International Human Rights Tribunal

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Folder International Human Rights Tribunal: Page 1, consisting of a combined image-text logo, description and the main organizations involved: HOSI Vienna, HOSI Linz and HOSI Tirol, Minorities Initiative, Republican Club - New Austria and Austrian Lesbian and Gay Forum, each with their Logo.

The International Human Rights Tribunal (IMRT) was an event of the Austrian LGBT movement that took place from June 9th to 12th, 1995 in Vienna . A number of human rights organizations in Austria rose symbolic indictment of the Republic of Austria because of the persecution and discrimination of lesbians , gays , bisexuals and transgender -People in Austria from 1945 to 1995. The occasion was the 50th anniversary of the Second Republic . It was chaired by Freda Meissner-Blau , founder of the Greens , and Gerhard Oberschlick , editor of FORVM .

organizer

The main organizers of the tribunal were the Austrian Lesbian and Gay Forum (ÖLSF) and the Homosexual Initiative Vienna (HOSI Vienna). In addition to some smaller associations of the LesBiSchwulen and TransGender movement, political and cultural initiatives such as women's rights / human rights , Velvet Cinema or Platform Red Vienna, the tribunal was organized together with the following institutions and publications:

The International Committee

At the time of the tribunal, in 1995, two criminal law paragraphs threatened every public appearance of LGBT activists in Austria: § 220 StGB prosecuted advertising for fornication with persons of the same sex and for fornication with animals with up to six months in prison, Section 221 made all connections to aiding same-sex fornication a criminal offense, also with up to six months in prison. By law, therefore, all participants in the tribunal could have been brought to justice and sentenced to prison terms. For their protection, the organizers set up an international committee, which the following people joined:

Jacques Gaillot , Bishop of Partenia , the actress Petra Morzé , the resistance fighter Georg Scheuer , the MEPs Mel Read (Great Britain) and Claudia Roth (Germany), the Canadian politician Svend Robinson , the Austrian parliamentarians Terezija Stoisits and Doris Kammerlander (both from the Greens), Irmtraut Karlsson , Elisabeth Pittermann and Annemarie Reitsamer (all from the Social Democratic Party of Austria ), further the writers Erica Fischer , Kuno Knöbl , Christine Nöstlinger , Gerhard Roth and Ingrid Strobl , the journalist Reinhard Tramontana , the environmental expert Robert Chambers (Frankfurt ), the university professor for philosophy Herta Nagl-Docekal , the historian Brigitte Bailer-Galanda , the sociologist Bernd Marin and the human rights expert Manfred Nowak (all four from Vienna), the political scientist Anton Pelinka (from Innsbruck), and other professors from Moscow , St. Petersburg , Vancouver , Utrecht and Presto n . A number of human rights experts, publicists and LGBT activists from Belgium , Denmark , France , the Netherlands , Norway and Peru also took part .

Senates

Under the chairmanship of Freda Meissner-Blau and Gerhard Oberschlick, the seven senates were made up of prominent personalities from Austrian civil society to form one area of ​​the IMRT . Among others, the theologian Kurt Lüthi , the philosophers Rudolf Burger and Oliver Marchart , the writers Josef Haslinger , Doron Rabinovici and Katharina Riese , the politicians Friedrun Huemer (The Greens) and Volker Kier ( Liberal Forum ), the actress Mercedes Echerer , took part Psychotherapists Rotraud Perner , Alfred Pritz and Jutta Zinnecker, the judge Norbert Gerstberger, the lawyers Nadja Lorenz , Alfred J. Noll and Richard Soyer , the cultural scientists Dieter Schrage and Claus Tieber , the journalists Trautl Brandstaller and Irene Brickner , the editor and writer Heimrad Bäcker , three trade unionists, two doctors, the spokesman for the President of the National Council, Bruno Aigner , as well as human rights activists Francesca Ferraris from Amnesty International and Martin Schenk from SOS Mitmensch . The composition of the jury changed for each charge - according to the specific know-how of the Senate members. For example, the jury for Count VII. Discrimination in public - in addition to the two chairmen - consisted of the journalists mentioned above, the authors Bäcker and Haslinger, the theologian Lüthi, the actress Echerer, the psychotherapist Perner and the film scholar Tieber.

