Russia: 23 year-old Kazakh woman, who has lived in Russia since she was 3, expelled because she was diagnosed with HIV

Kazakh woman expelled from Russia due to HIV

Kazakh woman expelled from Russia due to HIV

She will have to leave her husband, home and work in the Sverdlovsk region to get a chance for free therapy and life.

A native of Kazakhstan, who has been living in Russia for 20 years, is being expelled from the country due to HIV, e1.ru reports .

Svetlana is 23 years old. 20 of them she lived in a small town near Yekaterinburg. And was born in Kazakhstan. And the passport is also a citizen of Kazakhstan. This fall, for the first time in many years, she was not able to extend RVP (temporary residence permit in Russia), because she was diagnosed with HIV during the routine testing of these papers.

– In our country, Federal Law No. 38 “On Preventing the Spread of HIV in Russia” is in force, it contains article 11, which states that all foreigners who have been diagnosed with HIV should be immediately deported from the country. They “carry a danger to humanity,” this law says. There is a chance to stay in the country, but it is very small. If the parents, children or the spouse of the foreigner are citizens of the Russian Federation, and the foreigner himself can prove that he will not constitute a threat of spreading the infection, then the court can guarantee yourself the right to life in Russia, ”commented the lawyer of the New Life Foundation (NPO, which helps people living with HIV in the Urals) Marina Chukavina.

However, as they say in the fund itself, most often the situation is different. Migrants simply go into an illegal situation, and they buy drugs that they need to take for life and which the government provides to Russian citizens for free, at the pharmacy. On average, illegal immigrants have to spend 7-10 thousand rubles a month on antiretroviral therapy.

– Deportation is pointless in the economic, and even in the epidemiological sense. Obviously, in most cases, foreigners do not bring HIV, but become infected here. The highest HIV prevalence across the entire region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia today is in Russia. Why this norm today is not clear at all. But for migrants with HIV, it makes life difficult. If we talk about the citizens of Central Asia, many of them cannot return to their native village, because there they will simply be killed. And so it turns out that from the moment the decision was made, the person is nowhere: he has no way back home and here he is outside the law. As a result, someone forges documents, buys certificates, someone hides all his life, ”says Kirill Barsky, program manager for the Steps AIDS Foundation.

Kirill is a member of the regional expert group on migrant health, which collects stories from all over the country and requires a review of outdated legislation. The fact that the expulsion norm is morally outdated is also indicated by the infectious disease doctor from Yekaterinburg, Mark Aganin.

– It’s the same as if we today began to live according to the laws of the 19th or 18th centuries. The law was passed in 1995 when HIV was feared like fire and did not really understand how to work with it. But if then this fear was normal, then today everything has changed. Everything except this discriminatory law, says the doctor.

Казахстанку выдворяют из России из-за ВИЧ

Ей придется бросить мужа, дом и работу в Свердловской области, чтобы получить шанс на бесплатную терапию и жизнь.

Уроженку Казахстана, которая 20 лет живет в России, выдворяют из страны из-за ВИЧ, сообщает e1.ru.

Светлане 23 года. 20 из них она прожила в небольшом городе недалеко от Екатеринбурга. А родилась в Казахстане. И по паспорту тоже гражданка Казахстана. Этой осенью она впервые за много лет не смогла продлить РВП (разрешение на временное проживание в России), потому что во время традиционной для оформления этих бумаг сдачи анализов у нее обнаружили ВИЧ.

– В нашей стране действует ФЗ № 38 “О предупреждении распространения в России ВИЧ”, в нем есть статья 11, которая говорит о том, что все иностранцы, у которых обнаружен ВИЧ, должны быть немедленно депортированы из страны. Они “несут опасность для человечества”, говорит этот закон. Шанс остаться в стране есть, но он очень небольшой. Если родители, дети или супруг иностранца являются гражданами РФ, а сам иностранец сможет доказать, что не будет представлять собой угрозу распространения инфекции, то по суду можно гарантировать себе право на жизнь в России, — комментирует ситуацию юрист фонда “Новая жизнь” (НКО, которая помогает на Урале людям, живущим с ВИЧ) Марина Чукавина.

