Recent events have once again shown us that the outdated Penal Code, which dates from the British administration period, has lost its applicability due to its unscientific laws despite the developments and modernization in both human rights and the understanding of law, and therefore it is a necessity that the law is modified.
According to information obtained from various media organs on 14 October 2011, Friday morning, three individuals were arrested in north Cyprus for engaging in “unnatural relations”. We have also received information that two of the arrested people have been subjected to police violence while under arrest. We will be following the case to find out the extent of the violence. The incidents are unacceptable. Being arrested due to sexual orientation is a violation to fundamental human rights. Although a crime against humanity has been committed, unfortunately many media organs in our country support the “legality” of these “criminal” incidents due to the government’s support and the laws which normalize such offenses. Besides providing the names, occupations and images of the arrested people, a vast majority of media organs have also ignored the violations by making comments which feed homophobia and provoke the public instead of actually defending human rights.
Also, in an attempt to mold public opinion, the media stated that one of the individuals is 17 years old; however, although the age of consent is defined as 16 for women, a determined age for men does not exist within the laws. This clearly shows that the penal code in effect does not aim to protect the bodily integrity of individuals but rather protects the morality of the society. The criteria for protecting individuals in laws should be determined by consent rather than age. Therefore, allegations regarding sexual activities should be judged from a human rights and age of consent perspective; and victims involved in the incidents should not be presented as “criminals”.
As Initiative Against Homophobia, we continue to argue that Article 171, Chapter 154 of the Penal Code must be amended immediately. We call upon the TRNC government and all political parties to urgently prepare the law in accordance with our Penal Code change proposal which was referred and submitted to the Supreme Court. In order to ensure that TRNC is removed from the list of “countries with state-sponsored homophobia” in Europe, we emphasize that TRNC must take the required steps to update the laws within a human rights framework. It is the government’s duty to ensure that the human rights of each person living in this country are protected. We call all conscious individuals, activists and human rights advocates to raise their voice and invite them to protest against the law in front of the Court on 17th October 2011, Monday at 9:00.