accusation

Christian Michelides - in his function as chairman of the ÖLSF at the time - organized the indictment of representatives of the LGBT movement in Austria, including the HOSI Vienna activists Gudrun Hauer (as a representative of the women's magazine AUF ), Kurt Krickler and Waltraud Riegler , Roman Fischer as well the transgender representative Elisabeth Piesch . Involved were u. a. also Gloria G. and Peter Scheucher, as well as a witness for the prosecution of the Rom and Porajmos survivors Karl Stojka . The prosecutors presented evidence in seven areas:

Witnesses were called to document the allegations. The witnesses reported police persecution, arrest, psychiatric treatment and electric shocks, job loss and humiliation in public spaces and in closed cells. In each of the seven areas, the Republic of Austria was charged with violating human rights, thereby breaking the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - signed by the United Nations - adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948 in the Palais de Chaillot in Paris to have.

defense

A defense in the strict sense of the word did not take place, neither of the accused legal situation nor of the alleged and criticized discrimination in the world of work and in public. On the first day of the tribunal, however, the parliamentarian Johannes Jarolim of the ruling Social Democrats took his place in the dock as an amicus curiae . In this role he did not defend the Republic of Austria, but declared his consent to all changes in criminal law demanded by the prosecution. He referred to the refusal of the coalition partner, the Austrian People's Party , which at the time blocked any change in this area, and promised to work actively for the abolition of discriminatory criminal law paragraphs. Jarolim's appearance on June 9, 1995 represented the first participation of an active politician in an LGBT event in Austria. On the following day Volker Kier, Member of the National Council of the Liberal Forum, and Friedrun Huemer, Member of the Green State Parliament, participated in the Senate of the Tribunal.

Six judgments

The Republic of Austria was convicted on six of the seven counts. However, the Senate did not fully agree with the prosecution's demands. For example, the chief prosecutor requested - in Chapter  I. Criminal Law and Constitution - the deletion of the Pornography Act without replacement . The Senate did not agree to this request.

"Lesbians and gays are being persecuted by completely outdated, embarrassing and dusty laws."

- Freda Meissner-Blau : after the tribunal is over

The seventh Senate decided - instead of a judgment - an "appeal by the tribunal" to all public participants to curb and impatiently counteract the "everyday [...] discrimination [...] based on [the] sexual orientation and experienced gender identity [...]" .

"The protection of privacy and protection against discrimination are cornerstones of every free and democratic state."

- Manfred Nowak : on the occasion of the pronouncement of the judgment on June 12, 1995

Follow-up events

On June 29, 1995, the ÖLSF organized a political discussion in Palais Auersperg under the title Appell an der Vernunft as a sign of understanding with politicians . The women minister Helga Konrad ( SPÖ ), the chairwoman of the Liberal Forum , Heide Schmidt and the justice spokeswoman for the Greens , Terezija Stoisits, spoke . Ulrike Lunacek , board member of the ÖLSF, moderated this event, which was conceived by the ÖLSF a priori as a counterpart to the tribunal and, unlike the tribunal, received wide coverage in the press and television. The then Viennese ÖVP chairman Bernhard Görg also took part in this event as an audience member, who clearly stated in a statement from the audience that the ÖVP would not agree to equality between lesbian and gay couples.

On June 29, 1996 - again organized by the Austrian Lesbian and Gay Forum - the first rainbow parade took place, which was seen as a powerful demonstration for equal rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.

The three club chairmen of the SPÖ, Greens and Liberal Forum - Peter Kostelka , Madeleine Petrovic , Heide Schmidt - finally traveled to the 6th Austrian Lesbian and Gay Forum in Dornbirn in November 1996 and spoke at the plena in favor of the repeal of the discriminatory criminal law paragraphs and the equality of the population group.

In 1997, plans were again underway for a 2nd International Human Rights Tribunal , organized by a rainbow coalition to oppose racism and xenophobia .

