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(New York)- Dominican Republic The Constitutional Court will hear challenge On August 30, 2024, a law criminalizing consensual same-sex conduct among police and armed forces personnel was enacted. Human Rights Watch Today. Amicus Curiae BriefThese discriminatory laws violate the rights guaranteed to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) officials under international law, including equality, privacy, and the ability to work without fear, Human Rights Watch said.
Article 210 National Police Judicial Code and Article 260 Armed Forces Justice CodePolice impose up to two years and one year in prison for same-sex “sodomy,” respectively. There are no such criminal penalties for heterosexual acts.
“These draconian laws tarnish the Dominican Republic’s human rights record and contribute to an environment of unchecked discrimination within the police and armed forces,” he said. Christian Gonzalez CabreraSenior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “In a democratic society governed by the rule of law, and in a region where private sexual activity between homosexuals is largely uncriminalized, state-sanctioned bigotry has no place.”
The Dominican Republic does not prohibit individuals from engaging in homosexual acts. However, Human Rights Watch says the country lags behind in LGBT rights, lacking comprehensive civil anti-discrimination legislation, same-sex marriage or civil union rights, and gender identity recognition for transgender people. criticize A proposed criminal law that does not provide protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity, including hate crime provisions.
In 2019, a popular video exposed A Dominican Army sergeant was fired for having homosexual sex. The Army said he had “committed serious faults that damaged the morals and ethics of the institution”. The sergeant appealed. In 2021, the Administrative Court dismissed his case for procedural reasons, but the sergeant filed a new appeal and is awaiting a final decision.
In 2014, then-National Police Commissioner Tell A congressional committee said current legislation “does not allow homosexuals” to join the police force. News reports said the then-chief asked to be identified in response to questions about how gay officers already in the police force would be treated.
“These discriminatory provisions mean that LGBTI officials live in constant fear of being discovered, sanctioned, and losing everything, including their livelihoods, while in office,” Anderson Javier Di Rossi de León, one of the lawyers leading the constitutional challenge, told Human Rights Watch. “These provisions send a message from the state that LGBTI people are inherently unfit to hold public office and can be treated as criminals because of who we are.”
In 2004, the Dominican Republic Congress passed a broad Criminal procedure reform The bill limits the ability of the police and armed forces to impose criminal sanctions on officers, but makes clear that these bodies retain their administrative “disciplinary powers.” In 2019, the Constitutional Court clarify Criminal cases against police officers are to be heard by ordinary criminal courts, but the provisions on sodomy in the security forces judicial code have not been repealed.
In recent years, countries in the region, including Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela,as well as USArepealed a law criminalizing homosexual behavior by police officers.
In its Amicus Curiae Human Rights Watch says criminalizing same-sex conduct violates International Standardsincluding the right to be free from arbitrary and unlawful interference with one’s private and family life, personal reputation or dignity, and emphasize Written by the United Nations Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Although the provisions of the constitutional challenge only prohibit homosexual acts in military and police contexts, they make the Dominican Republic one of the few countries in the Americas to criminalize homosexual acts.
Five English-speaking Caribbean countries – Jamaica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Luciaand Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – There are still such laws, which are British ColonialismConsensual same-sex behavior 63 countriesinclude Iran, Myanmarand Sudan.
“Rather than waiting for the Constitutional Court’s ruling, President Luis Abinader and Congress should immediately introduce legislation to repeal these outdated and discriminatory laws that interfere with the private lives of police officers,” González said. “Repealing these laws would send a strong signal to LGBT people and the world that the principles of equality and non-discrimination are vital in the Dominican Republic.”
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