US: North Carolina's HIV criminalisation reform protects people who are undetectable but leaves others vulnerable

In North Carolina, an HIV Criminalization Reform Bill Passed, but People Who Aren’t ‘Undetectable’ Remain at Risk

Until recently, North Carolina was one of two-dozen states that directly criminalize HIV exposure, but in a historic move this year, the state updated its HIV control measures to conform with the modern understanding of transmission risk.

North Carolina’s unique journey to HIV criminalization reform might serve as a roadmap for other advocates hoping to modernize their own state’s laws. But it hasn’t been without controversy, with some advocates taking issue with North Carolina’s new carve-out for HIV-positive people who have achieved viral suppression.

Thanks to antiretroviral treatment, people who take a pill every day are no longer capable of transmitting the virus to others, a scientific framework called “undetectable equals untransmittable” or “U=U.” North Carolina’s new rule protects that population completely, but it leaves others vulnerable to legal ramifications.

That’s a problem, some argue, because it might deepen racial disparities that already exist in prison sentences and in viral suppression. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, black North Carolinians make up only 22% of the state’s population yet account for 55% of all people in state prisons and local jails; whites comprise 65% of the state’s population but only 36% of those in state prisons or jails. When it comes to viral suppression, in North Carolina, 62% of all people with HIV are virally suppressed. But 66% of whites living with HIV in the state are undetectable, compared with 61% of blacks and 51% of Latinx people.

“These concerns are valid and need to be addressed,” says Christina Adeleke, communications and development coordinator with North Carolina AIDS Action Network (NCAAN). But addressing these “bigger system issues … is a conversation that’s way bigger than HIV criminalization.”

Adeleke and her colleagues at NCAAN were instrumental in bringing about North Carolina’s reform and presented their process for advocating for reform at the 2018 HIV Is Not a Crime Training Academy in Indianapolis. If it were up to NCAAN’s executive director Lee Storrow, he would repeal HIV criminalization laws outright. But Storrow and Adeleke both emphasize that they are working in a Southern state, where it’s tough to move the needle on HIV criminalization reform.

“We wanted to advance it as far forward as we had the capacity to, without going so far that we wouldn’t achieve anything,” explains Storrow.

“We had to be very mindful to be in lockstep with the state,” Adeleke adds. “Where we landed was as far as we could go at this point.”

According to Storrow, North Carolina now has the most progressive HIV criminal law in the South. He argues that decriminalizing behaviors for people who have achieved viral suppression is an important first step. Additionally, North Carolina’s reform contained other important changes, eliminating stigmatizing words, such as “infected” and “retarded,” and conforming with new federal rules around HIV-positive organ donation.

Now, NCAAN is hoping that North Carolina’s modernized rules will encourage people who are living in the shadows to seek treatment, knowing that they’ll be protected from prosecution if they’re able to take their medications every day.

NCAAN’S Journey

Dozens of HIV criminalization laws were passed in the 1990s and 2000s when fear of the epidemic was at an all-time high. But, today, some lawmakers are rethinking these decades-old rules in the wake of mounting evidence that they’re based on outdated science. California recently modernized its law to reduce HIV transmission from a felony to a misdemeanor — a reform advocates consider a best-case scenario. Meanwhile, other states have moved in a different direction, broadening their HIV criminalization laws to include hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted infections.

But, unlike other states, North Carolina’s HIV criminalization rules are not baked into the legal code. Instead, the rules exist as part of the state’s public health control measures, under the purview of the Commission for Public Health.

In 2017, those control measures were up for review, and NCAAN saw an opportunity to finally modernize the state’s criminalization rules. Initially, state officials only wanted to reform the control measures to include the federal HIV Organ Policy Equity Act (HOPE Act), which legalizes organ donation between HIV-positive people, said Storrow.

However, NCAAN advocated for broader reforms, arguing that the state should decriminalize condomless sex between HIV-positive couples and mixed-status couples who use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

Moreover, NCAAN fought to eliminate non-disclosure prosecutions for HIV-positive people who are virally suppressed, based on the contemporary understanding that effective treatment prevents people with HIV from passing the virus to others.

It took months of meetings and many strained conversations to convince some state officials that HIV criminalization rules should be modernized. In part, that’s because many people still believe that HIV is a highly contagious death sentence.

People assume that if you are living with HIV, you are in a constant state of being able to transmit HIV to other people,” says Adeleke. “In reality, if you are on medication and in treatment and virally suppressed, it is physically not possible to do that. You can live a normal life.”

Eventually, a compromise took shape, and the new, modernized rule took effect in January 2018. Storrow says the changes made are meaningful to many North Carolinians, especially couples who are on treatment and no longer need to fear prosecution. But he also called the changes “incomplete,” asserting that there’s a long way to go in the effort to completely decriminalize HIV in his state.

Adeleke hopes North Carolina’s journey can be a model for other Southern states that must balance the desire for radical reform against the backdrop of conservative-leaning leadership.

Adeleke recommends that other advocates working in the South familiarize themselves with specific legislation and public health laws in their own states.

“See who specifically is in charge of making certain decisions; you may find you have allies waiting in certain parts of government who can help you move this along,” she adds.

In North Carolina, the majority of people on the HIV reform task force were people living with HIV, Adeleke says.

“The process was inspiring because it showed how a community can take ownership of a particular topic that’s really affected them,” she says. “To be able to achieve the result we did was exciting.

Sony Salzman is a freelance journalist reporting on health care and medicine, who has won awards in both narrative writing and radio journalism. Follow Salzman on Twitter: @sonysalz.

Published in the Body on June 25, 2018

US: Challenge to constitutionality of Arkansas disclosure law rejected

HIV-disclosure rule lawful, Pulaski County judge rules

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson on Friday rejected a challenge to the Arkansas law that requires anyone who has tested HIV-positive to disclose that finding to any sex partners before intimacy.

