Date: Wed, 14 Aug 1996 15:46:28 +0100 From: web@raglb.org.uk (Ziad Dajani) BRITISH PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS ROMANIA'S TREATMENT OF SEXUAL MINORITIES 65 MPs have signed an early day motion, tabled by Lynne Jones Member of Parliament for Birmingham Selly Oak, calling on Romania to decriminalise homosexuality. Romania is the only remaining member state of the Council of Europe that retains a penal code which punishes private consensual adult gay relationships with jail. Article 200 para. 1 of the penal code states that, "sexual relations between persons of the same sex are punishable by 1 to 5 years imprisonment." Despite a commitment to decriminalise same sex relationships given by Romania on joining the Council of Europe in 1993, and law being found unconstitutional by Romania's highest court in December 1994, the parliament has yet to change the law. The Chamber of Deputies is now debating a revision of the law which will only criminalise same sex relations that cause a "public scandal". The only existing legal definition of "public scandal" is that of an act that causes offense to one or more persons. This is so vague that it could lead to the prosecution of adults solely because of consensual adult homosexual acts in private. The proposed "decriminalisation" would also restrict the rights to freedom of assembly, expression, and association of gay and lesbian Romanian citizens. MPs called on Romania to respect the human rights of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals and introduce a "full and proper" decriminalisation of homosexuality. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Additional information: MP' were encouraged to sign the motion by members of Amnesty International-UK, the Stonewall Immigration Group and by the Romania Online Action for Gay men, lesbians and bisexuals. A number of individual MPs have now taken up the issue of the draft article 200 with the Romanian Authorities. One MP, Tom Cox has been told at the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, that the Romanian Delegation assured the Council that the "public scandal notion" would have no place in the new law. No mention was made of the other harsh restrictions on freedoms of assembly, expression and association. However, another British MP, Edwina Currie has been told by the Romanian Ambassador to London, that the public scandal notion will be part of the new law and that this does not violate human rights standards. It is not clear whether these contradictory positions are due to inefficiency by the Romanian authorities or are an attempt to further confuse matters around article 200. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Romania Action for Gays-Lesbians-Bisexuals Homepage is sited at http://www.raglb.org.uk/home.html Web and e-mail service kindly provided by Direct Connection.