JURIST - Paper Chase: Sunday, March 11, 2012

[JURIST] The City Hall of St. Petersburg in Russia on Sunday announced that the city's governor signed into law a bill that would impose fines against people convicted of promoting homosexuality, including gays or lesbians who are open about their sexuality. Governor Georgy Poltavchenko signed the bill on Wednesday [RFE/RL report] despite complaints that it discriminated against the gay community. The bill, which was passed by lawmakers [Moscow Times report] at the end of February, bans gay pride parades, and any activity in public which could influence children and that could be viewed as promoting a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) lifestyle. Individuals convicted under the law would be subject to fines between 3,000 and 5,000 rubles ($100-$160 USD) [Moscow Times report], while organizations could be fined up to 50,000 rubles for "promoting" homosexuality. The bill was introduced in November 2011 [JURIST report], and sponsors of the claim it is necessary because homosexual propaganda "threatens" Russia [RIA Novosti report] and that "sexual deviation" negatively impacts Russian children. Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] called on Poltavchenko to veto the legislation [news release], which they called a "discriminatory and dangerous initiative." According to legal scholars, the Russian Constitution [text] may allow limitations to be placed on the rights of homosexuals due to the constitutional ability to balance the interests of society and limit rights of a social group if they infringe upon the rights of another social group. Enforcement of the law will begin 10 days after the date of signing.

Russia has long struggled with the acceptance of homosexuality. In 2008, several Russian gay rights activists were arrested [JURIST report] by police in Moscow for holding events commemorating the 1993 law that put an end to government prosecution for homosexual activity in Russia. It was the third consecutive year Moscow Pride held events around the city to elude officials attempting to enforce a local ban on gay pride parades [JURIST report] that was put in place due to fears of violence. The UN has attempted to pass resolutions aimed at ending sexuality discrimination worldwide, but has faced difficulty passing resolutions on gay rights issues. Last year, UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] passed the "Human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity" resolution [text, PDF], which is the first resolution to call for an end to sexuality discrimination worldwide [JURIST report]. In 2010, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon [official website] called for countries around the world to abolish laws discriminating against gay and lesbian individuals [JURIST report]. A year earlier, the UN passed a gay rights declaration [JURIST report], which called on states to end criminalization and persecution of homosexuals. This declaration was recalled by the new resolution. Although 85 countries signed the declaration [US Ambassador statement], 57 countries, primarily in Africa and the Middle East, signed an opposing statement. In 2008, the UN General Assembly [official website] was divided over the issue of decriminalizing homosexuality [JURIST report] as 66 nations signed a statement calling for decriminalization, and nearly 60 nations signed an opposing statement.

[JURIST] The President and Chief Justice of China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) [official website, in Chinese] on Sunday told the National People's Congress (NPC) [official website] that the country must continue to implement legal reform [CCTV report] to combat corruption and foster social and economic growth. In his address to the annual meeting of the NPC, Chief Justice Wang Shegjun recommended [AP report] that courts work to speed up civil cases and increase the transparency of trials. Shengjun discussed the achievements of the Chinese courts in the last year, including an increase in resolution of intellectual property cases, and a decrease in prosecutions of judges and court staff for corruption. He stressed that the courts must continue to resolve cases and eliminate corruption in order to create a "favorable legal environment."

The Chinese government has worked in recent years to reform their judicial system and combat corruption. Last May, the SPC issued a directive [JURIST report] instituting new harsher penalties under the criminal law for violations of food safety crimes. In December 2010, a former Chinese corruption official was executed for accepting more than 4.7 million USD in bribes in return for mining contracts and job promotions. In September 2010, a member of the NPC announced that the government did not consider removing the death penalty [JURIST report] as a punishment for corruption. That summer, the Chinese government executed a top judicial official [JURIST report] after it was revealed he accepted bribes and had been protecting a number of organized crime gangs. In March 2010, the Hebei Province People's High Court upheld a life sentence for former vice president of the SPC who had been convicted [JURIST reports] of bribery and embezzlement. Earlier that month, the SPC president called for increased efforts to fight corruption [JURIST report] in the country's court system. In January 2010, the SPC announced new anti-corruption rules [JURIST report] in an effort to increase public confidence in the rule of law.

[JURIST] An Egyptian army doctor was acquitted of obscenity by a military tribunal Sunday in relation to alleged forced virginity tests performed on detained protestors during the revolution last spring. The court refused to find that the forced virginity tests occurred [AP report] despite a prior court ruling and allegations from Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] quoting military generals. Military prosecutors brought the charges against Dr. Ahmed Adel after an administrative court issued a ruling last December banning the tests [JURIST report], which it found were performed on detained protestors. The allegations sparked uproar from many of the protestors who claim the tests show that the military regime still follows the oppressive practices of ousted President Hosni Mubarak [JURIST news archive]. Samira Ibrahim, one of the women claiming to have been submitted to the test, expressed displeasure with Sunday's ruling today on her Twitter page [Twitter, in Arabic]. Military authorities initially denied the tests occurred but an anonymous senior military official later admitted they were performed [CNN report] to protect the military from accusations of sexual assault from the detained protestors. The military is scheduled to hand over power to civilian authorities by July 1, 2012.

Last week, an Egyptian police officer was also acquitted by a criminal court [JURIST report] over allegations that he killed 20 protestors. The police officer's defense lawyers claimed he had no intent to kill protestors and was only attempting to protect himself and the police station. Last December, the Cairo Administrative Court ordered the Egyptian Army to end its practice of performing forced virginity tests on female detainees. Samira Ibrahim brought the case against the Egyptian Army after she was arrested during a protest and was forced to submit to a virginity test [Al Jazeera report]. Judge Aly Fekry, head of the Court, delivered the order to stop the procedure of virginity tests on woman inside military prisons. The forced virginity tests have been condemned by human rights organizations including AI, which called upon the Egyptian government [AI report] to investigate the practice after other women protesters had come forward with allegations about forced virginity tests. AI has also accused Egyptian officials of violating human rights [JURIST report] including abuse of protesters and journalists who voiced their dissatisfaction with the government. All of these acts stem from a protest [JURIST report] that took place in November in which over 50,000 people gathered to decry the military's contented rule over the nation.