“I don’t think the statute is unconstitutional,” the judge said, concluding a two-hour hearing that featured testimony from Dr. Nathaniel Smith, head of the state Department of Health, and Dr. Jon Allen, also with the department, who regularly lectures on treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus.

State attorneys Michael Cantrell and Monty Baugh, representing Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, defended the law.

Medical advances have dramatically reduced the chances that someone with HIV and taking the required medication will infect a sex partner, but there is still a danger, the judge said.

Knowingly exposing someone to the virus that causes AIDS is a Class A felony, like attempted murder, with a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Attorney Cheryl Maples, the Heber Springs lawyer who launched the lawsuit that overturned Arkansas’ ban on gay marriage, had challenged the constitutionality of Arkansas Code 5-14-123 on behalf of a client, 24-year-old Sanjay Johnson.

The Little Rock man, arrested on the charge in August 2016 by North Little Rock police, is scheduled to stand trial in July.

HIV is the only communicable disease that has been criminalized this way, despite the prevalence of other infectious diseases that are much more easily transmittable, Maples told the judge. She said the law was passed in 1989 to calm widespread fears when very little was known about AIDS. But HIV treatment has improved so dramatically that it has rendered the law unnecessary, she said.

The three-medication treatment regime developed over the past 20 years renders the virus medically undetectable in a patient’s bloodstream, Maples told the judge. The scientific consensus now is that the medication reduces the risk of exposure to virtually zero, she said.

If the law ever had a meaningful purpose, it lapsed a long time ago, she said. Now all it does is single out one group for unfair treatment by potentially criminalizing every sexual encounter, Maples said.

“It is clearly punishment for acquiring the disease and not for passing it along,” she told the judge.

Metro on 06/09/2018

Published in Arkansas online on June 9, 2018

Livestream: HIV IS NOT A CRIME III National Training Academy: Plenary 1b – North Carolina and State Legislators (HJN, 2018)

HIV IS NOT A CRIME III National Training Academy Live from the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 4 June 2018 Running order (click on the time cues to jump there):

Live stream hosted by Mark S King www.myfabulousdisease.com

This live stream was brought to you by HIV Justice Network

Directed and produced by Nicholas Feustel

1) Pre-show with Mark S King and guests 00:06

2) Part 1: North Carolina 04:28

3) Intermission show 41:09

4) Part 2: State legislators 43:45

5) After show 1:20:47

Part 1: Modernizing North Carolina’s HIV Criminal Law Facilitated by Christina Adeleke North Carolina AIDS Action Network NORTH CAROLINA With Kara McGee Duke University NORTH CAROLINA Billy Willis WECAHN NORTH CAROLINA Terl Gleason AIDS Healthcare Foundation NORTH CAROLINA Lee Storrow North Carolina AIDS Action Network NORTH CAROLINA Q&A facilitated by Allison Nichol SERO Project WASHINGTON DC

Part 2: Behind the Scenes with State Legislators Facilitated by Sean Strub SERO Project PENNSYLVANIA With State Rep. John McCrostie State Representative IDAHO State Rep. Jon Hoadley State Representative MICHIGAN Jeanette Mott Empower Missouri MISSOURI

Side show interviews with Venita Ray Southern AIDS Coalition TEXAS and Edwin J Bernard HIV Justice Network UK

Livestream: HIV IS NOT A CRIME III National Training Academy: Plenary 1a – Survivors and California (HJN, 2018)

HIV IS NOT A CRIME III National Training Academy Live from the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 4 June 2018

Live stream hosted by Mark S King www.myfabulousdisease.com

This live stream was brought to you by HIV Justice Network

Directed and produced by Nicholas Feustel

Running order (click on the time cues to jump there):

1) Pre-show with Mark S. King and guests 00:28

2) Introduction 08:36

3) Part 1: Survivors’ Panel 09:39

4) Intermission show 1:11:09

5) Part 2: Victory in California 1:13:14

6) After show 2:02:20

Introduction by Allison Nichol SERO Project WASHINGTON DC

Part 1: Criminalization Survivors’ Panel Facilitated by Robert Suttle SERO Projekt NEW YORK With Ariel Sabillon Student FLORIDA Monique Howell HIV criminalization survivor SOUTH CAROLINA Ken Pinkela SERO Project NEW YORK Kerry Thomas SERO Project IDAHO

Part 2: Forging the Path to Victory in California Facilitated by Naina Khanna Positive Women’s Network – USA CALIFORNIA With Craig Pulsipher APLA CALIFORNIA Arneta Rogers Positive Women’s Network – USA CALIFORNIA Scott Scholtes Lambda Legal ILLINOIS

Side show interviews with Edwin J Bernard HIV Justice Network UK and Venita Ray Southern AIDS Coalition TEXAS

Livestream: HIV IS NOT A CRIME III National Training Academy: Opening Session (HJN, 2018)

Live from the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 3 June 2018

Live stream hosted by Mark S King www.myfabulousdisease.com

This live stream was brought to you by HIV Justice Network

Directed and produced by Nicholas Feustel

Running order (click on the time cues to jump there):

1) Pre-show with Mark S King and guests 00:09

2) Welcome 09:29 3) Intermission show 1:05:36

4) Thank you’s 1:09:25

5) Celebrating victories 1:11:40

6) After show 2:10:43

Facilitated by Tami Taught SERO Project IOWA With Melissa Williams Director of the Native American Indian Affairs and Commission INDIANA Carrie Foote HIV Modernization Movement INDIANA Mark Hughes HIV Modernization Movement INDIANA Sean Strub SERO Project PENNSYLVANIA Naina Khanna Positive Women’s Network – USA CALIFORNIA Waheedah Shabazz-El Positive Women’s Network – USA PENNSYLVANIA Arneta Rogers Positive Women’s Network – USA CALIFORNIA Stacy Jennings BULI participant SOUTH CAROLINA Cindy Stine SERO Project PENNSYLVANIA Robert Suttle SERO Project NEW YORK Edwin J Bernard HIV Justice Network UK Ken Pinkela SERO Project NEW YORK

[Update] Mexico: Activists Ask State congress to abide by Supreme Court ruling on HIV criminalisation statute

Veracruz government asked not to criminalise people with HIV (Google translate for original article in Spanish please scroll down)

August 3, 2018

The Multisectoral Group on HIV / AIDS and STIs of the State of Veracruz which asked the National Commission for Human Rights, the right to unconstitutionality, today demands the State Congress to comply with the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation that declared unconstitutional article 158 of the criminal code of the state of Veracruz that criminalizes people with HIV.

