EmergencyResponseNetwork_v6.no1.1997.01.pdf
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January 1997
EMERGENCY RESPONSE NETWORK
of the
INTERNATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
IGLHRC Action Alert
Volume VI, Number 1
may also use them when appropriate.
OFFICES OF TRIANGULO ROSA
IN COSTA RICA ATTACKED
On December 16th, following months of
threatening phone calls, pranks, and minor acts
of vandalism, the members of Asociacion
Triangulo Rosa discovered that all the windows in their offices had been broken by vandals. This attack is only the latest attempt to intimidate
_.,I
members of Triangulo Rosa, a gay and lesbian organization
in Costa Rica, and force the closure of their offices in the
town of Alajuela. In the weeks leading to the most recent
attack, vandals wrote obscenities on tl-ie walls and doors of
the Triangulo Rosa offices. The group also received threatening phone calls demanding the group leave Alajuela.
Triangulo Rosa attempted to file a complaint with the local
police authorities who refused to accept it, claiming the
incident was not within their jurisdiction. The complaint
was then presented to the Organismo de Investigacion
Judicial (Institution for Judicial Investigation). Triangulo
Rosa also approached the Defensoria de los Habitantes de
la Republic (Defender of the Inhabitant~ of the Republic),
which serves as an ombudsman on human rights cases,
immediately following the attack requesting increased
police protection and an immediate investigation. None
of the agencies have responded.
Asociacion Triangulo Rosa has asked that international
activists write letters stressing the following points:
1. Violence against minorities is deplorable and it is the
responsibility of the Costa Rican government to investigate
attacks against any and all minority groups including sexual minorities to ensure that perpetrators of these attacks
are prosecuted for their crimes.
2. In situations where individuals or groups believe they
may be in danger, it is the government's duty to provide
adequate police protection.
3. The- government of a country with Costa Rica's otherwise impressive human rights records needs to recognize
that violations of the rights of sexual minorities are indeed
human rights violations.
Asociacion Triangulo Rosa
Att: Francisco Madrigal
Apartado 1619-4950
Alajuela, Costa Rica
E-mail: rastem@sol.racsa.co.cr
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
NAMIBIA'S NUJOMA ATTACKS
HOMOSEXUALS
At the opening of the Swapo Women's Council
Congress on December 6, 1996, President
Nujoma of Namibia made a deearture from his
prepared speech to attack Namibia's homosexual citizens. With glaring similarity to Zimbabwe's
President Mugabe in his disregard for the civil rights of
lesbians and gay men, President Nujoma stated that "all
necessary steps must be taken to combat influences that
are influencing us and our children in a negative way.
Homosexuals must be condemned and rejected in our
society." The Windhoek Advertiser reports that this attack
was immediately followed by a call from the Rainbow
Project for dialogue with the head of state. The Rainbow
Project, a coalition of Namibian gays and lesbians, indicated that Prime Minister Hage Geingob had in 1990 assured
Namibia's homosexual citizens of their rights under Article
10.2 of the Constitution.
Article 10.2 of the Namibian Constitution states that "no
person may be discriminated against on the grounds of
sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creea or social or
economic status.'' The growing international trendis to
interpret "other status" to include sexual orientation.
Presumably, Prime Minister Hage Geingob supported that
interpretation of the Namibia Constitution.
While President Nujoma has as yet made no public
response to the outcry against his statements, he has
issued no further attacks. Though this attack does not
appear to have been precipitated by any high profile
Please send letters to:
action on the part of Namibia's homosexual community, it
is not unprecedented. There was a similar outcry from
Rodrigo Carazo
Namibia's lesbian and gay citizens in October of 1995,
Defensoria de Los Habitantes
when
Ministers Helmut Angula and Nahas Angula, and
Apartado 1240-1007
Deputy Minister Hadino Hishongwa jointly
Centro Colon
denounced homosexuality as "an un-African
Costa Rica
ALSO INSIDE
social evil." Deputy Minister Hishongwa furFax: 506-296-2512
Austria T Israel ther declared homosexuality to be "pathoPlease send copies of your letters to IGLHRC
logical" and "curable through long-term
and to· Asociacion Triangulo Rosa so that they . Ch1.I e T A rgen t·tna treatment."
