EmergencyResponseNetwork_v4.no2.1995.06.pdf
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- EmergencyResponseNetwork_v4.no2.1995.06.pdf
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IGLHRC Action Alert
Volume IV, Number 2
June 1995
EMERGEN~Y RESPONSE NETWORK
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of the
_
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INTERNATIONAE GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
IGLHRC is, the Action ~ecretari~t_of ·the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGAJ
Presently, letters should be sent to the Chamber of
Deputies
and request the following:
ACTIVISTS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN TO
_O That copies of your letter be distributed to the
REPEAL CHILE'S SODOMY LAW
heads of all the political parties represented in the
Gay activists in Chile have launched a massive Chilean Congress. .
•
campaign aimed at convincing the Chilean
Parhament to repeal Article 365 of the Penal 0 Increasingly national governments as well as interCode. Article 365 makes consensual, homosexual gove rnmen ta l organizations are making clear that
relations between adults illegal. Letters are needed criminalizing same sex relations between consenting
urging Chilean parliamentarians to bring Chile into the adults is not a legitimate use of state force. Most
international norm and decriminalize same sex recently, the United Nations Human Rights Committee
relations.
found that the Australian state of Tasmania's laws
Currently, Chile is one of three·· Latin ·American against private, consenting, adult homosexual acts
countries which prohibits sexual relations between breach the International Covenant on Civil and Political
persons of the same gender. The Chilean sodomy law
punishes violators with 541 days to three years in Rights. Chile is a signatory to that Covenant and should
move to bring itself into compliance.
prison. Though rarely enforced as
such, the law forms the crucial
0 Sodomy laws make possible
justification for most of the official
ALSO INSIDE:
precisely
that sort of official
and extra-official harassment of
harassment
of
lesbians ·and gays that
lesbians,. gays and transvestites.
groups in Chile are currently
Venez'-'ela •
Indeed, IGLHRC continues to receive
reporting. That incidents of this
reports of incidents of both uniformed
Costa Rica
and off duty police subjecting gay men
nature
would escalate during the
Japan ■ Spain
and transvestites in Sannago. to oar raids
national debate over the future of
that often end with unlawful detentions,
Article 365 indicate the necessity of
as well as-verbal and physical abuse.
moving decisively and quickly to completely The group spearheading the campaign against Article 365,
decriminalize
same sex relationships. Replacing Article
MOVILH (Movimiento de Uberacion Homosexual), has
launched a multi-tiered campaign that is expected to 365 with restrictions of public expression or freedom of
last through the year. Activists are concentrating on assembly are not acceptable.
lobbying congress, liaisoning with other human nghts
organizations, launching puolic education campaigns
ancl holding,a series of seminars and workshops on the Write to:
issue . Already the campaign has generated large Jaime Estevez V
amounts of press attention witbin Chile.
Presidente
The Commission on the Constitution, Legislation and Camara de Diputados
Justice of the Chamber of Deputies announced on 10 Senado de la Republica de Chile
May 1995 its intention to move ahead with the Avda. Pedro Montt sin
abolition of Article 365. However, that announcement Valparaiso
was accompanied by ·news of their intention to replace CI-IlLE
Article 365 ~ith a law pena~izing public expressions of fax: +56-32-697-0022
homosexuality: IGLHRC believes the proposed changes
would be discriminatory and calls for the complete
NEW
·
decriminalization of homosexual acts between
conse_nting adults as well as the decriminalization of GAY GROUP DENIED LEGAL
REGISTRATION IN COSTA RICA
homosexual social and cultural expression.
Any laws approved by the Chamber of Deputies will A gay group in Costa Rica has been denied. its
have to also -be approved by the Chilean Senate. The request to register legally because the groups goals
entire legislative process could take as long as a year. offend "good customs and morals". Urgent letters
MOVILH intends to keep IGLHRC informed of the are needea in support of the group's applicanon. .
progress of the campaign.
(over)
The ABRAXAS group was founded on 2 April 1995 and Write to:
adopted as its centra1 _goal the struggle "agamst the social Lie. Rafael Sanchez Sanchez
discrimination leveled-against people" with homosexual Director del Registro Publico
orientations. The group presented an application for legal _Apartado Postaf 2015
registra~on_ before the Pub1i~ Re~try, Office of Registration of Zapore
.
Orgamzatlons, on 5 Apnl 1995 and wa$ assigned case San .Jose
number 878. They were the first gay group in Costa Rica to COSTA RICA
take such a step.
.
fax: +506-224-4874
According to reports filed with IGLHRC b_x the Licda. Diana Espinoza
Comision Costarricense de Derechos Humanos (Costa Encarg-ada del Registro de Associaciones
Rican Commission on Human Rights), the Public Registro
Registry justified its rejection of the application because -ApartadoPublico
of the .organization's goals. Specifically, the Public Zapote Postal 2015
Registry maintains · that the goals of tne ABRAXAS
group ~iolate articles 1, 3, and 23 •of the Law of San.Jose
COSTA RICA
Associations.