Впрочем, как говорят в самом фонде, чаще всего ситуация складывается другим образом. Мигранты просто переходят на нелегальное положение, а лекарства, которые нужно принимать пожизненно и которые гражданам России государство предоставляет бесплатно, покупают в аптеке. В среднем в месяц на антиретровирусную терапию иностранцам-нелегалам приходится тратить по 7–10 тысяч рублей.

– Депортация бессмысленна и в экономическом, и даже в эпидемиологическом смысле. Очевидно, что в большинстве случаев ВИЧ иностранцы не привозят, а инфицируются здесь. Наибольшая пораженность ВИЧ по всему региону Восточной Европы и Центральной Азии сегодня именно в России. Зачем эта норма сегодня, вообще непонятно. Но мигрантам с ВИЧ она серьезно осложняет жизнь. Если говорить про граждан Центральной Азии, многие из них не могут вернуться в родной аул, потому что там их просто убьют. И вот получается, что с момента, как вынесли решение, человек нигде: ему нет обратной дороги домой и здесь он вне закона. В итоге кто-то подделывает документы, покупает справки, кто-то всю жизнь прячется, — говорит Кирилл Барский, руководитель программ фонда борьбы со СПИДом “Шаги”.

Кирилл входит в региональную экспертную группу по здоровью мигрантов, которая собирает истории со всей страны и требует пересмотра устаревшего законодательства. О том, что норма о выдворении морально устарела, говорит и врач-инфекционист из Екатеринбурга Марк Аганин.

– Это все равно как если бы мы с вами сегодня начали жить по законам XIX или XVIII века. Закон был принят в 95-м, когда ВИЧ боялись как огня и толком не понимали, как с ним работать. Но если тогда этот страх был нормальным, то сегодня все изменилось. Все, кроме этого дискриминирующего закона, — говорит врач.

Tajikistan: Parliament approves amendment increasing prison sentences for “intentional” HIV transmission

Tajik authorities tighten punishment for intentionally transmitting HIV infection

Google translation, for article in Russian please scroll down.

Tajikistan punishes penalties for intentionally transmitting HIV infection. On December 25, the Majlisi Milli, the upper house of the Tajik parliament, approved amendments to the country’s Criminal Code, according to which deliberate infection of another person’s HIV / AIDS would be considered a serious crime.

After the entry into force of new amendments to Art. 142 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan (“lecherous actions”), persons deliberately infecting other citizens with HIV infection will face severe punishment – from 8 to 10 years in prison, a member of the upper house of the Tajik parliament said in an interview with Radio Ozodi Kanoatsho Loikzoda. According to him, if the crime was committed by an official, then after serving his term he will lose the right to hold public office for five years.

Currently, according to Art. 125 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, “infection of another person with HIV infection by a person who knew that he had this virus is punishable by imprisonment for a term of two to five years, and intentional infection of two or more persons by imprisonment for a term of five to ten years.

In August last year, it became known that in Tajikistan for the first time a prostitute was sentenced to one year in prison for acquiring 10 men with HIV infection. A woman whose name was not disclosed, but the initials of A.Z. were indicated, was accused of intentionally infecting several of her clients.

Recently, Tajikistan has also increased the punishment for refusing to treat people who suffer from serious infectious diseases, in particular HIV and tuberculosis. The document entered into force in early August. According to the adopted amendments, HIV-infected and tuberculosis patients who are aware of their disease but are being treated will face a large fine in the amount of 20 to 30 calculated indicators (one calculated indicator is 55 somoni).

68 AIDS centers operate in Tajikistan, including one republican and one regional, 8 urban and 58 district. According to official figures, the total number of infected in the republic is 10.7 thousand people, 7 thousand of them are men.

Власти Таджикистана ужесточают наказание за умышленное заражение ВИЧ-инфекцией

В Таджикистане ужесточается наказание за умышленное заражение ВИЧ-инфекцией. 25 декабря Маджлиси Милли, верхней палатой парламента Таджикистана были одобрены поправки в Уголовный кодекс страны, согласно которым преднамеренное заражение ВИЧ/СПИД другого человека будет считаться тяжким преступлением.