On April 30 of this year, with eight votes in favor, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation determined the invalidity of the amendment to Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the State of Veracruz made on December 1, 2015. This amendment adds to the article referring to the “crime of danger of contagion” the term “sexually transmitted infections” so that those who have them could be sanctioned “for putting in danger of infection other people”.

The sentence of the SCJN said:

The present constitutional challenge promoted by the National Commission of Human Rights is appropriate and well founded.
The invalidity of article 158 is declared in the normative portion “sexually transmitted infections or other” of the penal code for the free and sovereign State of Veracruz of Ignacio de la Llave, which will be retroactive in terms of what is specified in the last section of this enforcement, on the understanding that said effects will be supplied as a reason for the notification of the operative paragraphs of this ruling to the Congress of the State of Veracruz by Ignacio de la Llave.
Publish this resolution in the Official Gazette of the Federation, in the Gaceta del Estado de Veracruz, and the Judicial Weekly of the Federation and its Gazette.

On May 24 of this year, the president of the Board of Directors of the state of Veracruz, Deputy Maria Elisa Manterola Sainz, said in interviews conducted in Xalapa, Veracruz by the News AVC News and Format Sie7e, that the deputies were not obliged to abide by the resolution of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) that declared unconstitutional the reform of the Penal Code in the state that typifies the crime of “contagion by people with HIV”.

In these interviews, the deputy Manterola Sainz said “that once the SCJN notifies the Congress, the deputies should analyze in commissions whether or not to take into account the considerations of the Supreme Court, since they are not obliged to subject themselves to what they say “ “As a Legislative Power, we have to demonstrate autonomy first, and demonstrate what the Veracruzans demand of us (…) It has to be analyzed, there will have to be a response from us and the commissions in charge will present the proposal.”

Faced with this, at the time we stated that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation is the highest Constitutional Court of the country, under which, it has as its fundamental responsibility the defense of the order established by the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States , in addition to solving, definitively other jurisdictional issues of great importance to society.

As stated by the Master in Constitutional Law and Human Rights Cuauhtémoc “the SCJN is the highest stabilizing body of public power, through its intervention in the resolution of constitutional disputes whose competence is exclusively attributed to Article 105 of the Constitution and , that its action in these matters is not in its character of ordinary jurisdictional organ of the Federation, but in its character of Constitutional Court above the own federal, state or municipal order, and therefore, its action rises above these three levels to be constituted and to function as supreme organ (that is to say as organ of the “global State”) in charge of determining the competence of the parties that come before it to solve their differences.

The Court is not in a simple jurisdictional body responsible for ensuring legality and justice, but a real body guarding the superlegality of the Constitution, that is, a body charged with preserving and validating the fundamental decisions that constitute the Mexican State “.

The ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation already declared the impugned rule invalid even with retroactive effects, for which reason the Congress of the State freely, but responsibly, in use of its legislative powers, must correct it.

The ordinary session of the Congress of Veracruz concluded without addressing the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation that declared unconstitutional article 158 of the criminal code of the state of Veracruz that criminalizes people with HIV.

For this reason, the Multisectoral Group on HIV / AIDS and STIs of the State of Veracruz, who requested the National Commission for Human Rights, the right to unconstitutionality, today demands that the State Congress comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling of Justice of the Nation.

And beyond that, to strengthen their competencies in the area of HIV, AIDS and STIs for the harmonization of legislation that favour pro-human and progressive principles of human rights, which are essential to consolidate the guarantee of protection of the dignity of the people.

Published in Almomento on August 3, 2018

Piden al gobierno de Veracruz no criminalizar a personas con VIH

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 3 de agosto (AlmomentoMX).- El Grupo Multisectorial en VIH/sida e ITS del Estado de Veracruz solicitó a la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, el derecho a la inconstitucionalidad, hoy reclama al Congreso del Estado que cumpla con el fallo de la Suprema Corte de Justicia la de la Nación que declaró inconstitucional el artículo 158 del código penal del estado de Veracruz que criminaliza a las personas con VIH.

El pasado 30 de abril del presente año, con ocho votos a favor, la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación determinó la invalidez de la modificación al artículo 158 del Código Penal del Estado de Veracruz realizada el 1 de diciembre de 2015. Dicha modificación adiciona al artículo referente al “delito de peligro de contagio” el término “infecciones de transmisión sexual” a fin de que quienes las tuvieran pudieran ser sancionados “por poner en peligro de infectar a otras personas”.

La sentencia de la SCJN dijo:

Es procedente y fundada la presente acción de inconstitucionalidad promovida por la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos.
Se declara la invalidez del artículo 158 en la porción normativa “infecciones de transmisión sexual u otras” del código penal para el Estado libre y soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, la cual será retroactiva en términos de lo precisado en el último apartado de esta ejecutoria, en la inteligencia que dicho efectos se surtirán como motivo de la notificación de los puntos resolutivos de este fallo al Congreso del Estado de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave.
Publíquese esta resolución en el Diario Oficial de la Federación, en la Gaceta del Estado de Veracruz y, el Semanario Judicial de la Federación y su Gaceta.

