SOFIA, November 16, 2005  –  The Bulgarian gay organisation BGO Gemini has lodged an official complaint concerning homophobia within the Sofia police.  The move comes following the LGBT group learning of police harassment against a young gay man of Albanian origin.
 

The man – know as “I.A” – became the latest victim of homophobia by the police when he was arrested on the night of October 25 as he entered a Sofia club popular with the gay community.

BGO Gemini claims that the arrest was illegal.

Without being given the reason for his arrest, I.A. was taken to the police station where he was detained for 12 hours.

Worried about the policemen’s attitude, he requested one of them to show his identification card.  But this request for identification led to verbal abuse from the officer.

“Arkan [Serbian paramilitary leader Zeljko Raznatovic] was right when killing Albanians in Kosovo,” the policeman is alleged to have said.

Officers also made homophobic remarks such as “you nasty, dirty, contemptible faggot”.

None of the police officers showed identification documents.

In addition to the verbal insults on his sexual orientation and ethnic origin he was subjected to, “I.A.” was also physically beaten by the officers.

When he requested a ‘psychological consultation’ and a phone call to his mother to inform her about the situation, both were refused.

Gemini has started legal proceeding over the matter.

Background on Being Gay in Bulgaria

by Desislava Petrova of BGO Gemini

Bulgarian legislation contains no provisions that refer specifically to perpetrators of crimes motivated by homophobia, despite the fact that the Council of Europe considers homophobia to be equivalent to racism.  In the Penal Code, homosexuals are only singled out when they are the subjects of a crime (i.e. when they are the perpetrators), and not when they are objects (i.e. victims of a crime).

Judicial and police bodies do not show any eagerness to collect evidence about the homophobic motives of those who perpetrate crimes.  Judges are not obliged to consider such motives as aggravating the circumstances of guilt or to impose more severe punishments when homophobic motives are present.  Discriminatory attitudes of police officers towards sexual minorities are no different from discrimination against any other minorities.

Individual cases reported to BGO Gemini provide evidence indicating the presence of the discriminatory practices within the police force.

Police officers refuse to register cases of brutality committed crimes against sexual minorities and do not conduct investigations that would seek criminal responsibility from the perpetrators of crimes motivated by homophobic prejudices.  The passive behaviour of the police is an expression of the states desire to ignore the violation of the rights of LGBT.

The police have initiated on numerous occasions unprovoked actions towards homosexuals.  In the past, BGO Gemini has dealt with a case of a gay man from a small town who submitted a complaint against three police officers.  They had arrested him with no reason being given and took him into custody.  He was threatened by them and beaten while being in custody because he had been known as gay.  A few days later he was released from police arrest and his police file mysteriously disappeared.

There are also cases of gay bashing. BGO Gemini has been made aware of about attacks on LGBT people by other individuals, but mostly by groups of people and mainly in the evenings.  Due to a lack of effective and focused cooperation with the police, no such cases have ever been legally investigated and no measure taken in order to find and punish the criminals.

The new anti-discrimination law came into force in January 2004.  The Act is in line with the antidiscrimination law of the European Union, in particular Directives 2000/43, 2000/78, 2002/73, as well as with the Framework Program for the Equal Integration of Roma into Bulgarian Society.

A Commission for protection against discrimination, consisting of nine experts, was appointed in 2005.  Four members of the Commission are appointed by the President, and five by the Parliament.  However, the Commission is not operational yet so the Bulgarian human rights organizations have to bring discrimination cases to court, instead of passing them on to the Commission.

Moreover, only human rights lawyers and NGOs are aware of the existence of Commission itself, its members and the functions of this institution the general society and specifically the victims of human rights violations are not familiar with this Commission.

A discrimination case on the grounds of sexual orientation was brought to Sofia District Court and won in April 2005.  In its verdict the Sofia District Court recognizes that four homosexual boys have been subject to discrimination on the base of their sexual orientation.  The four victims were denied of access to the sports centre of Sofia University.  The Court ordered the University to allow the boys access to the centre and to pay a fine of just 500 Bulgarian leva (€255, £175, $300).

This is the only discrimination case on the base of sexual orientation brought to the court.  However, research for the level and nature of discrimination performed by BGO Gemini shows that this court case is only the tip of the iceberg.  Of 34 inquires to Gemini last month, 26 were cases of discrimination, including violence on the workplace, school, university or at home.

Two of the reported discrimination cases have been officially reported to the Police – not as cases of discrimination based on sexual orientation, but as cases of violence or harassment.  

There is a fear in Bulgaria among the gay community that reporting discrimination their sexuality would be disclosed publicly.  In addition, there is mistrust in the various institutions

LINK

BGO Gemini website (English)