После вступления в силу новых поправок в ст. 142 УК Республики Таджикистан (“развратные действия”), лиц, умышленно заражающих других граждан ВИЧ-инфекцией, ждет суровое наказание – от 8 до 10 лет колонии, сообщил в беседе с Радио Озоди Каноатшо Лоикзода, член верхней палаты таджикского парламента. По его словам, если преступление совершено чиновником, то после отбытия срока он лишится права занимать в течение пяти лет государственные должности.

В настоящее время, согласно ст. 125 УК Республики Таджикистан, «заражение другого лица ВИЧ-инфекцией лицом, знавшим о наличии у себя этого вируса, наказывается лишением свободы на срок от двух до пяти лет, а умышленное заражение двух или более лиц – лишением свободы на срок от пяти до десяти лет.

В августе прошлого года стало известно, что в Таджикистане впервые проститутку приговорили к одному году лишению свободы за заражение ВИЧ-инфекцией 10 мужчин. Женщина, имя которой не разглашалось, но были указаны инициалы А.З., обвинялась в намеренном инфицировании нескольких своих клиентов.

Недавно в Таджикистане усилили наказание и за отказ от лечения лиц, которые страдают тяжелыми инфекционными заболеваниями, в частности ВИЧ и туберкулезом. Документ вступил в силу в начале августа. Согласно принятым поправкам, ВИЧ-инфицированных и больных туберкулезом, которые знают о своей болезни, но оказываются лечиться, ждет крупный штраф в размере от 20 до 30 расчетных показателя (один расчетный показатель равен 55 сомони).

В Таджикистане работают 68 центров СПИД, в том числе один республиканский и один региональный, 8 городских и 58 районных. Общее число зараженных в республике, по официальным данным, составляет 10,7 тыс. человек, 7 тыс. из них — мужчины.

China: New HIV control plan includes provisions for investigation of “deliberate” HIV transmission and mandatory testing of sex workers

China rolls out plan for controlling HIV transmission

China has rolled out a plan for the control of HIV transmission in a bid to keep HIV/AIDS prevalence in the country at a low level.

The three-year plan, made by the National Health Commission and nine other government departments, sets a number of goals such as raising the awareness of HIV prevention and control, and educating people on avoiding or reducing unsafe sexual behaviors.

The goals also include detecting and treating as many HIV infection cases as possible, curbing the rise of HIV transmission through sexual behaviors and eliminating mother-to-child transmission.

An HIV prevention education program has been set up, focusing on enhancing individuals’ awareness and strengthening the effect of education measures targeting residents, migrant populations, elderly people and groups at higher risk for HIV.

The plan also requires higher accessibility of condoms in public places such as hotels. Increased efforts should be made to crack down on law violations and crimes that may lead to HIV transmission, according to the plan.

The plan urges expanded HIV testing to detect and treat HIV-infected individuals with utmost efforts as an effective way to curb the rise of sexual transmission of HIV. 

Information on the new provisions is available here: http://www.nhc.gov.cn/jkj/s7925/201910/adc374d0613144b2b7bb5d6c58a60223.shtml

Australia: Mandatory testing laws in Western Australia are not appropriate in cases of spitting and are based on misinformation

HIV experts fear ‘spitting laws’ being misused by police

About 100 people a year have been forced to be tested for HIV in Western Australia since so-called spitting laws were introduced four years ago.

HIV advocates have called for the reversal of so-called “spitting laws”, which they say are being misused in some states and increasing stigma.  

An audit, released on Thursday, showed Western Australia had the highest rates of mandatory testing of a person whose bodily fluids come into contact with police or emergency service workers, such as through biting or spitting.

In less than four years since the laws were introduced, 377 people in WA have been forced to get tested.

While in Victoria, where a medical specialist makes the decision, no mandatory tests have been ordered.

The audit, conducted by the National Association of People with HIV Australia, recommended the laws be repealed, describing their introduction in the first place was “perplexing and problematic”.

“Although violence against emergency services workers may be increasing, risk of HIV transmission is not,” the report stated.

“If anything, effective treatments mean that the majority of people living with HIV in Australia have a low or undetectable viral load, making transmission unlikely or impossible in the types of circumstances covered by these laws.”

HIV Justice Network senior policy adviser Sally Cameron said the audit’s WA findings were alarming.

“We think it is likely that the tests are being misused. It’s unclear whether there is any ill intent or not,” Ms Cameron told SBS News.

