We are people living with HIV. Over three decades into this epidemic, we are angry that still 4500 of us are dying of AIDS-related illnesses every day. Sixteen years after developing effective treatment, more than half of all of us who need it cannot access these life-saving drugs.
Lawyers petition government for protection to mark Human Rights Day | SW Radio Africa
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) marched from Harare Gardens through the streets of the capital on Thursday, to commemorate International Human Rights Day, which falls on December 10th. The lawyers delivered petitions to the Supreme Court, the High Court, Parliament, the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs and the Attorney General’s Office, asking for protection for legal practitioners while they do their work. Makoni said the lawyers expect the level of intimidation and harassment of lawyers to increase as the country heads towards elections, because that is when violence levels go up and lawyers are called upon to represent victims and perpetrators.
US: Anti-criminalisation advocacy goes mainstream for World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day saw unprecedented media attention on advocacy against HIV criminalisation in the United States.
Following on from the flurry of media interest stemming from advocacy at the International AIDS Conference held in Washington DC this summer, including a major piece on CNN’s website, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta interviewed Nick Rhoades and Robert Suttle.
In case the video disappears in the future: here’s the transcript.
Coming up, when sex, even consensual sex becomes a crime. We’ll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUPTA: This weekend marks World AIDS Day, and this weekend, we got some, what I would consider, extremely troubling news, perhaps surprising as well.
Listen to this closely: more than a quarter of all new HIV infections in this country are in 13 to 24-year-olds. And most of those young people don’t even know that they are infected.
Now, as you know, there’s always been secrecy around HIV/AIDS. But it also brings up a tough issue. More than half of the United States’ states have laws that make it a crime for people with HIV to not disclose it when they have sex. Now, some say that’s only fair, but others say making this crime not just scares people and keeps them from being tested or seeking care.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Four years ago, Nick Rhoades, an HIV positive, 34- year-old, living in Iowa, met a younger man. They hit it off, and had sex.
NICK RHOADES, CONVICTED OF CRIMINAL TRANSMISSION OF HIV: My viral load is undetectable. I wore a condom. I did everything I could to protect him and myself.
GUPTA: What Rhoades didn’t do was tell his friend about having HIV. And when the friend out later, he sought treatment at a local hospital. And the hospital employee called the police.
Rhodes was arrested, charged with criminal transmission of HIV and after pleading guilty on the advice of his lawyer, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
RHOADES: I served over a year locked up, some of it in maximum security and some of it in solitary confinement. And I still have to register as a sex offender for the rest of my life. GUPTA: Scott Schoettes, an the attorney for Lambda Legal, is Rhoades new lawyer. He is asking the Iowa Supreme Court to overturn Rhoades conviction.
SCOTT SCHOETTES, HIV PROJECT DIRECTOR, LAMBDA LEGAL: This case in particular was compelling, it really was a good example of the ways in which these laws are misused by the justice system to punish people in very severe ways for things that should not even be crimes.
GUPTA: About a thousand miles away in Louisiana, a similar case.
Robert Suttle said his partner knew Suttle had HIV, but after a messy break-up, his ex went to the police. Suttle was charged of intentionally exposing the man to the AIDS virus.
ROBERT SUTTLE, CONVICTED OF INTENTIONAL EXPOSURE TO AIDS VIRUS: I was arrested at work and I was booked.
GUPTA: To avoid a possible 10-year sentence, Suttle entered a plea. And he spent six months in jail.
Under the picture on his driver’s license in bold red capital letters, it says “sex offender”. He has to carry that tag for 15 years.
SUTTLE: There are a lot of good people in the world that are HIV positive, but that doesn’t mean that they are criminals. It doesn’t mean they have malicious intent to hurt anybody. They’re just trying to deal and cope with having this disease. And yet, there’s these laws that make us look like we’re criminals.
GUPTA: At least 34 states and two U.S. territories have laws that criminalize activities of people with HIV. Not disclosing your status to a sexual partner, that can land you in jail. So can spitting on somebody or biting them if you have the disease.
Often, it doesn’t matter if you actually transmit the virus. In fact, the man that slept with Rhoades never got HIV.
REP. BARBARA LEE (D), CALIFORNIA: Jail time is not warranted in these cases.
GUPTA: Last year, Congresswoman Barbara Lee introduced legislation to get rid of these state laws.
LEE: Many offenses receive a lesser sentence than the transmission of HIV. And these laws, again, they’re archaic. They’re wrong. They are unjust. And they need to be looked at and taken off of the books.
GUPTA: Prosecutor Scott Burns agrees that the laws need updating, but he also says repeal would be a mistake.
