LGBTQ+ Rights
Thailand Moves Toward Legalizing Marriage Equality 👩🏽❤️💋👩🏼 🧑🏻❤️💋🧑🏿
At the end of March, positive news circulated around the world regarding Thailand's historic move towards legalizing marriage for same-sex couples. After years of efforts to establish marriage equality, Thailand is closer than ever to equalizing the rights of same-sex and heterosexual couples. Previous attempts at legalization had failed, despite widespread public support, which according to a government poll last year stood at around 96%.
The proposed law also includes provisions allowing adoption of children by same-sex couples, but the original proposal, which included the neutral term "parents", failed to pass the lower house, leaving the term "father and mother" in place. Thailand already has some legislation that provides protection to LGBTQ+ people primarily from hate speech and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. However, the Thai parliament has so far rejected proposals to allow changes in gender identity.
Senate approval is still required for the law to be passed, along with the signature of the King of Thailand. This is expected to happen towards the end of 2024, making Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize marriage for all. There are only two countries in the whole of Asia that grant same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual ones, Taiwan as of 2019, and since November last year same-sex couples have also been allowed to marry in the state of Nepal. [1]
Roma Minority
MPs' Subcommittees Approved the Definition of Anti-Romani Discrimination ‼️
"Anti-Romani discrimination, i.e., discrimination against Roma, is the expression and actions of individuals, strategies, and practices of institutions that lead to the marginalization or exclusion of Roma, the devaluation of Roma culture and lifestyle, physical violence, or expressions of hatred directed against Roma and other individuals or groups perceived as 'Gypsies.' For this reason, they are stigmatized, or were targets of persecution during the Nazi era, and unfortunately, sometimes even today." This is the definition of anti-Romani discrimination approved on March 27, 2024, in a joint meeting of the parliamentary subcommittees for the support of democracy and human rights abroad, for national minorities, and for the protection of human rights. The same definition had already been adopted by the Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs and is expected to be adopted by the government as a whole in the near future. This move is in response to repeated calls from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, of which the Czech Republic is a member, to adopt and utilize this definition in practice. [2]
The Constitutional Court Rejected Vsetín's Proposal to Delay Enforcement in Compensation Dispute with Displaced Roma ❌
The Constitutional Court rejected the proposal from the town of Vsetín to delay the enforceability of a Supreme Court decision, which awarded compensation ranging from CZK 10,000 to CZK 40,000 to individual family members. Based on this decision, the town must pay compensation for the forced relocation of a Roma family to the town of Vindava in the Jeseník region (approximately 170 km away) and must also apologize for the statements made by Mayor Jiří Čunek.
This is not an isolated case of Roma citizens being relocated from Vsetín. The town evicted several Roma families from a dilapidated tenement house, which was subsequently demolished. Although some residents were not paying rent, many families ended up in container houses in Vsetín or were forced to leave Vsetín altogether. This approach by the town led to numerous lengthy court cases, and the Supreme Court awarded four families a total compensation of CZK 1.825 million, which Vsetín is contesting.
While the Constitutional Court rejected the proposal and did not grant a suspensive effect to the decision, this does not prejudge its final ruling on the matter. However, in this decision, the Constitutional Court primarily pointed out the town's argumentation, calling it "generalizing, stigmatizing, and prejudiced."
In its request for a delay in enforcement, the town of Vsetín argued that if it now pays the compensation and later succeeds with its constitutional complaint, it will be difficult to recover the money. The town claimed that such a dispute would unnecessarily burden the courts and stated that "issuing enforcement titles to persons of Roma nationality (...) does not lead to the voluntary fulfillment of the obligations imposed by such enforcement titles."