Media reception (selection)

Before the IMRT:

  • April 27, 1995 (announcement) in: Wiener Zeitung
  • April 27, 1995 (announcement) in: CITY
  • April 27, 1995 in: ÖLSF: International Human Rights Tribunal. No reason to celebrate: "'50 Years of the Second Republic - 50 Years of Suppression of Lesbians and Gays' - this is the motto under which an international human rights tribunal of the Austrian lesbian and gay movement will take place from June 9th to 12th." In: Volksstimme , 17 / 1995, p. 6
  • April 28, 1995 (announcement) in: Der Standard
  • June 7, 1995 in: Freyzeichen (radio broadcast in Ö3 ): Interview with Hermes Phettberg , who then appeared as a witness at the tribunal
  • June 9, 1995 (announcement) in: International Human Rights Tribunal , announcement in: FORVM . International magazine for cultural freedom, political equality and solidarity work. XLII. Jahr, No. 496–498, issue April-June, p. 53.

During and after the IMRT:

  • June 1995 in: Bulletin (magazine of the Republican Club )
  • June 10, 1995: Austria in the dock. In: Wiener Zeitung .
  • June 10, 1995: Tribunal charges the state. In: The Standard .
  • June 12, 1995 in: Radio FM4 - studio talk with Elisabeth Piesch and Kurt Krickler
  • June 14, 1995 in: Blue Danube Radio - Interview with Freda Meissner-Blau
  • Week 24/1995 (June 12-18; on the judgments) in: Volksstimme, CITY and AUF - a women's magazine
  • June 21, 1995 in: Phettberg's field service in the weekly newspaper Falter
  • June 22, 1995 in: Radio Ö1 - In conversation with Peter Huemer
  • July 1995 in: Kurt Krickler: International Human Rights Tribunal. 1945–1995: suppression of lesbians and gays in Austria. In: LAMBDA-Nachrichten , Issue 3/1995: 6-page report on the tribunal with five photos (including Manfred Nowak when the verdict was pronounced).

Changes in the legal situation since 1997

LGBT movement and civil society formulated u. a. In the symbolic tribunal, the long-term concerns of the affected population group in concise summarizing demands with the consent of all participating members of the National Council and State Parliament of the SPÖ and the Greens.

In the following years, the relevant Austrian legal situation was redesigned.

  • 1997: Paragraphs 220 (advertising fornication with persons of the same sex or with animals ) and § 221 (connections to promote same-sex fornication) StGB repealed, expired on February 28, 1997.
  • 1998: Amendment of the Code of Criminal Procedure , according to which same-sex partners are granted the right to refuse to testify
  • 2002: The different age of consent ( § 209 Penal Code) of 18 years for gay relationships, compared to 14 years for heterosexual relationships for lesbian relationships has been prepared by the Constitutional Court repealed as unconstitutional (except took effect on 13 August 2002, Federal Law Gazette I No. 134/2002.. ) . Instead, a substitute paragraph was created with Section 207b of the Criminal Code and a new age of consent of 16 years was created for all sexual orientations (entered into force on August 14, 2002, Federal Law Gazette I No. 134/2002 ).
  • 2003: Deletion of all records of convictions according to the former § 209 StGB from the police data storage
  • 2004: Sexual orientation included in the anti-discrimination law
  • 2005: Homosexuals recognized as a victim group of the Nazi regime
  • 2009: Gender reassignment operations no longer a prerequisite for gender change in personal documents (forced by a decision of the highest court)
  • 2009: The Nazi regime's convictions for homosexuality can be lifted
  • 2010: Introduction of the registered partnership for lesbian and gay couples

With these changes, the Republic of Austria has successively adapted its legal position, also - and not least because of - the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Austrian Supreme Courts, Administrative Court and Constitutional Court .