Ms Cameron stressed that they did not condone violence in any circumstance, particularly against emergency service personnel.

“For us, this isn’t an issue of us and them, our priority is that people are not unduly stressed by fear of HIV. That people do not go through stress and trauma when in fact there is no risk,” she said.

She called for better training of police officers and judicial oversight of decisions to force someone to be tested.

“This isn’t about saying they should be able to do whatever they want. The issue is whether it’s appropriate to do something as invasive as a blood test when in fact that there is no risk that anything’s concerned.”

Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine policy director Scott McGill said the so-called spitting laws were based on misinformation about the risk of transmission.

“Unfortunately our laws and policy are not only behind the curve in terms of that evidence, but also going in the wrong direction,” he told SBS News. 

“If we keep going down this path… we’re going to inadvertently fuel stigma, fuel fear which really means people won’t come forward for testing and treatment, will be fearful of what some of the consequences are and increases anxiety on both sides of the equation.”

At the time the laws were passed, then-police minister Liza Harvey told the ABC they were overdue and would help protect police officers.

She said the testing would assist in the diagnosis, clinical management and treatment of the exposed police officer. 

In April, the alleged violent assault of a police officer in Sydney, who was spat at and bitten, reignited debate about mandatory testing laws.  

NSW is one of only two jurisdictions in Australia that hasn’t introduced  in response to concerns about rising assaults on police and emergency service workers. 

President of the Police Association of NSW Tony King told 10 Daily the officer faced months of uncertainty as she waited for the results of an infectious diseases test.  

“This officer like many others will now have to change their lifestyle for fear of passing on possible infection. Can you imagine explaining to your own child why you can’t give them a kiss goodnight?” he said in April. 

But HIV experts said such claims were myths based on misinformation.  

“The likelihood of anything actually happening is extraordinarily low and we don’t have any recorded events of occupational exposure,” Mr McGill said. 

Uganda: HIV law deters communities from seeking HIV services and should be reformed

Kaleba scolds Parliament: The AIDS law is poisonous

“Whereas the law contains important commitments by government for the HIV and AIDS response in Uganda, there are some “poisonous” clauses that could deter all the benefits realised in the fight against the scourge,” she said.

HEALTH  HIV/AIDS 

The founder of The Aids Support Organization (TASO), Noerine Kaleeba, has castigated members of parliament, saying they approved the AIDS law which is awash with numerous contentious clauses.

“Whereas the law contains important commitments by government for the HIV and AIDS response in Uganda, there are some “poisonous” clauses that could deter all the benefits realised in the fight against the scourge,” she said.

In 2014, Parliament endorsed the HIV and AIDS Prevention law, which came into effect the same year on July 31, when President Yoweri Museveni assented to it. The law seeks to provide for a legal framework geared towards the prevention and control of HIV.

Kaleeba said the contentious clauses (41 and 43) of the law provide for prosecution on grounds of attempted and intentional transmission of HIV, respectively. Among the provisions of the piece of legislation is criminal penalty for risk and intentional transmission of the virus.

The law requires mandatory disclosure of one’s HIV status, failure of which would be regarded as “criminal”, and attempting to or, intentionally transmitting the virus. Failure to use a condom where one knows their HIV status would constitute a criminal offence, making them liable for prosecution.

Speaking during the 29th Centre General Meeting (CGM) of TASO Mulago last week, Kaleeba regretted that these provisions in the law do not only stigmatise and discriminate against people living with HIV but also deter communities from seeking HIV services such as HIV Testing and subsequently HIV treatment.

TASO founder Noeline Kaleebu together with another founder Peter Ssebanja take to the flow during the 29 AGM for TASO Mulago 

She said that the clauses have fueled domestic violence in homes since the couples each blame one another for intentionally transmitting the virus. She said it is naïve to think that the person who tests first is the one who infects the other, it could be the other way round.

“Honestly, how can it be proven that indeed the HIV of the accuser was got from the accused? There is fear that public knowledge of one’s HIV positive status would be used against them due to personal differences,” she says.

She argued that this will ultimately discourage people from testing to know their status fearing that if found positive, their status could be used against them in courts of law at any point in time. It should thus be noted that one who does not know their status cannot be held liable under this law.