El 24 de mayo del presente año, la presidenta de la Mesa Directiva del Congreso del estado de Veracruz, Diputada María Elisa Manterola Sáinz, aseguró en entrevistas realizadas -en Xalapa, Veracruz por los Diarios AVC Noticias y Formato sie7e-, que las y los diputados no están obligados a acatar la resolución de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) que declaró inconstitucional la reforma al Código Penal en el estado que tipifica el delito de “contagio para las personas con VIH”.

En dichas entrevistas, la diputada Manterola Sáinz afirmó “que una vez que la SCJN notifique al Congreso, los diputados deberán analizar en comisiones si toman en cuenta o no las consideraciones de la Suprema Corte, puesto que no están obligados a sujetarse a lo que digan”. “Como Poder Legislativo tenemos que demostrar primeramente la autonomía, y demostrar lo que los veracruzanos nos exigen (…) Se tiene que analizar, tendrá que haber una respuesta de nuestra parte y las comisiones encargadas presentarán la propuesta.”

Frente a ello, en su momento manifestamos que la a Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación es el Máximo Tribunal Constitucional del país, en virtud de lo cual, tiene como responsabilidad fundamental la defensa del orden establecido por la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, además de solucionar, de manera definitiva otros asuntos jurisdiccionales de gran importancia para la sociedad.

Tal y como lo afirma el Maestro en Derecho Constitucional y Derechos Humanos Cuauhtémoc “la SCJN es el máximo órgano estabilizador del poder público, a través de su intervención en la resolución de las controversias constitucionales cuya competencia le atribuye de manera exclusiva el artículo 105 Constitucional y, que su actuación en estos asuntos no es en su carácter de órgano jurisdiccional ordinario de la Federación, sino en su carácter de Tribunal Constitucional por encima del propio orden federal, estatal o municipal, y por tanto, su actuación se eleva por encima de estos tres niveles para constituirse y funcionar como órgano supremo (es decir como órgano del “Estado global”) encargado de determinar la competencia de las partes que acuden ante ella para solucionar sus diferencias.

La Corte no en un simple órgano jurisdiccional encargado de velar por la legalidad y la justicia, sino en un auténtico órgano guardián de la superlegalidad de la Constitución, es decir, en un órgano encargado de preservar y dar valida las decisiones fundamentales que constituyen al Estado Mexicano”.

La sentencia de la Suprema Corte de la Justicia de la Nación ya declaró la invalidez de la norma impugnada incluso con efectos retroactivos, por lo que el Congreso del Estado de manera libre, pero responsablemente, en uso de sus atribuciones legislativas deberá corregirla.

El periodo ordinario de sesiones del Congreso de Veracruz concluyó sin atender el fallo de la Suprema Corte de la Justicia de la Nación que declaró inconstitucional el artículo 158 del código penal del estado de Veracruz que criminaliza a las personas con VIH.

Por ello, el Grupo Multisectorial en VIH/sida e ITS del Estado de Veracruz que fue quien solicitó a la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, el derecho a la inconstitucionalidad, hoy reclama al Congreso del Estado que cumpla con el fallo de la Suprema Corte de Justicia la de la Nación.

Y más allá de eso, que fortalezcan sus competencias en materia del VIH, el sida y las ITS para la armonización de la legislación que favorezcan los principios pro persona y de progresividad de los derechos humanos, los cuales son indispensables para consolidar la garantía de protección de la dignidad de las personas.

————————————————————————

Local Congress will modify statute that criminalizes people with HIV

Monday, May 28, 2018

After the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation determined this unconstitutional issue, the Chamber of Deputies must abide by it.

After the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) determined it was unconstitutional to criminalize people living with HIV-AIDS, the Congress of Veracruz will amend the law, because being a failure of the SCJN is forced to comply, said deputy Gregorio Murillo Uscanga, president of the Commission for Human Rights and Care for Vulnerable Groups.

On December 1, 2015, Article 158 of the Veracruz Criminal Code was amended, including the “crime of transmission risks” in “sexually transmitted infections” which allows those who could “put themselves at risks of infecting others”.

The Mexican Network of Organizations against the Criminalization of HIV, which is composed of 44 civil society organizations, demanded that the local Chamber of Deputies strengthen their competencies in this area, as well as in other Sexually Transmitted Infections ITS to favor the principles of people and the progressivity of Human Rights.

Faced with the determination of the SCJN, the local congress must make the appropriate adjustments to address the ruling.

Published in e-consulta on May 28, 2018

——————————————————————

Congreso local modificará artículo que criminaliza a personas con VIH

E-consulta Veracruz |

Lunes, Mayo 28, 2018

Luego de que la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación determinara este tema inconstitucional, cámara de diputados debe acatarlo

Xalapa, Ver. – Luego de que la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) determinara inconstitucional criminalizar a las personas que viven con VIH-Sida, el congreso de Veracruz modificará la ley, pues al ser un fallo de la SCJN se está obligado a acatarlo, señaló el diputado Gregorio Murillo Uscanga, presidente de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos y Atención a Grupos Vulnerables.

El primero de diciembre de 2015, se reformó el artículo 158 del Código Penal de Veracruz, donde se incluyó el “delito de peligro de contagio” en “infecciones de transmisión sexual” el cual permite sancionar a quienes pudieran “poner en peligro de infectar a otras personas”.

La Red Mexicana de Organizaciones contra la Criminalización del VIH, la cual está integrada por 44 organizaciones de la sociedad civil, exigió a la cámara de diputados local fortalecer sus competencias en esta materia, así como en otras Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual ITS para favorecer a los principios de las personas y la progresividad de los Derechos Humanos.

Ante la determinación de la SCJN, el congreso local deberá realizar las adecuaciones correspondientes para atender el fallo.