See also

Web links

Commons : International Human Rights Tribunal  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christian Michelides: The republic is guilty. Homosexuality and criminal law in Austria. Part 2: The convictions since 1950. In: Lambda Nachrichten, Issue 1/1996, pp. 38–40.
  2. ^ Robert T. Francoeur, Raymond J. Noonan: The Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. The Continuum International Publishing Group, New York / London 2004, ISBN 0-8264-1488-5 . In it: Rotraud Perner : Austria. Translated by Linda Kneucker, with updates by Linda Kneucker, Raoul Kneucker and Martin Voracek, pp. 42–58, as PDF online ( Memento from March 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). Here in Chapter 7. Gender Diversity and Transgender Issues, p. 51f, last paragraph: “ In June 1995, a four-day international human rights tribunal took place in Vienna that dealt with the discrimination against lesbians, gays, and transgendered persons. The indictment ascertained that lesbians, gays, and transsexual persons are discriminated against in various ways and that there is in no way legal protection. Accordingly, the government and Parliament were asked to initiate activities to counteract the situation. ”(Online also in: The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality . Volume I - IV 1997–2001. Edited by Robert T. Francoeur. Therein: Rotraud Perner: Austria (Republic of Austria), here as Chapter 7. Gender Conflicted Persons .)
  3. ↑ Organized by… In: Folder of the IMRT, page 4 , cf. also in: LAMBDA-Nachrichten , Issue 3/1995.
  4. ↑ Sylvia Maria Kreiner: The decriminalization of homosexuality in Austria: a legal historical account , Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, diploma thesis, 2016, p. 50f. (freely available, Open Access publication server UNi Graz)
  5. ↑ International Committee. In: IMRT folder, page 2 . See also in: Members of the International Patronage Committee. In: LAMBDA-Nachrichten , Issue 3/1995, p. 32; all 48 personalities of the International Committee are listed here by name. On p. 36 there is a picture of the pronouncement of the judgment, on which - from left to right - Nowak, Oberschlick, Huemer and Prinz are depicted. Cf. also documentation in the FORVM archive , accessible through the editor Gerhard Oberschlick.
  6. ^ Gerhard Oberschlick , Publisher of FORUM: Austria: Appeal of the 'International Human Rights Tribunal' against discrimination against homosexuals and transsexuals in the media. IRIS 1995-7: 12/36. In: IRIS Merlin. Legal information database. European Audiovisual Observatory (Ed.), Accessed August 5, 2018.
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g Tribunal brings charges against the state. In: Der Standard , June 10, 1995: “An international human rights tribunal brought charges against Austria in the Republican Club on Friday: lesbians, gays and transsexuals were suppressed, current" homosexual laws "are discriminatory, the republic violates human rights. Hannes Jarolim, member of the SP National Council (picture left), appeared as Austria's defender. He is followed as prosecutor by Elisabeth Piesch, father of two children. In addition, the Senate chairmen Gerhard Oberschlick and Freda Meissner-Blau, flanked by presenter Waltraud Riegler. Other representatives of the prosecution join her: Gudrun Hauer from the feminist periodical attacks, Christian Michelides, chairman of the Austrian lesbian and gay forum, Kurt Krickler and Roman Fischer from the homosexual initiative. The empty armchair is reserved for witnesses, Michelide's dog Bobbi suspiciously watches the room. The tribunal is still in session until the verdict is announced next Monday, when the Liberal leader Heide Schmidt is expected. (fei) Photo: Semotan “. (Note: Heide Schmidt did not appear at the announcement of the verdict as announced, but was only present at the appeal to reason, organized by the ÖLSF on June 29, 1995 in the Auersperg Palace.)
  8. ↑ a b See folder of the IMRT, page 4 , at the bottom: "Organization Senate: Irene Brickner and Jutta Zinnecker , FORVM , [...] Organization of the Prosecution: Christian Michelides , Austrian Lesbian and Gay Forum , [...] Patronage Committee and Public Relations: Mag . Kurt Krickler , HOSI Vienna , [...] local organization: Mag. Sybille Summer , Republican Club [...] ".