UPDATE
May 1996 Action
AUSTRIAN ANTI-GAY LAWS
REPEALED
On December 12, 1996, the Upper Chamber of
the Austrian Parliament passea. a bill which
included the full repeal of anti-gay Articles 220
& 221 of the Penal Code. As expected, this vote corroborates the November 27, 1996 Lower Chamber decision, and the reform comes into effect on March 1, 199 7.
This is a significant, albeit partial victory, for the Austrian
Lesbian & Gay movement, which has struggled for this
reform for the past 17 years.
Article 200 criminalized the production or distribution of
materials presenting homosexuality in a positive light with
a penalty of up to six months imprisonment, while Article
221 prohibitea with a similar penalty, the existence of
groups whose mandate included the promotion of homosexuality. Article 209, however-which imposes an
unequal age of consent of 18 for gay men versus 14 for
lesbians and heterosexuals-remains on the books.
The left wing Social Democrats, Greens, and Liberal
Forum had proposed the full repeal of all three articles in
the Lower Chamber, but unfortunately do not constitute a
Parliamentary majority.
The Austrian lesbian and gay movement extends their
thanks to all who supf orted their international campaign
which began last Apri. We thank you as well for participating in the IGLHRC letter writing campaign. We shall
update you on developments in the struggle against Article
209 .
PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL RETRACTS
HOMOPHOBIC REMARKS, BUT
FALLS SHORT OF A FULL APOLOGY
On December 20th, the President" of Israel, Ezer
Weizman, made a series of homophobic
remarks about lesbians and gay men in
response to a question by a high school student
at the Reali School in Haifa, wbere the
President was speaking. Weizman said that he
found gays and lesbians "disgusting".
Weizman called for legal steps to determine the status of
homosexuals and lesbians and said it was up to society not
to encourage this phenomenon. In the past, he noted,
homosexuals were considered a security risk. Weizman
expressed opposition to same-sex marriage and concern
that homosexuality has become "nice."
The response to Weizman's comments was swift. Member
of the Knesset (MK) Yael Dayan immediately called upon
Weizman to apologize for his remarks, stating Weizman
had engaged in incitement against an entire group in
Israeli society. MK Naomi Hazan called for his resignation.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel also condemned
the president's remarks and said that, as president, he has
a responsibility to work for the dignity of all persons in
IGLHRC-ERN
Israel. It is important to note that while the office of the
Presidency in Israel is a largely ceremonial one, the head of
state is seen as a unifying force in the country. The World
Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jewish Organizations sent a
letter to Weizman expressing their concern over his remarks, urging him to retract his statements and apologize.
On the day following Weizman's remarks, a group of over
500 people gathered outside Weizman's Jerusalem home to
protest liis homophobic statements. Chants of "Big
mouth, small head" and "Weizman homophobe" were
heard throughout the crowd.
On December 23rd after an hour long meeting with members of the Society for the Protection of Personal Rights in
Israel and various Ministers of the Knesset, the President's
bureau chief Arye Shumer released the following statement
to the press:
"The president sees legislation which discriminates as
undermining the foundations of democracy, the rules of
natural justice, and the dignity and freedom of man, and
he has no intention of encouraging legislation which leads
to discrimination between citizens of the state regardless of
origin, religion, sex, or sexua~ ori~ntati<:m. The president
says that any deed or express10n ·m which people are publicly humiliated - or deecis which can be interpreted as
such - should be regretted," the statement continued. "The
dignity, rights, and well-being of all the citizens of Israel
must be upheld."
The President did not address the press directly following
the meeting and many of the meeting participants, while
satisfied with the outcome, believe it to be only a first step.
MK Hazan said at the end of the meeting that the call for
the President's resignation was suspended but she
described him as "on probation" for the remainder of his
presidency.
Members of the Society for the Protection of Personal
Rights request that international activists continue to pressure the Israeli government to honor the rights of gays,
lesbians and bisexuals in Israel.