——————————————————————————————-

NGO urges local congress to abide by SCJN’s ruling on HIV (Google translation, for original article in Spanish, scroll down)

Xalapa, Ver.- The Mexican Network of Organizations against the Criminalization of HIV, through its coordinator Patricia Ponce Jiménez, called on the Local Congress and its president, María Elisa Manterola Sáinz, to abide by the Nation Supreme Court’s ruling regarding the declaration of unconstitutionality of the stature that criminalizes people living with HIV.

Through a communiqué issued this Friday, the Network recalled that on April 30 the SCJN ruled in favour of the appeal presented by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), at the request of the HIV Multisectoral Group, which was presented two years after the reform that the Congress approved to the Penal Code.

Article 158 of the Penal Code provided for a prison sentence and a fine for the person who “transmitted” the human immunodeficiency virus and other sexually transmitted infections considered serious diseases. The SCJN determined that this statute was lax, as well as unconstitutional.

For this reason, they reiterated the call for Congress to comply with the decision of the SCJN, since it is a jurisdictional body that is above any legislative power of the States.

In the statement, they said that the decision of the SCJN is unappealable and absolute, so the network insisted that it must be complied with immediately.

Published in La Opinion de Poza Rica on May 26, 2018

ONG exhorta al congreso local a acata fallo de SCJN en materia de VIH

Xalapa, Ver.- La Red Mexicana de Organizaciones contra la Criminalización del VIH, a través de su coordinadora Patricia Ponce Jiménez, hicieron un llamado al Congreso Local y a su presidenta, María Elisa Manterola Sáinz, para acatar el fallo de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) respecto de la declaración de inconstitucionalidad del artículo que criminaliza a las personas que viven con vih.

A través de un comunicado emitido este viernes, la Red recordó que apenas el pasado 30 de abril la SCJN falló a favor del recurso presentado por la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDH), a petición del Grupo Multisectorial VIH, el cual se presentó hace dos años tras la reforma que el Congreso aprobó al Código Penal.

El artículo 158 del Código Penal contemplaba pena de cárcel y multa a la persona que contagiara; el virus de inmunodeficiencia humana y otras infecciones de transmisión sexual contempladas como enfermedades graves. La SCJN determinó que este artículo era laxo, así como inconstitucional.

Por ello reiteraron el llamado a que el Congreso acate el fallo de la SCJN, pues se trata un órgano jurisdiccional que está por encima de cualquier poder legislativo de los Estados.

En el comunicado señaló que el fallo de la SCJN es inapelable y absoluto, por lo que insistió la red en que debe ser acatado de manera inmediata.

————————————————————————————————–

Congress discusses the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation to invalidate the criminalisation of HIV transmission (Google translation – For Spanish article, scroll down)

Xalapa, Ver.- The president of the Board of Directors of the local Congress, María Elisa Manterola Sáinz, assured that the deputies are not obliged to abide by the resolution of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) that declared unconstitutional the reform of the Code Criminal in the state that typifies the crime of “contagion” to HIV carriers.

In an interview, he said that once the SCJN notifies the Congress, the deputies should analyze in commissions if they take into account or not the considerations of the Supreme Court, as he said that they are not obliged to subject themselves to what they say.

“As a Legislative Power we must first demonstrate autonomy, and demonstrate what the Veracruzans demand of us (…) It has to be analyzed, there will have to be a response from us and the commissions in charge will present the proposal.”

In the same way, she spoke about the need to reform the Law to comply with the National Commission to Prevent Violence against Women (Conavim) in order to guarantee women access to the legal interruption of pregnancy (ILE).

Published in XEU.com on May 18,2018

Congreso analiza determinación de la SCJN negativa de tipificar como delito el contagio de VIH

Xalapa, Ver.- La presidenta de la Mesa Directiva del Congreso local, María Elisa Manterola Sáinz, aseguró que los diputados no están obligados a acatar la resolución de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) que declaró inconstitucional la reforma al Código Penal en el estado que tipifica el delito de “contagio” a los portadores de VIH.

En entrevista, dijo que una vez que la SCJN notifique al Congreso, los diputados deberán analizar en comisiones si toman en cuenta o no las consideraciones de la Suprema Corte, pues dijo que no están obligados a sujetarse a lo que digan.

“Como Poder Legislativo tenemos que demostrar primeramente la autonomía, y demostrar lo que los veracruzanos nos exigen (…) Se tiene que analizar, tendrá que haber una respuesta de nuestra parte y las comisiones encargadas presentarán la propuesta”.

De la misma forma, se pronunció en torno a la exigencia de reformar la Ley para acatar la Comisión Nacional para Prevenir la Violencia contra las Mujeres (Conavim) a fin de garantizar a las mujeres el acceso a la interrupción legal del embarazo (ILE).

—————————————————————

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation invalidates statute that punishes the transmission of sexually transmitted infections

Xalapa, Ver.- (AVC / Brisa Gómez) The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) declared the invalidity of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the State of Veracruz, which punishes those who knowingly “infect” sexually transmitted infections and other serious diseases.

With eight votes in favour of the bill presented before the plenary of the Supreme Court on Monday, it was pointed out that the notion of criminality was “highly inaccurate” because it did not establish what represents a serious illness and furthermore it was not possible to verify the intent of transmission.

With this, it reforms the statute which in Veracruz punishes the “transmission” of sexually transmitted infections and serious diseases with up to five years in prison, ordering the notification of this ruling to the Local Congress.

This is the first legislation criminalising people living with HIV that is thrown down by the highest judicial body in the country.

Published in AVC Noticias on April 30, 2018

——————————————————————

Veracruz: the state with the most prosecutions for the criminalisation of HIV

At least 15 people have been charged and tried on charges of transmitting HIV or a sexually transmitted infection.

Mexico City.- At the national level, Veracruz is the State with the highest number of cases of patients with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV being tried for being accused of the crime of transmission to other people, due to the criminalization embodied in the criminal codes of the States of the Republic.

