. In May 1995, the Bucharest Acceptance Group brought together representatives of the Government, the Parliament, the Orthodox Church, the diplomatic community, local human rights groups, and regional gay and lesbian groups for the first serious public discussion on this issue. In November 1995, ACCEPT organized the first national conference on the human rights of homosexuals, bringing together gays and non-gays from eight different cities in Romania. The draft law currently before the Parliament would doom our efforts. Please feel free to contact Ion Iacos or Mike Holscher at the above address and number if you need further information. ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES CATEGORY NO. 1 THE PERMANENT BUREAU OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES: ADDRESS: Aleea Patriarhiei nr. 1, Bucuresti, Romania TEL: +40 1 615.94.27 FAX: +40 1 312. 08.28 Mr Adrian NASTASE, president of the Chamber Mr Radu Mircea BERCEANU, vice-president of the Chamber Mr Martian DAN, vice-president of the Chamber Mr Ioan GAVRA, vice-president of the Chamber Mr Ioan RATIU, vice-president of the Chamber THE JURIDICAL COMMITTEE OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES: ADDRESS: Palatul Parlamentului, Calea 13 Septembrie nr. 2, sector 5, Bucuresti, Romania Mr Aurel STIRBU, president of the Committee Mr George Iulian STANCOV, vice-president of the Committee Mr Rasvan DOBRESCU, vice-president of the Committee Mr Vintila NICU, secretary of the Committee Mr Ion DOBRESCU, secretary of the Committee THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES: ADDRESS: Palatul Parlamentului, Calea 13 Septembrie nr. 2, sector 5, Bucuresti, Romania Mr Eberhard-Wolfgang WITTSTOCK, president of the Committee Mr Otto-Ernest WEBER, vice-president of the Committee Mr Imre ANDRAS, vice-president of the Committee Mr Mihai TEODORESCU, secretary of the Committee Mr Ioan Adrian VILAU, secretary of the Committee THE FOREIGN POLICY COMMITTEE: ADDRESS: Palatul Parlamentului, Calea 13 Septembrie nr. 2, Sector 5, Bucuresti, Romania Mr Ivanciu NICOLAE-VALEANU, president of the Committee Mr Stelian TANASE, vice-president of the Committee Mr Miron MANESCU, vice-president of the Committee CATEGORY NO. 2 THE PERMANENT BUREAU OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES : ADDRESS: Aleea Patriarhiei nr. 1, Bucuresti, Romania TEL: +40 1 615.94.27 FAX: +40 1 312.08.28 Mr Alexandru KONYA-HAMAR, secretary of the Chamber Ms Viorica AFRASINEI, secretary of the Chamber Mr Ovidiu Cameliu PETRESCU, secretary of the Chamber Mr Emil-Livius-Nicolae PUTIN, secretary of the Chamber Mr Cristian RADULESCU, chestor Mr Dumitru BALAET, chestor Mr Sorin LEPSA, chestor Mr Emil STOICA, chestor THE JURIDICAL COMMITTEE OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES: ADDRESS: Palatul Parlamentului, Calea 13 Septembrie nr. 2, sector 5, Bucuresti, Romania MPs, members of the Committee: Mr Stefan CAZIMIR Mr Marian DUMITRU Mr Ioan-Catalin IAMANDI Mr Ovidiu-Valeriu IOSIF Mr Vasile LUPU Mr Mihail OLTEANU Mr Emil-Teodor POPESCU Mr Nicolae ROSCA Mr Adrian SEVERIN Mr Ervin Zoltan SZEKELY Mr Petru TANASIE Mr Gheorghe TODUT Mr Gheorghe TOKAY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ROMANIA Criminal law reform on the wrong track March 1994 AI Index: EUR 39/01/94 Distr: SC/CO International Secretariat 1 Easton Street London WC1X 8DJ UK DRAFT LAW ON ARTICLE 200 Amnesty International is concerned that the Draft Law amending Article 200 of the Penal Code, does not fulfill international human rights standards ratified by Romania which the organization urged the government to consider in revising this legislation. Paragraph 1 of this article states the following: "Sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex, taking place in public, or producing a public scandal, is punishable by one to five years imprisonment." The proposed formulation which criminalizes homosexual acts modifies the law in force by incorporating a legal standard - public scandal. This legal standard is very broad and could lead to varying and contradictory judicial interpretation. Amnesty International is concerned that "causing public scandal" could be interpreted to allow the prosecution in Romania of adults solely because of consensual homosexual acts in private, which are not criminal if carried out in similar circumstances by heterosexuals. This would be considered by Amnesty International to be a violation of the nondiscrimination principle provided in Article 26 of the ICCPR, which has been ratified by Romania. The principle guarantees to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex. language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Amnesty International would also consider the prosecution of adults for practising homosexual acts in private to be an arbitrary interference in people's privacy, in violation of ICCPR Article 17 which states that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary and unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation. Furthermore, Amnesty International would consider the proposed Draft Law on the revision of Article 200, paragraph 1, to be