“We should avoid creating scenarios where people living with HIV/AIDS are looked at as criminals or potential criminals,” She says. Adding, “People will inadvertently live with the virus without accessing treatment and by the time they get to know their status it will be too late.”

Kaleeba says that both members of the previous parliament and the President (who signed the law) acted out of ignorance, and therefore made a mistake. She prays that the 10th parliament doesn’t have to keep the error, and this is urgent.

She also hailed the appointment of Winnie Byanyima as the new executive director of UNAIDS, saying it has come at the right time as we are closing the chapter of HIV/AIDS. She said Byanyima is an exceptionally good manager, and her appointment will elevate our country.

“She will definitely give a mirage to Uganda even for those who didn’t know Uganda, will come to know the country, whether they like it or not. The world will say the new UNAIDS ED comes from Uganda, and that way our reputation will be elevated. People living with HIV, therefore, need to double their efforts especially on issues of taking their medication,” she said.

“Strict adherence to treatment is where the war is. When you religiously adhere to your medication, your viral load becomes undetectable, meaning you will not transmit to others. Let us be exemplary and merit Bwanyima’s confidence.”

Responding to Kaleeba’s concerns, the guest of honour, Florence Nambozo, who is also woman MP for Sironko and chairperson HIV/AIDS committee, assured over 800 people who turned up for the CGM that she will talk to her fellow members of parliament to make sure that the law is amended.

She said Uganda is making good progress in the HIV fight and urged people living with HIV to stick to treatment since the ARVs are available and free in all government health facilities.

The Centre Program Manager TASO Mulago, Godfry Mafabi revealed that by end of July TASO Mulago had recorded a cumulative total of 7754 compared to last years’ 1145 in care against a target of 8371 to be achieved by September 2019.

Mafabi said that since the last AGM 918 clients were initiated on ART, of these 23 were children and 139 adolescents, and 756 were adults compared to 663 who were started on ART between 17 August- July 18. The suppression rate is currently at 97% surpassing the new national target of 95% target.

However, the institution is still faced with challenges of funding since the time the donors pulled out. The number of staff was also reduced at the facility to 27 from 75, which is a big setback. We are using expert clients to handle new clients, he said.

US: Charges of HIV exposure for spitting, despite absence of risks, prove that Georgia needs to modernise its HIV laws

HIV-positive man’s arrest for spitting called ‘plain and simple discrimination’

A 31-year-old man in Rome, Ga., was charged with exposing police officers to HIV after allegedly spitting on them, which HIV activists said highlights why the state needs to fix its HIV laws.

Authorities said JS was swearing at people and making obscene gestures near the intersection of Maple Road and Park Road on Aug. 25, according to the Marietta Daily Journal. S allegedly spat on officers after being apprehended by the Floyd County Police Department.

S was charged with criminal trespass, two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct, three misdemeanor counts of willful obstruction of police officers and three felony counts of assault on police officers by someone with HIV, according to the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office. He is being held without bond in the Floyd County Jail.

HIV cannot be transmitted by spitting, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. S’s arrest highlights why Georgia needs to modernize its HIV laws, according to Nina Martinez of the Georgia HIV Justice Coalition.

“In 2019, it’s not breaking news that saliva does not transmit HIV,” she told Project Q Atlanta. “And yet, the punishment for a person living with HIV who spits on a police officer is potentially 20 times greater than that for someone not living with HIV who commits the same offense. This is state-sanctioned discrimination, plain and simple.”

Malcolm Reid, another member of the Georgia HIV Justice Coalition, agreed with Martinez.

“Although we don’t know much about this specific case, we do know that there is no chance of HIV transmission through spit,” he said. “This proves once again that the laws in Georgia need to catch up to science. HIV is not a crime.”

Georgia is one of some three-dozen states that criminalize a lack of HIV disclosure. Activists and lawmakers have tried for years to modernize state law by decriminalizing HIV. 

A Republican lawmaker introduced an HIV decriminalization bill on the final day of this year’s legislative session. It will be back in the 2020 session in January.

An Athens man was arrested in July after allegedly having sex with a woman without informing her he had HIV. He was charged with reckless conduct by a person with HIV. He remains in Athens-Clarke County Jail nearly two months later on a $3,000 bond, according to the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office.

