By Jean Christou
COUNCIL of Europe (CoE) deputy chief Hans Christian Kruger yesterday called on the Church of Cyprus to drop its vocal opposition to the decriminalisation of homosexuality.
In an interview with the Cyprus Mail, Kruger, the CoE’s Deputy Secretary General, said that Catholic Ireland had had exactly the same anti-gay laws as Cyprus but had changed them.
“I realise the Church in (Cyprus) is very much against it, but at the same time… Ireland — a strong Catholic country — changed the law, and I think the Church of Cyprus might wish to look again at the importance of the issue,” Kruger said.
The Cyprus Church — and the public show of support it has managed to muster on the issue — has been the main stumbling block in the way of efforts to decriminalise homosexuality for consenting adults over 18.
For five years, deputies have balked at the task, despite a European Court of Human Rights ruling in 1993 that the law must be repealed.
The Church recently launched a scathing attack on Europe over the issue, and has sent letters to all deputies, calling on them to vote against the changes, which must be adopted by the House by May 29.
If Cyprus fails to comply with the latest deadline, the pressure will continue, said Kruger, adding “it would be noticed” if the changes did not come about.
He said he would not like to speculate on a “worst case” scenario.
“If the signals sent to Strasbourg are such that there will not be any ratification, then the matter will have to be discussed with the EU ministers, and one would have to look at the ways Cyprus complies with its obligations under the Convention of Human Rights.”
“I personally could not imagine that Cyprus would not abide by a decision of the European Court of Human Rights,” Kruger said.
He said it would be the first time in his experience that a country did not abide by the decisions of the European Court.
“So it would be to me very surprising and if on this issue Cyprus would not comply and… it would be a very sad precedent for the authority that judgments must have,” Kruger said.
Panayiotis Demetriou, Chairman of the House Legal Affairs Committee said earlier this week that the issue was likely to go to full parliamentary debate before May 29 — without approval at committee level.
Kruger said the fact that it had taken five years for Cyprus to change the law was unusual, though not unprecedented.
At this stage, he said, whether the law was approved at Committee level or went straight to parliament was irrelevant.
“This is a procedural matter of Cyprus law. In the end, it is parliament that decides,” he said. “The law needs to be changed. How the law is changed is different in many countries.”
Kruger said although it was unlikely that Cyprus’ stubborn stance on this issue might affect cases the government has brought against Turkey, “I would find it a problem in the general attitude of Cyprus with regard to the international obligations it has entered into.”