Of the 26 cases registered in the country, in which judicial proceedings or sanctioning of persons carrying a sexually transmitted infection, including HIV, have been initiated, 15 were in Veracruz.

During the International Meeting “HIV is not a crime”, it was noted that it was worrying that States, entities and their organs of justice persecute patients of these diseases.

The author of this research, Leonardo Bastida Aguilar, a member of the organization Letter S, said that in the case of Veracruz, despite being known, through a response to a request for transparency, he was only informed about 15 cases of people already charged, for the crime of transmission of venereal diseases.

Requests for answers to questions such as disaggregation by gender, judicial district, year in which it was processed or the type of sexually transmitted infection in question or gender preference or identity were not answered.

He acknowledged that this information was given briefly in 2016 when Veracruz was placed first at the national level in terms of sanctioning proceedings against people with this type of ailments.

These 15 cases, were already concluded and resulted in administrative sanctions, however, there was no further information.

It is necessary to remember that in 2015 a reform was made to the Veracruz Criminal Code, where a person who infects another person with a sexually transmitted infection, including human immunodeficiency virus, is punished with imprisonment.

In other States, a case was recorded in Nuevo León by a patient with HIV and hepatitis; in Chihuahua a person prosecuted for HIV, hepatitis and syphilis; and in Baja California a case was sanctioned with 10 years in jail, with one of the most severe penalties.

This initiative in Veracruz, has been in the hands of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), for a constitutional challenge filed by civil society and the National Human Rights Commission, for approximately two years.

In support of the groups that came out in Veracruz against this proposal that criminalizes HIV patients and other STIs, at the national level, organizations that work on behalf of patients with HIV sent a letter to the Supreme Court to argue against the legislation in Veracruz.

Published in E-Consulta Veracruz on Oct 12, 2017

———————————————————————————————-

Veracruz: el estado con más procesados por delito de contagio de VIH

Al menos 15 personas han sido procesadas y sometidas a juicio al ser acusados de transmitir VIH o infecciones de transmisión sexual.

Ciudad de México.- A nivel nacional, Veracruz es la entidad con más casos de pacientes con infecciones de transmisión sexual (its) y VIH sometidos a juicio al ser acusados del delito de contagio a otras personas, esto debido a la criminalización plasmada en los códigos penales de los Estados de la República.

De 26 casos registrados en el país, en los que se han iniciado procesos judiciales o sancionadores de personas portadoras de alguna infección de transmisión sexual, incluyendo VIH, 15 fueron en Veracruz.

Durante el Encuentro Internacional “VIH no es un crimen”, se advirtió que es preocupante que estados, entidades y sus órganos de justicia persigan a pacientes de estas enfermedades.

El autor de esta investigación, Leonardo Bastida Aguilar, integrante de la organización Letra S, dijo que en el caso de Veracruz, a pesar de darse a conocer, mediante una respuesta a solicitud de transparencia, sólo le informaron que se habían atendido 15 casos de personas ya procesadas, por el delito de contagio o transmisión de enfermedades venéreas.

A esta solicitud no se respondió a cuestionamientos como el desagregado por género, distrito judicial, año en que se procesó o el tipo de infección de transmisión sexual de que se trataba o la preferencia o identidad de género.

Reconoció que esta información se dio de manera escueta en el año 2016 con lo que Veracruz se colocó en el primer lugar a nivel nacional en cuanto a procesos sancionadores a personas con este tipo de padecimientos.

Estos 15 casos, incluso, ya fueron concluidos y dieron como resultado sanciones administrativas, sin embargo no hubo más información.

Es necesario recordar que en 2015 se llevó a cabo una reforma al Código Penal de Veracruz, donde se sanciona con cárcel a quien contagie a otra persona de alguna infección de transmisión sexual, incluyendo el virus de inmunodeficiencia humana.

En otras entidades se registraron un caso en Nuevo León, por un paciente de VIH y hepatitis; Chihuahua una persona procesada por VIH, hepatitis y sífilis; y en Baja California un caso sancionado con 10 años de cárcel, con una de las penas más severas.

Esta iniciativa vigente en Veracruz, se encuentra en manos de la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN), por el recurso de inconstitucionalidad que se presentó por parte de la sociedad civil y la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos, desde hace aproximadamente dos años.

En apoyo a los grupos que se pronunciaron en Veracruz contra esta propuesta que criminaliza a pacientes de VIH y otras ITS, a nivel nacional organizaciones que trabajan a favor de pacientes con VIH, enviaron una carta a la Suprema Corte para argumentar en contra de la legislación veracruzana.

US: Michigan proposed bills aim to modernise state laws surrounding HIV

How new bills could change Michigan’s HIV laws

Kathleen Gray Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

Published 10:00 p.m. UTC May 24, 2018

LANSING — Since the first case of HIV/AIDS was reported in Michigan in 1981, lawmakers say treatment for the disease has progressed so much that it’s time to revisit state laws surrounding HIV.

They have introduced a controversial package of bills that would, among other things, make it a misdemeanor, rather than a felony, to not disclose the disease to a sexual partner.

The bills would also update the language in the laws — many written in the ’80s — to reflect advances in treatments and technology. For example, a medication listed in current law is no longer used. And with data storage technology improvements, reporting on HIV can be done within 24 hours, rather than the seven days called for in the current state law.

“These bills represent a way to reduce the stigma of HIV and treat it like any other infectious disease,” Dr. Eden Wells, Michigan’s chief medical officer, said during a hearing before the House Health Policy committee Wednesday. “We should be treating people like patients, not criminals.”

Another controversial provision would require pregnant women in high risk populations to take an HIV test in their third trimester, although a patient would have the ability to opt out of the test.

“The basis of the law as it was written (in the 1980s) was in reaction to a lot of the hysteria and panic around the diagnosis,” Wells said, noting that with proper treatment, the disease shows undetectable viral loads “and then they won’t transmit the HIV.”