SCOTT BURNS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION: Any time that someone knows they have HIV or AIDS doesn’t disclose that to the other party, I think, is wrong. I think there should be a sanction. I just don’t think you do that in America. And I think most prosecutors would agree with me. GUPTA: Rhoades and Suttle now work for the Sero Project. It’s a group that fights stigma and discrimination, trying to make the case that what happened to them should never happen to others.
SUTTLE: We cannot sit and ignore the fact that this is happening.
RHOADES: I have to fight for this, and I think there are a lot of people that are fighting, as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: Now, I should say the accuser in Nick’s case didn’t want to talk to us. And the identity of Robert’s accuser is sealed as well by court order.
In addition, a local Iowa TV station, KWWL, in the county where Nick Rhoades was prosecuted, led with this fantastic interview with Tami Haught from CHAIN (Community HIV/Hepatitis Advocates of Iowa Network), who is leading Iowa’s campaign to modernize the HIV criminalization law.
Finally, yesterday saw the US National Dialogue on the Criminalization of HIV Transmission, Exposure and Non-disclosure: The role of the States and the Federal Government, on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. I’m sure there will be more written about this, but I’m including below a collection of all the tweets and images created live to give you an idea of the richness of the conversation, who was there, and who wasn’t. Thanks especially to Darby Hickey for summarising the dialogue so well.
Activists fight parts of Uganda's HIV/AIDS bill, including mandatory testing & disclosure plus a 'wilful transmission' statute, tabled for Jan 2013
According to Dr. Jeremiah Twa- Twa, chairperson HIV/AIDS sectoral committee, the HIV/AIDS prevention and control bill, aimed at protecting people and creating a conducive legal environment for the implementation of HIV/AIDS programmes in Uganda, will be finalised before the end of the session, most likely in January next year.
However, the bill has thrown a cat among dogs, especially the civil society and AIDS activists who have rejected some of the proposed sections, saying they undermine many critical issues. Led by Uganda Network on Law, Ethics and HIV/AIDS (UGANET) and the National Forum of People Living with HIV/AIDS Network in Uganda (NAFOPHANU), the activists demand that some clauses be revised. They, however, say it is a good law with good intentions, but also warn that it may have devastating effects.
The joint civil society coalition, made up of more than 40 organisations, including human rights groups, has urged Parliament to review the clauses on mandatory testing of HIV, mandatory disclosure of a person’s HIV status and the criminalisation of intentional spread of the disease. The bill, calls for mandatory HIV testing of pregnant women and their partners during antenatal visits. Most men do not accompany their wives for antenatal visits and those who do so rarely accept to be tested for HIV. If the bill passes into law, all men who are responsible for a pregnancy may be compelled to test for HIV.
HIV/AIDS Rally: Iowans Speak Out Against 709-C
Since the 1990’s, Iowa Code 709-C has made failing to disclose your HIV status a class “B” felony, punishable by up to 25 years in prison. It’s a law that HIV and AIDS advocates hope legislators change in 2013. Laura Friest has lived with HIV for more than 13 years.
Nashua woman wants Iowa's HIV law repealed, says it's discriminatory
A Nashua woman wants Iowa’s HIV law repealed because she says it’s discriminatory. Tami Haught is part of the group “CHAIN” (Community HIV/Hepatitis Advocates of Iowa Network). The group’s goal is to repeal 709c, a state law relating to the criminal transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
AIDS ACTION NOW! asks gay men and other MSM not to press charges for alleged HIV non-disclosure
Last night AIDS ACTION NOW! launched phase 2 of our Think Twice Campaign against the criminalization of people living with HIV. We were at the Art Gallery of Ontario for the launch of poster/VIRUS 2012, to celebrate and commemorate a Day Without Art. Our target audience for phase 2: Men who fuck men.
Gay press coverage of Phase Two of 'Think Twice' campaign from AIDS ACTION NOW!
Call it an inspiring history lesson. The night started with a screening of a historical documentary but ended with a panel discussion calling for action on the contentious issue of HIV criminalization.
EATG and IPPF Europe issue joint statement asking European institutions to tackle HIV criminalisation
People living with HIV throughout Europe face stigma and discrimination enshrined in laws and judicial decisions. They are made criminals for acts that would not be ‘crimes’ if they did not have, or did not know they had, the virus. Such prosecutions not only do not help prevent new HIV infections, they can actually do more harm than good by transforming newly diagnosed individuals into potential criminals adding further to HIV-related stigma and discrimination.
Inspired new phase of AIDS Action Now! Think Twice campaign
As the next phase of AAN!’s ongoing Think Twice campaign, today we sent letters to the Ontario Crown Prosecutors who have brought forward HIV non-disclosure prosecutions, and to their bosses. Crown Prosecutors, a.k.a. Crown Attorneys, play a pivotal role in our criminal justice system. They wield enormous power.