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29th UPR session
Date of review: 16 January 2018
Date of report adoption: 28 June 2018
Document number: A/HRC/38/6
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SUMMARY SOGIESC issues during Romania’s 3rd UPR review |
I. SOGIESC issues/recommendations identified by NGOs and other stakeholders
Equality and non-discrimination
7. Save the Children Romania (SCR) stated that Roma children, children from poor families, those living in rural areas, children with disabilities or those who had identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons continued to be discriminated in sectors such as education or health care.
8. Equality and Human Rights Action Centre (ACTEDO) noted that Roma and LGBT+ persons had reportedly been target of hate speech. CoE-Commissioner was concerned about the high incidence of anti-Roma rhetoric in public and political discourse. Pro Regio Siculorum Association (PRS) reported that anti-Hungarian sentiment and hate speech had increased and that social media and news channels were flooded with messages against Hungarian community by politicians and media representatives.
9. ACCEPT stated that hate-crimes remained underreported. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (EU-FRA) noted information, indicating a lack of understanding among police officers regarding what a hate crime is and how to investigate the bias motive of a crime. ACCEPT reported on the lack of comprehensive and systematically collected data on hate-crimes.
10. CoE-Commissioner encouraged the authorities to ensure that hate speech is not tolerated and perpetrators are brought to justice, and to condemn firmly and unequivocally all instances of hate speech and hate crime.
13. EU-FRA stated that the 2011 Civil Code prohibited same-sex partnership and marriage and prohibited the recognition of such partnership and marriages concluded in other countries. Despite this, ACCEPT and ACTEDO reported on an initiative to hold a referendum in order to amend the Constitution to specify the legal definition of family as a marriage between a man and women. ACTEDO noted a high level of intolerance displayed towards LGBT+ persons by many public figures during the referendum campaign.
14. ACCEPT stated that gender identity was not explicitly included in the list of criteria of non-discrimination and that the rights of transgender people remained largely ignored by the authorities. There were no official medical protocols and training for professionals on providing healthcare services for transgender persons and very few psychologists and medical professionals were available to provide such services. Medical interventions were not covered by the public healthcare insurance. The legislation on name change obliged transgender persons to go through court procedures. In the absence of clear regulations and laws, the courts issued contradictory interpretation of the law on aspects of gender affirming surgery.
Right to health
30. JS3 reported on an increase in the number of persons with HIV among vulnerable groups. The national HIV program has not been actively implementing the new approaches on HIV prevention and has not targeted MSM (men having sex with men). The drug procurement scheme based on a decentralized system led to inconsistencies and gaps, affecting access to treatment and health care of patients who were covered by antiretroviral treatment. The national drug strategy for 2013-2020 lacked financial support and operational plans to scale up HIV/AIDS prevention interventions by targeting people who injected drugs. The harm reduction interventions were mainly based on external donors.
35. ACTEDO stated that sexual education had not been part of the compulsory school curricula. JS3 explained that health education subject in school curriculum included some elements of sexual education. This subject remained, however, optional depending on the decision of a school. Biology teachers, who had no training on sexual education, taught this subject. JS3 recommended introducing a mandatory comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education in schools and ensuring that sexuality education is evidence based, gender sensitive and non-discriminatory. JS2 recommended developing teachers training courses on education for sexual and reproductive health and creating opportunities in formal education settings for specialized NGOs to promote sexual and reproductive health.
II. Excerpts on SOGIESC issues from the national report
Measures concerning other vulnerable groups (children, LGBT), hate crimes
68. Romania’s legal framework ensures the respect of human rights for all persons, without discrimination of any form, as provided by the Romanian Constitution that also mentions the respect and protection of private life. The anti-discrimination law in Romania (Ordinance no. 137/ 31 August 2000, Art. 2.1) is among the most extensive and inclusive, defining discrimination in a very large sense, including discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation. Since 2000 the law includes provisions on combating incitement to hatred and fighting all discrimination forms. Civil society organizations promoting the respect of the rights of LGBTI persons are active in Romania for watchdog, support and rights promotion activities for the LGBTI community in Romania/Bucharest especially. Yearly, Bucharest hosts the annual festival dedicated to support the rights of the LGBTI persons – Pride Week, including a March for Diversity – Pride parade.