  9. ↑ Names Project Vienna - Working Group of the HOSI Vienna (Ed.): With Love and Respect: Memorial exhibition for HOSI members who died from the consequences of AIDS ... (undated). In it, along with other short biographies on Peter Scheucher (1957–1996), accessed on August 5, 2018: "... and also worked on the indictment for the 'International Human Rights Tribunal 1945–1995: 50 Years of Oppression of Lesbians and Gays in Austria'."
  10. ↑ a b In: files with protocol and the judgments as well as with the transcript of the International Human Rights Tribunal (IRMT). Everything is archived in the FORVM archive and can be viewed via the FORVM editor Gerhard Oberschlick .
  11. ↑ Austria: Appeal of the 'International Human Rights Tribunal' against discrimination against homosexuals and transsexuals in the media. In: IRIS 1995-7: 12/36, Legal Information Database (IRIS), Issue 7/1995.
  12. ↑ Pornography Act in the relevant version of June 12, 1995: Entire legal provision in the RIS .
  13. ^ Kurt Krickler: International Human Rights Tribunal. 1945–1995: suppression of lesbians and gays in Austria. In: LAMBDA-Nachrichten , Issue 3/1995, p. 32.
  14. ^ Kurt Krickler: International Human Rights Tribunal. 1945–1995: suppression of lesbians and gays in Austria. In: LAMBDA-Nachrichten , Issue 3/1995, p. 35.
  15. ↑ Appeal to reason. In: LAMBDA-Nachrichten , Issue 3/1995, p. 21.
  16. ↑ Ulrike Repnik: The history of the lesbian and gay movement in Austria. [= Feminist Theory, Volume 48], Milena, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-85286-136-5 , pp. 133f
  17. ↑ Racism. In: Der Standard , April 19, 1997: "The 'Rainbow Coalition', in which representatives of discriminated population groups have come together, are holding the" Tribunal against Racism and Xenophobia in Austria "from June 2 to 6. The chairwoman of the Greens' former club chairwoman, Freda Meissner-Blau, and Gerhard Oberschlick, editor of the temporarily suspended FORVM. Violations of human rights should be denounced in public negotiations. "
  18. ↑ International Human Rights Tribunal , announcement in: FORVM . International magazine for cultural freedom, political equality and solidarity work. XLII. Year, No. 496–498, issue April-June. Vienna, June 9, 1995, p. 53.
  19. ^ Austria in the dock. In: Wiener Zeitung , June 10, 1995: “In a symbolic tribunal on Friday, the Republic of Austria was charged with violating the human rights of lesbians and gays by criminal law. The Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights and gay and lesbian organizations are calling for an end to discrimination. "
  20. ↑ Cf. on the legal changes that have already taken place, but also on the demands that have not yet been implemented, see Lambda Legal Committee . The RKL: The situation. (undated), accessed on August 5, 2018.
  21. ↑ Note: Sections 220 and 221, both in the version of January 1, 1975, repealed by the 1996 Criminal Law Amendment Act, Federal Law Gazette No. 762/1996 of December 30, 1996, expired on February 28, 1997 Thus, because the punishable sodomy should not be repealed after the - then no longer existing - Sections 220 and 221, a new Section 220a, advertising fornication with animals, was reinserted.)
  22. ^ Right committee Lambda : The RKL: The situation. Here: Second large section beginning with “→ The claim of same-sex l (i) equal and transident women and men ...", accessed on August 5, 2018: "According to the current case law of the European Court of Human Rights, sexual self-determination is a key asset of the European Convention on Human Rights and discrimination based on sexual orientation unacceptable. The Court of Justice condemns discrimination on the basis of 'sexual orientation' as just as serious as discrimination on the basis of race and religion (ECHR: Lustig-Prean & Beckett vs. UK (1) 1999, Lustig-Prean & Beckett vs. UK (2) 1999 , Da Silva Mouta vs. Portugal 1999, Smith & Grady vs. UK 1999, L. & V. vs. Austria 2003, SL vs. Austria 2003 and Karner vs. Austria 2003; Michael Woditschka & Wolfgang Wilfling vs. Austria 2004; FL vs. Austria 2005; Thomas Wolfmeyer vs. Austria 2005; HG & GB vs. Austria 2005; RH vs. Austria 2006). The Court of Justice granted postoperative transsexual women and men the (basic) right to have their civil status changed and to marry relatives of their former sex (Goodwin vs. UK 2002; I. vs. UK 2002). You can find these decisions on the website of the Human Rights Court. "