•
fax: +506-224-4874.
Article three of the Law of Associations states that no
group may legally register that undermines good
customs and morality making further reference to
Article 631 of the Penal Code tfiat states no obligation
is lega~ly enf~rceable if it undermine good. c~stoms and •POLICE RAID GAY BAffS IN CARACAS
morality. Article 23 of the Law of Associations states
that a public place may be shut by the police if within Members of police forces in the Venezuelan ca~ital,
Caracas, carried out forceful raids of several oars
that establisliment there are
frequented by lesbians and
committed acts against public
gar.s.
The Movimiento
morality.
YOUR LETTERS CAN DO
Ambiente de Venezuela (Gay
The ABRAXAS group has
DOUBLE DUTY
Movement of Venezuela) is
a_ppealed the decision.
calling for letters in support of
Courteous and respectfully
. their official denouncement of
Please send copies to the IGLHRC
worded letters are needed to
the raids.
office for forwarding to local
buttress their position during
On
12 March 1995 members
the remaining process.
activists to use in lobbying their
of Caracas Police entered five
A sample letter follows:
governments.
bars in Caracas. The bars,
Dos Barras,. El Pullmanl Zig
·
Zag La Tortilla ana El
Dear Sir/ Madame:
Flamingo are known for their lesbian and gay clientele.
It had come to our / my attention that the legal Police arrested several patrons, verbally mistreating and
registration of the "Asociaci6n ABRAXAS" is bemg physically assaulting some, including one individual
blocked due to the organization's goal of "fighting wlio freely admitted being homosexua[
•
against social discrimination directed against persons
The Movimiento ,Ambiente de Venezuela has formally
sexually attracted towards members of the same sex".
denounced the raids in an official complaint before the
Freedom of association and of SP,eech, and the right to national Ministry of Justice. Their compliant has been
be different and to live free of discrimination, are issued case number 0754. •
indispensable to free and complete human
development. The very reason rights like these are Letters are needed expressing concern over the
legally codified is to ensure that they are applied to all raids and inquiring as to the status of compliant
people, particularly groups unpopular witli those who Number 0754.
have greater power, groups like the ABRAXAS group.
Letters should politely express the following:
Given that homosexuality is not against _the law in ,,,-0 Concern over re~orts of the police raids on gay
Costa Rica, their is nothing about ABRAXAS goals that
_e?tablis~ments in qtracas O!} 12 fyfarch 19?5. AnX
places them outside of the law, and so I / we see no official act10ns that might be impedmg the nghts of
reason for them to be denied legal registration. In fact, lesbians, gay men and transvestites to freely assemble
Article 33 of the Costa Rican Constitution prohibits should immediately cease. The current suspension of
discrimination aimed at undermining human dignity, c~nstitutional garuntees can not be sued to justify the
·
precisely the sort of discrimination the ABRAXAS group .raids.
is currently facing.
0 Complaint Number 0754, filed by the Movimiento
I / We respectfully ask that all barriers to ABRAXAS' Ambiente de Venezuela, should be exhaustively
legal registration oe. removed and that they be allowed
the same protections, recognitions, and responsibilities investigated. Any indication of wrongdoing by police
officers should be prosecuted to the fullest extent under
of other non-governmental groups in Costa Rica.
the law.
Sincerely,
Write to:
Dra. Rosa Nemoli Bruno
Fiscal Cuarto del Ministerio Publico
de la Circunscrtpci6n Judicial del Area
Metropolitana ae Caracas
Edifio Pa1acio de Justicia
Esquina de Pajaritos, Piso 2
El Silencio
Caracas
VENEZUElA
- Amo!lg other groups, Gais Lliures del Pais Valencia ha:
2ubhdy _call~d for a complete investigation into how
the physical mtake form was created and exactly who
approved it use.
Po~itely worded letters are needed making the following
pomts:
•
0 The intak~ form used by the Valencia Police to
record physical characteristics is in evident
contra~iction of th~ ~arantees of privacx and equal
Rrotec~10n .under -the law stipulated by the Spanish
C<?nsti~ut10n .. HIV antiboay status and sexual
onentation are melevant to_the v_ast majority of police
work and have no place m a hst of characteristics
routinely :· recor~e~ by police. Collecting information on
POLICE IN SPAIN ENGAGE IN . these charactensucs can often foster discrimination.
