Greece: Scientists and human rights campaigners condemn the reinstatement of Provision 39A allowing forced HIV testing of suspected sex workers, drug users and undocumented migrants

Reinstatement of controversial Health Provision slammed by HIV and Human Rights Groups, by Zoe Mavroudi

[Republished from the radiobubble blog, with thanks to Zoe Mavroudi]

A legal provision that led to mass arrests of HIV-positive women in Greece in 2012 has been reinstated, causing widespread condemnation by local and international organizations and human rights advocates.

Provision No 39A was voted by former socialist Health Minister Andreas Loverdos in April 2012 and led to an unprecedented case of HIV criminalization a few weeks later when the Greek police in cooperation with the country’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, KEELPNO, rounded up hundreds of women from the center of Athens and force-tested them for HIV inside police stations. A total of 30 who tested positive were imprisoned on charges of felony and prostitution, in spite of a lack of significant evidence that they had been working as prostitutes or that they had infected anyone with the virus. Their mug-shots and personal data were then published upon order by a prosecutor on the Greek police website as well as on major TV channels.

The arrests prompted an international backlash against the Greek government when organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the European AIDS Treatment Group and UNAIDS called for the withdrawal of laws that enabled the targeting of HIV-positive people labeling them unproductive and in violation of international conventions.

The women were held in prison for a months-long detention period under inhumane conditions. The charges have since been dropped or reduced in the courts. After months of negotiations following Loverdos’ exit from the government and socialist PASOK party, non-governmental organizations and activist groups in Greece scored a victory in May 2013, when former Deputy Health Minister Foteini Skopouli finally repealed the provision.

The move was welcomed as a step toward correcting the damage inflicted on the country’s medical services by the 2012 arrests. Drug rehabilitation groups, which have been hit hard by austerity cuts, have repeatedly complained that the arrests had serious implications in the exercise of their outreach work among vulnerable groups.

But last Tuesday, newly-appointed health minister Adonis Georgiadis (pictured above), formerly a member of the far-right LAOS partly and currently a New Democracy majority party MP, reinstated the provision unexpectedly, the day after his swearing-in ceremony that followed a cabinet reshuffle of the country’s coalition government. In a short announcement, KEELPNO welcomed the reinstatement citing a necessity to “cover the country” until revisions to the provision were agreed on. Georgiadis addressed the reinstatement on twitter, saying the repeal by Skopouli had left a “legal void.”

But the legal grounds upon which the provision was voted into law were questionable. Last year, Loverdos signed 39A alone, in spite of a legal requirement for a minimum of four official signatures in order for a provision to be enacted into law.

At the time, he claimed that its content had originated in a 1940 regulation, which allowed for sanitation measures in public places for the protection of public health. However, new language included in 39A, pointed at immigrants, homeless people, intravenous drug users and sex workers as possible sources of epidemics. 39A also cited a need to perform mandatory tests on individuals from these groups as part of controlling diseases that are currently not endemic in Greece, such as malaria, polio and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

Greece has seen a spike in HIV infections among injecting drug users during the crisis, mostly in the country’s capital, although there is no official data on a significant rise among sex workers or undocumented immigrants. Men who have sex with men remain the main population group that suffers most of the country’s new HIV infections.

In spite of citing a need for mandatory testing, the provision is also unclear about the nature of measures that the police and health authorities should take in order to test individuals without their informed consent. A law-suit has been brought by some of the women arrested in 2012 and by Greek NGOs against police officers present in the arrests as well as KEELPNO doctors for sharing test results with the police and violating patient confidentiality.

Calls to take back the measure came from abroad almost immediately after the reinstatement was announced. In her closing speech at the annual convention of the International Aids Society in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, French Nobelist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, the scientist accredited with co-discovering the HIV virus, expressed her “strong disappointment.”

“As President of the IAS I strongly condemn this move and urge the Greek Government to rethink its position. HIV infections are already increasing in Greece due to the economic crisis and a mandatory policy of detainment and testing will only fuel the epidemic there.” Barré-Sinoussi added: “As we keep repeating over the years, there will be no end to the HIV epidemic without advancing human rights in parallel.”

Sinoussi’s concerns were echoed in a damning announcement by Human Rights Watch, which called the reinstatement “a big step backward for human rights and public health.“

“Addressing infectious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis, and tuberculosis requires investing in health services, not calling the police. If the government is serious about addressing HIV and other infectious diseases, it should focus on access to health care and public information,” wrote HRW in a statement earlier this week. “Any detention for public health reasons must have a lawful basis, be demonstrably necessary and proportionate, and be nondiscriminatory. Anyone detained, irrespective of the grounds, is entitled to guarantees of due process.”

