By Martin Hellicar
THE PASSAGE of a long-delayed bill decriminalising homosexuality was given a cautious welcome by local human rights campaigners yesterday.
The Pancyprian Association for the Protection of Human Rights expressed concern about last-minute provisions included in the controversial bill in an attempt to dampen the objections of the Church and many deputies and to ensure smooth passage through the plenum on Thursday.
These changes to the bill were designed to ensure homosexuality was not “encouraged”. They outlaw advertising for gay partners or “indecent proposals”, and provide for stiff sentences for sex offenses of a homosexual nature, it was revealed yesterday.
“It does not escape our attention that there has been a parallel outlawing of general and ill-defined actions… and that heavy sentences are threatened under the new law,” an association statement read.
The association warned it would “act accordingly” if a study of the adjustments proved they constituted a violation of human rights. The Green party also expressed concern about the last-minute changes, saying they included “harsh” sentences.
Both the greens and the association nonetheless welcomed the bill.
“At last, even if for the wrong reasons, the House has acted to it make possible, even if late in the day, for Cyprus to harmonise itself with Europe and the rest of the world on human rights issues,” the association stated.
House president Spyros Kyprianou said on Thursday the bill had been passed in order to avoid “serious consequences” for Cyprus’s relations with Europe.
The bill was approved just eight days ahead of a Council of Europe (CoE) deadline for Cyprus to comply with a 1993 European Court of Human Rights ruling to decriminalise homosexual relations. The decriminalisation bill was tabled soon after the 1993 ruling but a vote had been postponed repeatedly, with deputies loathe to show public “support” for homosexuality. Cyprus could have faced expulsion from the CoE for failing to meet the May 29 deadline.
Decriminalisation was also welcomed by the United Democrats party — which had consistently supported the controversial bill — as a show of respect for human rights.
The party stated in an announcement that it was satisfied that “populism and demagogy had not managed to put Cyprus at huge political risk.”