·
For those wishing to write directly to the
President:
President Ezer Weizman
Office of the President
3 Hanassi Street
92188 Jerusalem
ISRAEL
E-mail: ask@israel-info.gov.il
To contact the Society For The Protection Of
Personal Rights For Gay Men, Lesbians, And
Bisexuals (SPPR) in Israel write to:
•
"Ha-Aguqah"
P.O . Box 37604
Tel Aviv 61375
ISRAEL
Phone: 972-3-6204327 or 972-3-6293681
Fax: 972-3-5252341
E-mail: sppr@netvision.net.il
Volume VI, Number 1
January 1997
UPDATE
ACTIVISTS WIN ANOTHER VICTORY
FOR THE LGBT COMMUNITY IN
ROSARIO ARGENTINA'S SECOND
LARGEST TOWN
On December 20th, the Rosario town council
adopted an anti-discrimination clause submitted by Colectivo Arco Iris. The clause, based on
the one adopted by Buenos Aires a few months
ago and supported by various international
human riglits organizations, reads: "no discrimination [on the basis of] race, ethnicity, gender,
sexual orientation, age, religion, ideology,
nationality, physical arpearance, psychological,
social, economic cond1bon, or any other circumstance will be allowed ... The city promotes the
Original Action--May 1992
CHILEAN SENATE COMMITTEE
REFUSES REPEAL OF SODOMY LAWS
On December 16, 1996, the Chilean Senate
Committee on Constitution, Legislation Justice,
and Rules passed a resolution recommending
that the full Senate not consider legislation
decriminalizing sodomy. The legislation before the
Committee had been approved by the lower house of the
Chilean Parliament in 1995 and included the legalization
of most same-sex relationships. However, the .Committee's
recommendation to not approve the legislation will now be
considered by the full Senate.
The members of the Committee justified their recommendation by saying they did not want to send the wrong message
to society Senators aligned with the more conservaremoval of any and every type of obstacle that actually
tive parties have publicly stated
restricts equality and freedom, [or]
their belief that homosexuality is
YOUR LETTERS CAN DO
impedes a person's full developan
"aberration against nature."
ment and her/his effective particiDOUBLE DUTY
Should the Senate fail to consider
pation in the social, political, or
the changes proposed by the
economic community life."
Please send copies of your
Chamber
of Deputies, Article 365
Rosario's activists celebrated the
letters to IGLHRC so that we of the Chilean Penal Code, which
new clause, hoping it will help to
makes sodomy a criminal offense
ameliorate some of the harsh realcan forward them to local
with penalties ranging from 541
ities currently faced by lesbian,
days to 3 years in prison, would
gay, bisexual, and transgender
activists to use in lobbying
remain
in force. Chile and
people (LGBT) there. According
.
Ecuador are the only countries in
to Colectivo Arco Iris, discriminatheir governments.
South America with sodomy laws.
tion on the job, arbitrary arrest,
Movimiento de Liberacion Homosexual (MOVILH), a gay
and youth su_icide are the main problems affecting the
group in Chile, has been working since 1991 to repeal the
Rosario LGBT community In particular, the organization
sodomy laws. They have asked international activists to
receives an average of 30 complaints per month regarding
denounce the Committees recent decision and to exRlain
workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.
to Senators the importance of repealing article 365 of the
Colectivo Arco Iris is one of the main LGBT organization
Chilean
Penal Code to ensure that sexual minorities are
outside of Buenos Aires. Their current activities include:
accorded the same rights as other citizens. Of particular
support groups for lesbians, transgender people, and _peoimportance is the freedom of consenting adults to engage
ple living with HIV/AIDS; massive distribution of leaflets
in
same-sex relations without the threat of persecution.
educating the community about HIV/AIDS; work projects
for people with AIDS; a hotline for reporting incidents of
discrimination; and an ongoing visibility campaign in the
Please send letters urging the repeal of article
local media, community organizations, and schools.
365 to:
Colectivo Arco Iris was also the host of the first National
Gathering of LGBT people in Argentina and a key factor in Presidencia del Senado
Senor Sergio Diez
its success.
If you want to congratulate Rosario activists for
their victory, please write to:
Colectivo Arco Iris
C.C. 208 (2000), Rosario
Provincia de Santa Fe
Argentina
Phone/fax: (54 - 41) 4 7 02 68
Fax: 56-32-232-654
E-mail: sdiez@congreso.cl
Presidente Comisi6n, Miguel Otero Lathrop
Fax: 56-32-232-654
E-mail: mol@congreso.cl
THANl<S to all who wrote letters to the City of Tokyo
(August 1996 ERN) about the exclusion of gays and lesbians from the City's youth hostels. A recent update from
the Japanese group OCCUR, which is bringing the case
against the city, informs us that an expert witness has been
IGLHRC-ERN
Volume VI, Number 1
January 1997
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