ILGA-EUROPE CALLS ON ROMANIAN SENATE TO REPEAL LAWS CRIMINALISING SAME-SEX RELATIONS

ILGA-Europe’s annual conference, meeting in Bucharest from 4-8 October, has called on the Romanian Senate to repeal Article 200 of the Romanian Criminal Code, which criminalises same-sex relations. In an open letter to the President of the Senate, the conference reminded the President of Romania’s repeated failure to honour its international obligations with regard to the repeal of Article 200. The most recent such commitment was a statement by the leader of the Romanian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in June 2000 that the Article 200 would be repealed by September 2000.

The letter goes on to point out that as recently as last week the European Parliament again addressed this question. While welcoming the attempts of the Romanian Government to abolish repressive legislation regarding sexual minorities it stressed to Romanian legislators that, in the context of accession to the European Union, basic human rights would at no point be open to negotiation.

ILGA-Europe advised the President of the Senate that it will monitor developments closely and will ensure that both the European Union and the Council of Europe are informed should Article 200 not be repealed during the current parliamentary session.

The 22nd ILGA European conference was attended by around 100 participants from 27 countries. The conference was honoured by the participation of Joke Swiebel, MEP, Boris Dittrich, Dutch MP, and Giampiero Alhadeff, president of the Brussels-based Platform of European Social NGOs.
The conference addressed the implications of the European Union’s policies to fight discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation both for the Member States and the accession countries and developed strategies for ensuring that governments implement these policies.

The conference organisers were pleased to note that week-long demonstrations called by right-wing and religious organisations failed to materialise. This was seen as evidence that public opinion in Romania is increasingly accepting of human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons.

The delegates voted to accept the invitation of the Dutch national lesbian and gay organisation COC to hold next year’s conference in Rotterdam. The annual conference in 2002 will be hosted by OPUS GAY in Lisbon.

The Executive board of ILGA Europe
 
 

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