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Position Paper adressed to Romanian MPs Delegation at the COE Parliamentary Assembly on voting for the protection of human rights

The present position paper is submitted by a coalition of NGOs with long standing experience in the field of protection and promotion of human rights and non-discrimination in Romania.

We sincerely express our confidence that the Romanian representatives at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will vote in favor of the adoption of two fundamental documents for human rights protection and non-discrimination in Europe, which are going to be discussed during the Ordinary Session of the Council of Europe (January, 25^th – 29^th 2010) namely:

· The Recommendation "Fifteen years since the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action”, Act no 11992 – August, 5^th 2009;

· The Resolution “Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity”, Act no 12087 – December, 8^th 2009.

First of all, in Romania, the protection of the right to health including the right to sexual health and reproduction is guaranteed by the legal framework in article 34 in the Constitution, in Law no 46/2003 regarding the patients’ rights and Law no 95/2006 regarding reform of the health system.

Secondly, both discrimination based on sexual orientation and discrimination against women are legally punished in Romania only when discrimination occurs in political, economical, social, cultural fields or in any other component of the public life. In this respect, the legal and institutional framework refers to the article 16 within the Constitution, the Governmental Decision no 137/2000 regarding prevention and sanction of all types of discrimination (republished in 2007), the Law no 202/2001 regarding equal opportunities and treatment between women and men (republished in 2007), the article 75 c¹ (severe cause when criminal offence has a discrimination ground) and article no 247 (abuse of office by restricting civil rights) within the current Penal Code in force. Hereinafter, the Romanian state support for the legal provisions above mentioned was recently reaffirmed on the occasion of adoption of the Penal Code in 2009. Last but not the least, article 21 in the Chart of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, active since the Lisbon Treaty adoption, expressly forbids any type of discriminations on the ground of gender, race, skin color, ethnic or social origin, genetic elements, language, religion or faith, political opinion or other nature, national minority membership, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation.

As a conclusion, the vote in favor of adoption of the two documents represents a reiteration of the political commitment at the national level for the respect, protection and securement of human rights and non-discrimination. Moreover, it is obviously in compliance with the Romanian legislation and international commitments.

We really hope you will vote for the adoption of the two documents. For further details or clarifications, please contact Iustina Ionescu, Program Manager, Euro-regional Center for Public Initiatives, iionescu@ecpi.ro, +4 0754 306 131 or Loredana Ercus, Project Assistant, Institute for Public Policy, loredanae@ipp.ro, +4 021 212 31 26.

Signers:

Euro-regional Center for Public Initiatives

ACCEPT Association

Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Romania-the Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH)

Center Partnership for Equality

Center for Legal Resources

Center for Curriculum Development and Gender Studies: FILIA

Roma Civic Alliance of Romania

Romani Criss

Romanian National Council for Refugees

Policy Center for Rroma & Minorities

CIVITAS 2005