On their part, local Greek NGOs and human rights initiatives saw the reinstatement as a betrayal of their year-long battle for its repeal. HIV NGOs and LGBT and human rights initiatives chided the new leadership in a joint statement, for ignoring the unanimous decision that prompted its repeal as well as the recent report by the Greek Ombudsman citing the provision’s unconstitutionality.

“We cannot allow the implementation of practices that lead our society to the Middle Ages,” the statement by Positive Voice, Center for Life and Praksis, among other groups, said. “Access to free and public health services, access to medical coverage and a respect for human rights are non-negotiable for us. Since the leadership of the Health Ministry obviously does not share this view, we have a responsibility to make it clear with our actions.”

Protests against the reinstatement of 39A are continuing with a gathering outside the Ministry of Health in Athens [on Monday July 8th].

Latest update July 16th: Greek Health Minister says he will not repeal health provision that led to forced HIV tests, says he welcomes proposals.

In a Parliamentary question to Minister Georgiadis on Friday July 12, SYRIZA opposition party MP Vassiliki Katrivanou asked for a new repeal of the provision. On the same day, four Greek NGOs (Positive Voice, Praksis, Act Up Hellas and Center for Lsife) said in a joined announcement that they requested that a health committee assigned by Georgiadis with negotiating changes to the provision provide them with documentation that substantiates the urgency of the provision’s recommendations to protect public health, before they can return to the negotiations.

Read more here

A new documentary produced by radiobubble about the 2012 arrests called “Ruins: Chronicle of an HIV witch-hunt,” is due for release this September. It features interviews by women who were arrested and their families. You can watch a trailer here:

Global Commission newsletter highlights recent developments on HIV and the law around the world

Dear subscribers, We are delighted to share issue 2 of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law Newsletter – Issue 2 for 2013. Since the last Newsletter was released, there have been a number of significant developments on HIV and the law some of which are briefly described below in digest format.

GNP+ and the HIV Justice Network release ‘Advancing HIV Justice: a progress report of achievements and challenges in global advocacy against HIV criminalisation’

A new report released today by the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) and the HIV Justice Network highlights the tireless work of advocates around the world challenging inappropriate criminal laws and prosecutions for HIV non-disclosure, potential or perceived exposure and transmission.

Advancing HIV Justice shows that advocates around the working to repeal, modernise or otherwise limit laws and policies that inappropriately regulate and punish people living with HIV have achieved considerable success. This is especially the case when policymakers or criminal justice system actors are open to learning more about scientific and medical advances in HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, and involve civil society – led by people living with HIV – to ensure that critical criminal law and human rights principles are followed.

“That is why we welcome the new, detailed guidance on limiting overly broad HIV criminalisation that was released last week by UNAIDS,” says Kevin Moody, International Coordinator and CEO of GNP+. “The guidance will help to continue advancing HIV justice, serving as a powerful new tool for people living with HIV, and those advocating on our behalf, in our work with policymakers and criminal justice system actors.”

Writing in the foreword, Susan Timberlake, Chief, Human Rights and Law Division, UNAIDS Secretariat, notes that Advancing HIV Justice “powerfully demonstrates that civil society advocacy on this issue is not only alive – it goes from strength to strength.”

In the 18-month period covered by the report (September 2011 to March 2013), significant advances were made in terms of:

building the global evidence base in order to better understand the ‘who, what, where, when and why’ of laws and prosecutions around the world;
generating persuasive social science that shows exactly why overly broad HIV criminalisation does more harm than good, often achieving exactly the opposite of what law- and policymakers intend in terms of public health and human rights;
challenging inappropriate or overly broad new laws in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the United States;
advocating for law reform in Europe and the United States, including successful repeal in Denmark and modernisation of one of Switzerland’s two laws used to prosecute potential or perceived HIV exposure; and
addressing legal processes and enforcement, including the creation of prosecutorial guidelines in Scotland.

However, the report also highlights that the road to law and policy reform is not always straightforward or easy, due not only to complex intersections of laws, policies and practices, but also because of each country’s unique social, epidemiological and cultural contexts.

“Despite the many incremental successes of the past 18 months, more work and more funding is required to strengthen advocacy capacity,” says the HIV Justice Network’s co-ordinator, Edwin J Bernard, who co-authored the report with Sally Cameron. “HIV criminalisation is a complex issue. It entails a detailed understanding of diverse aspects of the criminal justice system; collection and analysis of evidence of the scope and impact of prosecutions across local and national boundaries; articulation and argument about complex moral and ethical issues of trust, blame and responsibility; and inclusion of HIV prevention and human rights priorities. Development of strategies against HIV criminalisation relevant to each individual jurisdiction requires time, effort, and the involvement of multidisciplinary experts.”