State Rep. Jon Hoadley, D-Kalamazoo, is the sponsor of the bill that would make non-disclosure of the disease a misdemeanor rather than a felony. As the bill is written now, some people don’t get tested because they don’t want to know the diagnosis and then can’t be held liable if there is a transmittal of the disease.

“We need to modernize the law so there’s no reason not to get tested and treated,” he said.

But state Rep. Ed Canfield, R-Sebawaing, said while he supported the bulk of the bills in the package, he was concerned about reducing the penalties for non-disclosure.

“If they’re allowed to make this a misdemeanor and a $1,000 fine, that’s what the offender gets out of it,” he said. “But if they pass the infection on to someone, it’s a lifetime condition that’s not curable.”

Canfield, who is a medical doctor, said he’s treated patients with AIDS and worries that current treatments that have greatly extended life expectancies aren’t foolproof.

“What if the anti-virals become ineffective? What happens if we have a crisis that occurs or a businessman buys the patent for the drugs and drives up the cost?” he said. “We could see people dying again. This is a public health problem, not a social problem. And I don’t want to see other people getting harmed or injured.”

The instances of HIV in Michigan have been steadily going down since the number of new cases hit a high of 1,533 in 1992, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. The number of deaths peaked at 981 in 1995. In 2016, 748 new cases of HIV were reported in the state, 140 deaths and 15,625 people living with the disease.

Wells said that 22 people have been charged with failing to disclose their disease to sexual partners and of those, 19 were charged not because they had actually transmitted the disease, but because they had merely failed to disclose their condition. She didn’t have statistics on the outcome of criminal cases.

The bills — HB 6016-6023 — didn’t get a vote Wednesday, but are expected to be taken up again before the House breaks for the summer in mid-June.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal

Published in Detroit Free Press on May 24, 2018

Zimbabwe: Parliamentarian calls for repeal of HIV criminalisation law

Spreading HIV to your own partner is a crime but this must be reviewed, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care has said.

The committee has called for the repeal of the deliberate transmission of HIV law as it violates the rights of women who have mostly borne the brunt of the statute.

Speaking after the second hearing of the Public Health Bill in Parliament yesterday, committee chairperson Dr Ruth Labode said Zimbabwe has no diagnostic equipment to determine the time a person transmits the virus.

She said the same law was discouraging people from disclosing their HIV status to their partners.

“I stand here to support and to lay my support to the recommendation by the Committee that criminalisation of wilful transmission of HIV be repealed. Zimbabwe is a signatory to the political declaration of the high level meeting in New York which says, we should end HIV by 2030 and that no one should be left behind,” said Dr Labode.

“We all know very well that in Zimbabwe and the world-over, we do not have diagnostic equipment which can tell us who gave HIV to the other and at what time.”

She said more Zimbabwean women had been arrested compared to other countries as a result of the law.

“There is an assumption that whoever has manifested the disease first is the one who transmitted the virus. It can be anybody and it could be the other way round,” said Dr Labode.

She said for Zimbabwe to meet the global HIV targets, everyone must have access to services and be protected by law.

“If you are a woman and suddenly you find yourself positive, you will not tell your partner because of this law yet if the law was not there you would tell your partner and go and access ARVs to live happily ever after.”

Zimbabwe is targeting that 90 percent of people living with HIV know their status of whom 90 percent are on treatment and 90 percent are virally suppressed by 2030. — state media

Published in ZimEye on May 19, 2018

Canada: Richard Eliott, executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network , urges federal and provincial Attorneys-General to follow recommendations of Justice Ministry report

You didn’t transmit HIV. You had no intent to transmit. And indeed you didn’t do anything with your sexual partner that posed a statistically significant risk of transmission. In fact, you might even have used a condom, in keeping with standard safer-sex advice.

And yet, if you’re living with HIV and someone with whom you’ve had consensual sex — even just once — accuses you of not disclosing your status, you could face prosecution for “aggravated sexual assault.” A conviction means years in prison and mandatory registration as a sex offender.

Such a misuse of the law further stigmatizes people living with HIV. And, as a recent study confirms, it also discourages people from seeking HIV testing and getting care and treatment, making it bad public health policy.

This is why community organizations, scientific experts, human-rights lawyers and people living with HIV have been resisting overly broad HIV criminalization for years.

And it’s why this past World AIDS Day (Dec. 1, 2017) was a milestone.

More than 150 groups across Canada released a “Community Consensus Statement” demanding federal, provincial and territorial governments take steps to end unjust HIV criminalization.

In a welcome response, the Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould, federal Attorney-General and Justice Minister, released her department’s in-depth study into the matter. Reflecting an extensive review of scientific evidence, legal decisions and broader public-interest considerations, the federal justice department now recognizes the harms of the “over-criminalization of HIV” and recommends significant limitations on the use of criminal charges.

More specifically, Justice Canada concludes that criminal-law charges for alleged HIV non-disclosure to a sexual partner shouldn’t be applied in any case where a person has a “suppressed viral load,” because there is effectively zero chance of transmitting the virus.

Furthermore, the report concludes that criminal charges should generally not apply to persons living with HIV who use condoms or who engage only in oral sex, because the legal test of a “realistic possibility” of transmission is likely not met in such circumstances.

These conclusions are broadly consistent with what community advocates and scientific experts have been urging for years. Now federal and provincial Attorneys-General need to act.

Wilson-Raybould’s office has been signalling her intention to send new directives to federal Crown prosecutors. It’s essential that she consult, as promised, with scientific experts, community organizations and people living with HIV. And, at a minimum, her directives should clearly rule out prosecutions in the situations described in her own department’s report.

In Ontario, the Attorney-General has directed prosecutors to stop prosecutions for alleged HIV non-disclosure in cases where a person with HIV has had a suppressed viral load for at least six months. It’s a welcome development, but far from enough; it continues to leave people living with HIV unjustly criminalized.