UNLAWFUL RETRIEVAL OF
0 A complete a~d impartial investigation _is needed to
INFORMATION -ON THE SEXUAL
adequ_ately explau~- how the phy_sica1 intake form was
con~eived ancf whi~h superior officers were responsible
ORIENTATION AND HIV ANTIBODY
for its usage. Residents of Valencia also deserve an
STATUS OF SUSPECTS
explanation as to what steps are ·being taken to insure
The local Police Department of
that tliis type of information
•
the Spanish City of Valencia
retrieval
is never repeated again.
•
was recently discovered to have WHAT YOU CAN DO:
been using an intake form to
Keep IGLHRC informed of
collect information on the
Write to:
sexual orientation and HIV
human
rights
violations
Rita Barbera Nolla
antibody status of everyone
Alcaldesa de Valencia
they placed under arrest. Letters
in your area.
Plaza del Ayuntamiento no. 1, la
are needed to demand that
46.002 Valencia
Valencia Police authorities cease
SPAIN
use of that form and that an
investigation be launched to determine exactly who
was responsible for having institutionalized its use.
Juan Catino
According to press reports secured by the Conc~jal de la Policia Local
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Plaza ael Ayuntamiento no. 1
Commission, the Valencia Police force -has 46.002 Valencia
standardized use of a form to record the "physical SPAIN
characteristics" of persons arrested. Alongside race
and gender, the form included boxes to clieck if the
det~n~~e ~s a transvestite, homosexual, pederast,
UPDATE
exh1b1t1011:1st or _voyeur. Among the illnesses the form
asked police officers to spot were AIDS and hepatitis. JAPANESE PSYCHIATRISTS REMOVE
Press reports indicate that over one thousand HOMOSEXUALITY FROM LIST OF
det.ainees were processed using the form in question. DISORDERS
It is not clear what has been done with those
co~pleted f~rms though several civic groups are September/ October 1994 action
callmg for their destruction.
The Tokyo based ~ t i o n for the Lesbian and Gay
Responses by authorities, such as Director of the Movement, OCCUR, confirms that according to
V~le_n~ia Police _Force Juan Catino, have tended to correspondence they have received from the Japanese
dr~mmsh the senou~ness_ of the practice, d~nying any Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JPSNJ~ that
pnor knowledge of its existence and suggestmg tfiat its professional association has ceased to r:gard
use constituted the harmless
homosexuality as an sexual
excesses of an subordinate.
perversion. Following the move of
Three inspectors from the
the Japanese Government, the board
national "Age·n cia Estatal de Start a letter-writing chapter of trustees of the]PSN voted to adopt
Protecci6n
de
Datos
the dia~ostic manual approved 5y
• your Cl·ty. Con t ac t IGLHRC ICD-10,
the World
Organization,
In formancos
, · ,, (S tate Agency in 1n
as Health
their offic~-::::1
c1 __.....:ccauthe
·on
Charge of Informat10n and
uu. ~m
Recoras) were sent to Valencia
for information.
5uide. JSPN correspondence to
. CqJR states "Sexual orientation by
to investigate. That national
regulatory body is concerned
itself JS not regarded as a disorder".
because Spanish law expressly provides that health The American Psychiatric Association decided in 1973
status, race and sexual onentatlon only be included in not to classify liomosexuality as a form of "sexual
someone's poli_ce re~ords under very strict limitations abnormalit}:'', and ~ si~ilar ~ove was taken by the
that the Valencia Pohce appear to have been violated.
World Health Orgamzation which expressed their view
(over)
that homosexual orientation is not inferior to heterosexual orientation in their ICD-10 published in
1993. Despite this, U!ltil now the Japanese Society of
Psychiatry and Neurology had contmued to classify
homosexuality in an ambiguous and deroga~ory .
manner.
In March 1993 OCCUR demanded that the Japanese
Society ·of Psychiatry and Neurology express its official
view on homosexuality. The latter organization
promised in May of the same year to first discuss the
topic and then present a response. However, the
committee concerned with the concepts of disease and
terminolo~ which is in charge of the issue, has not yet
even started to discuss the issue after one year. It was
only after international pressure was instigated that the
JSPN relented and made its unexpected announcerµent.
OCCUR confirms that international pressure was
instrumental in forcing the change .. lGLHRC continues
to be concerned that Psychiatric text books published
before the change continue to be used. Those text
books describe homosexuality as a perversion.
WE NEED YOUR HELP
The International Gay &: Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) documents~ ~oni_tors,: and mobilizes
response to human rights violations against gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and people with HIV/AIDS worldwide.
IGLHRC is -in its second year as the action secretariat of the ILGA. Is this is your first IGLHRC Action Alert? If soi
would you like to take part in the Emergency Response Network reg(!larly? To become _part of an intemationa
campaign to make a difference in the lives of sexual minorities all over the world, please fill out the coupon below
and return it to:
IGLHRC
1360 Mission Street, Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94103 U.S.A.
+1-415-255-8680 telephone
+1-415-255-8662 fax
iglhrc@igc.apc.org (e-mail)
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