A gay Atlanta man was arrested for HIV exposure in South Carolina in 2015. He claimed he disclosed his status before having sex with the alleged victim. The charges were later dropped.

Uganda: Recent case of woman, unjustly jailed for allegedly injecting a baby with HIV, highlights the need to act against HIV criminalisation

Woman Who was Wrongfully Jailed for Premeditated HIV Infection Speaks Out
“I spent two weeks in custody asking [to be released on bond], but they could not even bond me out, saying I was a non-resident. When we went to court, I asked for bail, and they refused. They refused to give me bail until they convicted me.”

By Kampala Post Reporter

On the evening of August 29, 2019, Sylvia Komuhangi walked out of the Gulu High Court premises accompanied by a female prisons security official. She had a smile plastered on her face. It was not a beaming smile. It was a restrained smile, the kind of smile that projects more relief than joy.

The 32-year-old secondary school teacher, who was wrongfully sentenced to two years in jail for injecting a baby with HIV-infected blood, walked a 50-meter stretch to the parking lot area where her lawyer, Immaculate Owomugisha waited. Komuhangi and Owomugisha shook hands, hugged and clasped their hands around each other’s waist for a while. The journalists present at court took pictures of the two, and then Owomugisha stepped back to let Komuhangi share her thoughts with the media.

With half a dozen video cameras and audio recorders in position, Komuhangi responded to the first question asking how it felt to regain her freedom after eight months in Kitgum Central prison, 805 kilometers away from her home in Rukungiri.

“I feel so happy,” she said. “It was so difficult.”

A Friendly Visit Gone Wrong

On December 27, 2018, Komuhangi was arrested and charged at Kitgum Magistrate’s Court with the offence of committing a “negligent act likely to spread disease contrary to Section 171 of the Penal Code Act of the Republic of Uganda.”

During her trial, at the Magistrate’s Court, the prosecution stated that at about 9 P.M. on December 26, 2018, Komuhangi carried the alleged victim away from her babysitter to the bedroom and then returned later, with the baby crying.

The prosecution continued that when the mother, Eunice Lakot, examined her baby, she found swellings in both armpits. She took the baby to Kitgum hospital for diagnosis, where doctors reportedly confirmed that the swellings were caused by injections. Consequently, a medical professional tested Komuhangi for HIV, and she was found positive. Next, the child was given Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), an antiretroviral medication that prevents infection to anyone exposed to HIV during the first ninety-six hours. Subsequently, Komuhangi was arrested.

After regaining her freedom, Komuhangi narrated that she had traveled to Uganda’s northern region from the Kampala for a tour in late December 2018, and spent several nights at a friend’s house in Kitgum Town. After a visit to the Kidepo Valley National Park, she returned to Kitgum Town to find her friend’s home surrounded by local authorities. “We were arrested there and then,” she narrates.

“I spent two weeks in custody asking [to be released on bond], but they could not even bond me out, saying I was a non-resident. When we went to court, I asked for bail, and they refused. They refused to give me bail until they convicted me.”

The conviction was handed out by the Chief Magistrate of Kitgum, Hussein Nasur Ntalo, on Thursday, July 4th. On Komuhangi’s release, Lakot, the mother of the baby, shared that the most recent results showed that her baby is HIV negative. Lakot, nevertheless, said she was not happy with the High Court’s ruling, but the baby’s maternal grandmother, Rose Oryem, said they would not challenge the court’s decision.

Komuhangi’s story was covered by leading media houses in the country, including the Daily Monitor, the country’s leading independent media house. It caused a public uproar in a country whose laws make it a crime to “willfully and intentionally” transmit HIV and also give the legal right to medical staff to disclose a patient’s HIV status to others without his or her consent.

In fact, Komuhangi is not the first convict as a result of those laws. In 2014, a 64-year-old nurse in Kampala, Rosemary Namubiru, was accused of injecting a toddler with her HIV-positive blood in the process of administering treatment. Namubiru was put on trial amid pressure from several local and international organisations, including the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, who castigated the quality of the media reporting in the immediate aftermath of her arrest.

“The media engaged in unabashed and unverified sensationalism. Rosemary was branded a ‘killer,’ guilty of maliciously and intentionally attempting to transmit her own HIV infection to a child,” said the Commission’s statement.