contrary to Article 8 of the ECHR, which was signed by Romania in November 1993. [NOTE: Romania ratified the European Convention in 1994, therefore making it part of domestic law.] Article 8 of the Convention states that "everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence." The European Court of Human Rights has held that the right to privacy includes the right to establish and develop emotional and sexual relationships with other human beings, including homosexual relationships. In Dudgeon v. United Kingdom (22 October 1981, Series A, No. 45) and Norris v. Ireland (26 October 1988, Series A, No. 142), the European Court held that the prohibition in Northern Ireland and Ireland, respectively, of homosexual acts between consenting adults over the ages of 21 constituted an unjustifiable interference with the right to respect for private life under Article 8 of ECHR. The Court reviewed whether any justification existed for "...interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right [to privacy]..." - as stipulated in Article 8, paragraph 2 of the Convention. The Court acknowledged that some degree of regulation of male homosexual conduct by means of criminal law could be justified as "necessary in a democratic state", to preserve public order and decency and to protect the citizen from what is offensive or injurious. The Court suggested that the necessity for some degree of control might even extend to consensual acts committed in private in order to protect those who are especially vulnerable by reason, for example, of their youth. With regard to the prohibition of private consensual homosexual acts involving males over the age of 21, however, the Court decided that the law in question violated Article 8 because it was not "necessary in a democratic society", even though it was accepted that societies in northern Ireland and Ireland were more conservative in sexual matters than the rest of Europe. The Court said that: "such justifications as there are for retaining the law in force unamended are outweighed by the detrimental effects which the very existence of the legislative provisions in question can have on the life of a person of homosexual orientation like the applicant. Although members of the public who regard homosexuality as immoral may be shocked, offended or disturbed by the commission by others of private homosexual acts, this cannot on its own warrant the application of penal sanctions when it is consenting adults alone who are involved ... In particular, the moral attitudes toward male homosexuality in Northern Ireland and the concern that any relaxation in the law would tend to erode existing moral standards cannot, without more, warrant interfering with the applicant's private life to such an extent. `Decriminalization' does not imply approval ... To sum up, the restriction imposed on Mr. Dudgeon under Northern Ireland law, by reason of its breadth and absolute character, is, quite apart from the severity of the possible penalties provided for, disproportionate to the aims sought to be achieved." (See ECHR Dudgeon judgment, paragraphs 60-61; see mutatis mutandis, ECHR Norris judgment, paragraph 46.) Paragraph 5 of the proposed Draft Law on the revision of Article 200 states: "Enticing or seducing a person to practise same sex acts, as well as propaganda, associations or other forms of proselytizing with the same aim are punishable by one to five years' imprisonment." Amnesty International considers that the formulation of this provision is vague and ambiguous and that its implementation could result in the prosecution of persons solely for having exercised the universally recognized right to freedom of expression and the right to free assembly and association with others. Thus such a provision would not conform to Articles 19 (the right to freedom of expression), 21 (the right of peaceful assembly) and 22 (the right to freedom of association with others) of the ICCPR and Articles 10 (the right to freedom of expression) and 11 (the right to freedom of assembly and association with others) of the ECHR. Hence, Amnesty International is concerned that the enforcement of the proposed paragraph 5 could lead to the imprisonment of people who would be considered prisoners of conscience. Amnesty International also notes that the Draft Law modifying Article 200 in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4, punishing homosexual acts with minors, homosexual rape and all such acts which result in serious bodily injury, death or suicide, prescribes as maximum punishment longer prison terms than when such crimes are committed by heterosexuals. ****************************************************************************** * To unsubscribe to QUEERPLANET, send mail to: majordomo@abacus.oxy.edu * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: subscribe queerplanet * * To unsubscribe to QUEERPLANET, send mail to: majordomo@abacus.oxy.edu * * In the mail message, enter ONLY the words: unsubscribe queerplanet * * Words in the Subject: line are NOT processed! * ******************************************************************************