Advancing HIV Justice: A progress report of achievements and challenges in global advocacy against HIV criminalisation is available as a 52 page pdf that can be read or downloaded at: http://www.advancing.hivjustice.net

allAfrica.com: Tanzania: MP Wants Law Passed to Control Prostitution

A MEMBER of Parliament has asked the government to table in the House a Bill to fight prostitution in the country. Catherine Magige (Special Seats – CCM) said that prostitution in the country has been on the increase, indicating moral degradation and contributing to more HIV infections. She wanted to know when the government would bring to Parliament a bill to fight the immoral practice’. In response, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Deputy Minister Angela Kairuki said the government would bring to Parliament a bill to that effect if an evaluation showed some weaknesses in the existing legal framework to fight prostitution.

Bahrain: Proposed law would require people with HIV to obtain judges' permission to marry

Bahrain citizens suffering from a hereditary or incurable disease – such as sickle cell anaemia, HIV, and hepatitis – will need to get permission from the courts to get married under a new draft bill currently being considered by the government, it has been reported. Under the current law, in place since 2004, it is compulsory for all engaged couples to get a certificate from the Health Ministry that states they have undergone premarital check-ups, where they are tested for hereditary diseases such as sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia, and incurable diseases like HIV, and hepatitis.

While the outcome of the check-ups does not currently restrict them from going ahead with the marriage, a new bill could mean those who test positive for any of the hereditary or incurable diseases will need to get permission from the courts to pursue the marriage, according to a report by Gulf Daily News. A draft of the law is now before the National Assembly for revision. However, the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs has already objected to the move and said it was against Sharia Law and basic human rights to stop anyone marrying someone they want to on the grounds of their health conditions. A doctor who is behind the proposal reportedly said “it was essential for judges to take the decision in such cases to prevent emotions from getting in the way.”

Nigeria: Yobe state assembly plans mandatory couples HIV testing before marriage

The Speaker of the Yobe House of Assembly, Alhaji Adamu Dala Dogo, has disclosed that the House would soon pass a law which would make it mandatory for all intending couples to undergo HIV/AIDS test before their marriages in any church or mosque in the state. He said this was to help prevent the spread of the scourge in the state, as it was on the increase.

The law, according to the speaker, is expected to be passed before the end of the year and would be useful in the efforts to ensure that the scourge of AIDS in the state is “remarkable curtailed.” “The spread of this deadly virus can only be effectively prevented from spreading among the people through ‘genuine tests’ on HIV/AIDS, particularly on all intending couples that want to get married.”

Haiti: Alleged sex workers 'rounded up' by justice officials working for the Ministry of Social Affairs and tested for HIV

JACMEL, Haiti (defend.ht) – Authorities in Jacmel rounded up young girls spending time in the cafés of the city in order to test them for AIDS and according to the Commissioner of Jacmel, Antoine Jean Frero, in the first week, 9 young women regularly found at two of the city’s cafés tested positive for HIV. The idea was to encourage young girls with precarious lifestyles in Jacmel to get tested. The effort was being carried out by justice officials and the Ministry of Social Affairs. Commissioner Frero said in the first café authorities had nabbed 3 women who tested positive for AIDS and on the first cafe and 6 were found to have AIDS covered.

Grenada: Health Minister proposes new HIV-specific criminal law

People who intentionally transmit HIV/AIDS to unsuspecting partners may soon find themselves on the wrong side of the law in Grenada, according to Health Minister, Dr. Clarice Modeste-Curwen. “There are those who are saying when they discover their positive status, I ain’t going down so alone”, she told Parliament. However, Modeste-Curwen is warning that in due course, legislation would be tabled in Parliament to force culprits to take legal responsibility for their actions. She said it is a matter of concern when one hears on the street that an infected person was planning to infect unsuspecting persons because they would have discovered that they are themselves infected by the disease.

Grenada: Health Minister claims HIV-specific criminal law needed to prevent 'deliberate' transmission

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, Thursday April 18, 2013 – Health Minister Dr, Clarice Modeste is concerned about people who are wilfully transmitting the HIV virus to others and believes that legislation should be enacted to deal with them once there is evidence that a person is being exposed to the virus as a means of revenge.

Kan. health agency pledges to protect AIDS/HIV patients from quarantines, clearing bill's path

TOPEKA, Kansas – A promise from Kansas’ health department Thursday to continue protecting AIDS and HIV patients from being quarantined has resolved a dispute over a legislative proposal for helping medical personnel and emergency workers who may have been exposed to infectious diseases.