“Subsequent to those allegations, the baseless rumour-mongering escalated: various news reports branded Rosemary a fiendish serial offender; a nurse who was mentally ill; a nurse without credentials…. Sadly, we’re convinced that the charge was originally laid because of the media frenzy,” added the statement.

Taking Action Against HIV Criminalization

When Komuhangi’s case hit the media headlines, it took a similar tone to that of Namubiru. As a result, it caught the eye of the Uganda Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (UGANET), a non-governmental organisation whose goal is to advocate for the development and strengthening of an appropriate policy, legal human rights and ethical response to HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

Owomugisha, who is the UGANET head of advocacy and strategic litigation, says cases that involve HIV are not subjected to sufficient rigor, with sentiments often carrying the day at the expense of proper investigation, prosecution, and objectivity in court.

“Most convictions are based on unfair, inaccurate and overblown facts,” she says. “The media usually joins to hype up stories [and] this sensationalism crowds out good judgment, resulting in a miscarriage of justice.” Speaking particularly about Komuhangi’s case, Owomugisha said the media continued a pattern of HIV criminalization by condemning the suspect even before the initial trial.

“Several media houses were set on the loose name-calling such as “murderer and killer.” The media buzz was everywhere, including on the radio airwaves for days. This undressed Komuhangi of all dignity,” she said.

UGANET decided to offer legal representation to Komuhangi, resulting in a swift appeal against her conviction. Within two months from the first time the appeal was first lodged before the Gulu High Court, she had regained her freedom. Justice Stephen Mubiru, who handled the appeal, quashed the conviction, saying that forensic tests showed that DNA traces found on the cloth that Komuhangi used to wrap the baby belonged to her but did not contain any blood.

“I could not find any connection between her piece of cloth and the blood said to have been injected into the baby because the swelling found on the baby could have been a mere rash,” he added, according to a detailed report in the Daily Monitor newspaper.

Another of Komuhangi’s lawyers, Louis Odong, said the ruling sent a message to people who criminalize HIV victims not to engage in the practice while Owomugisha added that the court’s decisions had restored “dignity to Sylvia Komuhangi and many like her.”

“We commend the court decision for setting an example that if courts scratched below the surface news, they would realize HIV positive status alone does not equate to malicious intent,” she said.

The Executive Director of UGANET, Dora Kiconco Musinguzi, whose organisation works with 32 other HIV law and human rights groups, said the criminalization of people living with HIV, not only undermines the HIV response by compromising public health and human rights but that there is also no evidence of benefit from those laws.

“As a community of HIV actors, we remind the nation that we cannot end AIDS, or reach epidemic control with HIV criminalization coupled with heightened HIV discrimination. Human rights and dignity need to be accorded to all. We need to stop stigma and end HIV criminalization,” she stated.

Kiconco said that in light of court’s decision, the community of people living with HIV and organisations that UGANET works with recommend that the Constitutional Court should fast track the hearing of Petition No. 24 of 2016, through which their issues were presented to the country’s second-highest judicial organ for interpretation.

“More lives continue to be adversely affected by the HIV criminal law. Justice delayed is justice denied,” she added. Kiconco also called on Parliament to re-visit the HIV criminal laws with a view to law reform as “some of the laws are unfair, vague and will encourage trumped-up charges often.”

She said the law had been diverted from its original intent to create an environment where HIV is criminalized and where complications arise for persons living with HIV. The final appeal from Kiconco was directed to actors at all levels of the justice sector to increase rigor while handling HIV-related cases and to the media fraternity to exercise restraint while reporting on matters regarding the HIV criminal law.

“Our Constitution espouses a key principle – innocent until proven guilty. Abusing victims with names such as ‘monster and murderer’ is wrong. This jeopardizes their chance for a fair hearing,” she emphasized.

US: “People living with HIV are being prosecuted because the law is not keeping pace with science”

Living With H.I.V. Isn’t a Crime. Why Is the United States Treating It Like One?

States’ nondisclosure statutes, used to persecute marginalized populations, discourage testing and treatment.

By Chris Beyrer and Robert Suttle

Dr. Beyrer is an infectious disease epidemiologist. Mr. Suttle was convicted under Louisiana’s H.I.V. criminalization statute.

