The Constitutional Court docket of the Dominican Republic reviewed a authorized problem on Friday concerning legal guidelines that criminalize consensual same-sex relationships amongst police and army officers. The courtroom’s resolution stays pending. Notably, related penalties should not imposed for heterosexual acts.
Anderson Javiel Dirocie de León and Patricia M. Santana Nina, the plaintiffs, filed a Direct Motion of Unconstitutionality (Case No. TC-01-2024-0030) towards two articles: Article 210 of the National Police Code of Justice (Legislation No. 285 of June 29, 1966) and Article 260 of theArmed Forces Code of Justice (Legislation No. 3483 of February 13, 1953). These articles impose jail sentences of as much as two years and one yr, respectively, for same-sex “sodomy” amongst officers.
In an announcement to Human Rights Watch, Dirocie de León, one of many lead attorneys difficult the legal guidelines, emphasized:
These discriminatory provisions power LGBTQ+ officers to serve in fixed concern of being found, punished, and shedding every little thing, together with their livelihoods. The message from the state is evident—that LGBTQ+ people are inherently unfit for public service and could be criminalized merely for being who we’re (translated from Spanish).
The plaintiffs argue that these provisions, which particularly goal consensual same-sex relations with felony penalties, violate a number of constitutional articles, together with Articles 5, 7, 8, 38, 39, 40, and others. Moreover, they contend that the legal guidelines contradict worldwide human rights treaties, such because the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights. They invoke Article 74.3 of the Dominican Structure, which prioritizes human rights treaties over home regulation in instances of battle.
The plaintiffs search the courtroom to annul these articles and take away them from the Dominican authorized system. Their case has garnered help from a number of organizations, together with Human Rights Watch, the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Trans, and others who’ve submitted “amicus curiae” briefs in favor of the authorized problem.
In an amicus temporary submitted to the courtroom, Human Rights Watch argued that the criminalization of gay conduct violates worldwide requirements, together with the precise to safety towards arbitrary interference in personal life, as recognized by the UN Impartial Professional on sexual orientation and gender id.
Cristian González Cabrera, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, highlighted the broader implications of those legal guidelines:
These draconian legal guidelines are a stain on the Dominican Republic’s human rights file and contribute to a discriminatory atmosphere within the police and armed forces. State-sponsored intolerance has no place in a democratic society ruled by the rule of regulation, particularly in a area the place most nations have repudiated the criminalization of personal, consensual same-sex acts (translated from Spanish).
This environment of discrimination is perpetrated by officers on the highest ranks. In 2014, the then-director of the Nationwide Police drew public consideration when he stated that present legal guidelines prohibit LGBTQ+ people from serving throughout the power. When requested about these already serving who could be homosexual, he implied they need to be recognized and focused, revealing the deep-seated bias current throughout the establishment.
The Dominican Republic will not be alone in implementing such legal guidelines. 5 different Caribbean nations—Jamaica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines—keep related laws. Globally, consensual same-sex sexual conduct stays criminalized in over 60 nations, together with Iran, Myanmar, and Sudan.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