69. In Romania, the persons having HIV or AIDS are legally perceived as persons with disabilities. Thus, they benefit from all protective measures specifically aimed at this mentioned group. HIV-positive pregnant women are monitored in nine Regional HIV Infection Surveillance Centers where, after HIV infection has been confirmed, any person, regardless of age, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, is recorded, clinically and biologically monitored and provided specific antiretroviral therapy immediately after diagnosis. The management of HIV-positive child and adolescent patients complies with the 2013-2014 Guidelines for ARV Therapy, containing a separate chapter for this age group. Between May 2014 and August 2016, ‘Prof. Dr. Matei Balș’ National Institute of Infectious Diseases from Bucharest, as Project Promoter, under the coordination of the Ministry of Health as Program Operator, implemented the project ‘Improving HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B and C Prevention and Control in Romania”, as part of the 2009-2014 Norwegian Financial Mechanism.
III. Excerpts on SOGIESC issues by UN agencies
Equality and non-discrimination
11. The Committee on the Rights of the Child was concerned that Roma children, children with disabilities, asylum-seeking or refugee children, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children and children living in remote rural areas continued to face discrimination with regard to access to education, health care and employment, and to their standard of living.
IV. References to SOGIESC issues during the Working Group review
52. The United Kingdom welcomed efforts to improve prison conditions, and the ratification of the Istanbul Convention. It encouraged more action on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.
54. Uruguay, while commending the efforts of Romania to protect the rights of children, hoped that Romania would implement a previous review recommendation on birth registration. It noted the persistence of hate speech against the Roma, discrimination against vulnerable groups and gender discrimination.
90. Germany commended Romania for the progress made with regard to the work of the National Council for Combating Discrimination. It remained concerned about the human rights situation of persons from vulnerable groups, including the Roma and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons.
101. Argentina highlighted the section of the national report concerning vulnerable groups, children, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons and hate crimes.
V. Conclusions and/or recommendations
Romania accepted the following recommendations:
114.42 Review its national anti-discrimination legislation and policies so as to incorporate all non-discrimination criteria, including gender identity and sexual orientation (Honduras);
114.52 Take urgent measures to investigate and sanction acts of hatred such as discrimination against migrants, minorities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, in particular those acts carried out by public officials (Argentina);
114.60 Continue working to eradicate all forms of stigmatization and discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity (Chile);
114.61 Intensify efforts to combat all forms of discrimination, especially against persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, including by promoting a culture of equality and by removing obstacles to the enjoyment of their rights (Italy);
114.62 Continue efforts to combat discrimination and protect vulnerable groups, particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, and take steps to fully implement, monitor and evaluate the national strategy on equality and non-discrimination (Australia);
114.63 Invest in more training and awareness-raising initiatives for police officers, judges and prosecutors to guarantee effective investigations of crimes against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community (Spain);
114.64 Develop and implement programmes to counter discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, including public awareness campaigns and specialized training for law enforcement officials (Canada);
114.65 Increase the organization of awareness-raising campaigns to enhance the understanding of the general population of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, paying particular attention to raising awareness among students (Belgium);
114.68 Ensure that acts of discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and persons belonging to other vulnerable groups are properly investigated and perpetrators held accountable (Austria);
114.69 Promote more tolerance towards persons belonging to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community (Greece);
114.70 Launch an awareness-raising programme for the public against negative prejudice and discrimination against persons based on their sexual orientation or gender identity and against persons with HIV/AIDS (Czechia);
114.71 Adopt a law or a code of conduct prohibiting and criminalizing incitement to hatred, which would apply to political figures and Parliamentarians making racist, homophobic or xenophobic speeches or of any other intolerant nature (Uruguay);
114.72 Take measures to prevent hate crimes, in particular driven by racial and discriminatory motives (Republic of Korea);
114.76 Collect and publish data on hate crimes that include motivation, for example whether the crime is motivated by a bias against the victim’s race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, or disability status (United States of America);
Romania noted the following recommendations:
114.66 Take active measures to prevent discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, for example by including gender identity in the list of criteria of non-discrimination and making provision in law for same-sex civil partnership and marriage (Ireland);
114.67 Introduce a civil legal partnership between same-sex couples, and refrain from a referendum on constitutional changes prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying, which would likely increase negative sentiments against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (Sweden);
114.200 Adopt a national strategy to raise awareness among the Romanian population about traditional harmful practices against women and discriminatory gender stereotypes (Uruguay);
VI. Further information
You will find all documents relating to Romania’s third review at UPR-Info and OHCHR’s websites.