The Constitutional Court stated in its resolution that it "considers it unacceptable that the complainant’s argument associates the 'high probability' that the participants would not return the already paid amounts with their belonging to a certain ethnic group." According to the Constitutional Court, this argument is utterly incompatible with the principle of equality and dignity in rights. "Its application is all the more alarming because it was used by the complainant as an entity that, even when defending its rights in the field of private law, must not lose sight of its public law status within the system of public authority, and thus its obligation to respect the constitutional order," the Constitutional Court noted in its resolution. [3]
Remaining Category, or What You Shouldn't Miss Either
France Becomes the First Country in the World to Enshrine the Right to Abortion in its Constitution 🥳🩷
This year's International Women's Day took on a new dimension as France enshrined the right to abortion in its constitution. Although abortion has been legal in France since 1975, current French President Macron, responding to the troubling situation in the United States, promised better and more secure protection of this right. France thus became the first country in the world to explicitly guarantee this right in its constitution. In this historically significant vote, both chambers of the French Parliament approved the guarantee of the right to abortion as a guaranteed freedom in Article 34 of the constitution. Many feminist organizations in Europe now hope that this right might also become part of valid EU law in the future. However, amending the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights would require unanimous consent among member states, which could be problematic. While most EU member states guarantee their citizens the right to abortion, unanimity is unlikely given the situation in Poland and Malta, for example. [4]
UN Reporter Labels Israeli Offensive in Gaza Strip as Genocide 💔
"There are legitimate reasons to fear that Israel has committed the crime of genocide against Palestinian citizens," stated Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Albanese made this statement after presenting her latest report, titled "Anatomy of a Genocide," to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. International law defines genocide as a specific set of actions committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
At a press conference, Albanese said, "Israel committed genocide with clear intent: killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part." She also criticized the West for denying the reality and perpetuating Israel's impunity, calling it unsustainable. She called on the UN Security Council to immediately seek a ceasefire. Israel stated that it "categorically rejects" the report, which it said disgraces the Human Rights Council.
Other officials from the UN and the European Union also condemned the situation in the Gaza Strip. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, recently noted that Israel's restrictions on the import and distribution of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza could be considered a war strategy and thus a war crime. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell echoed this sentiment, accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon in Gaza. [5]
Venice Commission Issues Opinion on Amnesty Requirements Based on Rule of Law Principles 😬
At the request of the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the President of the Spanish Senate, the Venice Commission commented on the acceptability of the proposed Spanish amnesty law. In its opinion, the Commission primarily highlighted concerns about the law's predictability if adopted in its current form—it is unclear who exactly it would apply to, given that it is proposed to be effective for only a two-month period. The Venice Commission generally fears that the amnesty could be tailored to benefit only certain individuals, which would not be in line with its general nature. Additionally, the proposed law does not include provisions strictly excluding all potential crimes involving human rights violations from the amnesty, which is generally considered unacceptable by the international community, even though there is no specific international treaty prohibiting such an approach. The Venice Commission also urged that laws with such deep and controversial impacts should always be thoroughly consulted at all levels of society before adoption, not passed unilaterally, and ideally by more than a simple majority of deputies, even though the constitution does not require this. [6]
[1] TATARSKI, Michael. Thailand poised to legalise same-sex marriage after parliament passes bill. The Guardian [online]. 2024 [cit. 2024-04-07]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/27/thailand-poised-legalise-same-sex-marriage-parliament-passes-bill
[2] Poslanci podpořili definici anticikanismu, má bránit diskriminaci Romů. DeníkN [online]. 2024 [cit. 2024-04-07]. Available at: https://denikn.cz/minuta/1388147/
[3] ÚS zamítl návrh Vsetína na odklad vykonatelnosti ve sporu o odškodnění. Advokátní Deník [online]. 2024 [cit. 2024-04-07]. Available at: https://advokatnidenik.cz/2024/03/26/us-zamitl-navrh-vsetina-na-odklad-vykonatelnosti-ve-sporu-o-odskodneni/
[4] France makes abortion a constitutional right on International Women’s Day. Al Jazeera [online]. 2024 [cit. 2024-04-07]. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/8/france-makes-abortion-a-constitutional-right-on-international-womens-day
[5] MIAN, Louis a Benjamin BROWN. ‘Reasonable grounds’ to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, UN rights expert says. CNN [online]. 2024 [cit. 2024-04-07]. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/27/middleeast/israel-committing-genocide-in-gaza-un-rights-expert-says-intl/index.html
[6] Venice Commission adopts opinion on the rule of law requirements of amnesties with particular reference to the amnesty bill in Spain. Council of Europe [online]. 2024 [cit. 2024-04-07]. Available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/venice-commission-adopts-opinion-on-the-rule-of-law-requirements-of-amnesties-with-particular-reference-to-the-amnesty-bill-in-spain
Comments