But B.C., a province that has so often shown leadership, from harm reduction to HIV treatment, is lagging behind even Ontario’s half-hearted action.

Just last month, with zero consultation with the HIV community, the B.C. Prosecution Service released an updated policy that leaves the door wide open to a wide array of unjust prosecutions at odds with the available science, with human rights and with good public health practice. In four pages of bafflegab, there isn’t a single instance in which they actually rule out prosecuting someone living with HIV.

Disturbingly, even in the scenario described at the outset of this column, the new B.C. policy instructs prosecutors to “consider whether the public interest nonetheless requires a prosecution.” This is an embarrassing and disingenuous exercise that continues to stigmatize people living with HIV. B.C. can and must do better.

In the meantime, the threat of unjust criminalization continues to hang over all people living with HIV in Canada.

Richard Elliott is a lawyer and executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (aidslaw.ca) and a founding member of the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization (HIVcriminalization.ca).

Published in The Vancouver Sun on April 25,2018

Chile: Chilean deputy promotes bill seeking to criminalise HIV transmission

Chilean Deputy: those who intentionally spread HIV should be imprisoned (Google translation – For original article in Spanish, scroll below)

SANTIAGO (Sputnik) – It is necessary to send to jail those who carry the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and who intentionally spread it to others, Sputnik was told by Chilean government deputy Juan Antonio Coloma.

“A person with a deadly disease such as the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) can not be sanctioned in our Penal Code when they transmit it to others, knowing they have it and with the intention of infecting them,” said the parliamentarian who promoted the bill foreseeing sanctions for those cases.

The bill has four requirements for the crime to be carried out: that the person knows that they have the disease, that they intend to transmit it, that they have participated in a behavior that poses a risk of transmission and that they have infected someone.

The legislator belonging to the Independent Democratic Union party (right) said that this behavior is punished in other countries “such as Germany, Italy, Argentina and Peru” and that “it is relevant that in Chile there is also a sanction.”

“Some do it, for example, as a form of revenge, after having been infected by the disease they are dedicated to infecting other people, this is the criminal type that we are expecting to be discussed in the Health Committee of the Chamber of Deputies “, he claimed.

Coloma also responded to the criticism of the Progressive Party (left) deputy, Marisela Santibañez, who told Emol that Coloma that it “is wrong to want to send sick people to jail” and asked “not to criminalize the issue.”

“They intend to caricature a project that although it is not intended to be an effective measure to combat AIDS, seeks not to leave impunity to those infected who transmit the disease with intent,” the parliamentarian replied to this agency.

However, he added that this measure “should be part of a battery of projects, obviously we must also talk about sex education and facilitating access to HIV tests.”

Earlier this week, the director of the HIV Center of the Clinical Hospital of the University of Chile, Alejandro Afani, said in an interview with the newspaper La Segunda that between 2010 and 2017 the infections by this virus increased by 96% and that the disease “is out of control”.

Afani said that the largest number of people infected is in the group of those between 15 and 25 years old.

The Ministry of Health informed on Wednesday that it will start a new multi-sector campaign called the National HIV / AIDS Plan, working together with the Ministry of Education.

Published in Sputnik Mundo on April 13, 2018

________________________

SANTIAGO (Sputnik) — Es necesario enviar a la cárcel a aquellos que porten el Virus de Inmunodeficiencia Humana (VIH) y que intencionalmente se lo contagien a otros, dijo a Sputnik el diputado oficialista chileno, Juan Antonio Coloma.

No puede quedar sin sanción en nuestro Código Penal una persona con una enfermedad mortal como el Síndrome de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida (Sida) que contagie a otro sabiendo que la tiene y con la intención de contagiarla”, afirmó el parlamentario impulsor del proyecto de ley que prevé esas sanciones para esos casos.

El proyecto de ley tiene cuatro requisitos para que se cumpla el delito: que la persona sepa que tiene la enfermedad, que tenga intención de contagiar, que haya participado en una conducta de riesgo de transmisión y que haya infectado a alguien.

El legislador perteneciente al partido Unión Demócrata Independiente (derecha) dijo que esta conducta es castigada en otros países “como Alemania, Italia, Argentina y Perú” y que “es relevante que en Chile también exista una sanción”.

“Algunos lo hacen, por ejemplo, como una forma de venganza, después de haberse contagiado la enfermedad se dedican a contagiar a otras personas, ese es el tipo penal que nosotros estamos esperando que se discuta en la Comisión de Salud de la Cámara de Diputados”, afirmó.

Coloma también respondió a las críticas de la diputada del Partido Progresista (izquierda), Marisela Santibañez, quien dijo al medio online Emol que Coloma “se equivoca al querer mandar a la cárcel a personas enfermas” y pidió “no criminalizar el tema”.

“Ellos pretenden caricaturizar un proyecto que si bien no tiene la intención de ser la medida efectiva para combatir el Sida, busca no dejar en la impunidad a aquellos contagiados que transmitan la enfermedad con dolo”, contestó el parlamentario a esta agencia.

Sin embargo, agregó que esta medida “debe ser parte de una batería de proyectos, evidentemente también hay que hablar de educación sexual y de la facilitación al acceso a los exámenes del VIH”.

A comienzos de esta semana, el director del Centro VIH del Hospital Clínico de la Universidad de Chile, Alejandro Afani, dijo en una entrevista al diario La Segunda que entre los años 2010 y 2017 los contagios por este virus aumentaron un 96% y que la enfermedad “está fuera de control”.

Afani indicó que la mayor cantidad de contagiados está en el grupo de los que tienen entre 15 y 25 años.

El Ministerio de Salud informó el miércoles que iniciará una nueva campaña multisectorial llamada Plan Nacional del VIH/SIDA, realizando un trabajo en conjunto con el Ministerio de Educación.