Michael Johnson, a former college athlete convicted in 2015 of not disclosing his H.I.V.-positive status to sexual partners, was released on parole from a Missouri prison last month. Mr. Johnson, who is gay and black, had maintained his innocence, and there was no proof that he had transmitted the virus. And yet that didn’t seem to matter in the court of public opinion, or in the court of law.

On Dec. 20, 2016, a Missouri appeals court ruled that Mr. Johnson’s trial had been “fundamentally unfair.” H.I.V. nondisclosure is inherently difficult to prove yet seemingly easy to condemn, as shown time and again by judges and juries worldwide. Nowhere is this truer than in the United States, where people with H.I.V. are still being prosecuted under outdated or misapplied laws.

During the early years of the AIDS epidemic, an H.I.V. infection was tantamount to a death sentence. Through major advances in antiretroviral therapies, H.I.V. is now a manageable, chronic condition. A person whose infection is newly diagnosed can expect to live a near-normal life span, and most seropositive people will never progress to further AIDS-defining complications.

Today we also know much more about how difficult H.I.V. is to spread. When used correctly, condoms are highly effective means of prevention. Research has also shown that when people are treated with antiretroviral drugs so that their viral load cannot be detected by standard blood tests, the virus cannot be transmitted to sexual partners. This true of both heterosexual and male same-sex couples. Simply put, scientific evidence on actual harm and transmission does not support the singling out of people living with H.I.V. through the heavy hand of criminal law. 

Mr. Johnson’s trial was rightly deemed unjust due to prosecutorial misconduct. But injustice remains deeply entrenched within the society that created the laws that criminalized his actions in the first place. At least 29 states, mostly in the Midwest and Deep South, have laws that make H.I.V. nondisclosure, exposure or transmission a crime.

These laws constitute one more layer of marginalization for those whom the criminal justice system already disproportionately prosecutes, convicts and harshly sentences: black people, trans women, migrants, people who sell sex, people who inject drugs and L.G.B.T.Q. youths. Such laws have not been shown to reduce H.I.V. transmission, but they do discourage those at risk from getting tested, which undermines public health rather than protects it.

The United States has the unfortunate distinction of being among the countries most aggressively prosecuting people living with H.I.V., after Russia and Belarus, according to a recent report by H.I.V. Justice Worldwide. In these places, people living with the virus could be just one disgruntled partner away from finding themselves in a courtroom.

In the United States there are thousands of cases where H.I.V.-specific charges were filed, or people faced heightened charges or punishments simply because they had the virus. We don’t know how many others have been threatened or blackmailed with criminal prosecution — the law becomes a weapon in abusive relationships — but those numbers are surely considerable. In almost all cases, this all-too-real risk is greater than any (highly unlikely) risk of actual H.I.V. transmission.

Prompted by concerns that the law was being applied contrary to scientific evidence, last summer a group of 20 H.I.V. scientists from around the world issued an expert consensus statement intended to assist experts involved in cases of alleged H.I.V. exposure, transmission or nondisclosure. They urged governments and people working in the justice system to ensure that the significant advances in H.I.V. science are taken into account in H.I.V.-related legal cases.

As the global scientific community continues to learn more about the disease and its transmission risks, lawmakers and criminal justice systems must similarly evolve their thinking to align with evidence, not fear. Scientists and clinical providers have obligations here, too. They should use their knowledge to support law reform efforts and provide expert testimony, using the consensus statement to educate and advocate change. No one should be forced to endure what Michael Johnson, and so many others living with H.I.V., have had to suffer.

Chris Beyrer is a professor in public health and human rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Robert Suttle is the assistant director of the Sero Project, which works to end unfair H.I.V.-related prosecutions.

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Canada: Justice Committee report recommends wide-ranging reforms to HIV criminalisation, including removing HIV non-disclosure from sexual assault law

Yesterday, the House of Commons Standing Committee of Justice and Human Rights released a ground-breaking report “The Criminalization of HIV Non-Disclosure in Canada” recommending that the Government of Canada works with each of the Canadian provinces and territories to end the use of sexual assault law to prosecute allegations of HIV non-disclosure.

According to a press release issued by our HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE partners, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network:

People living with HIV currently face imprisonment for aggravated sexual assault and a lifetime designation as a sex offender for not disclosing their HIV status to sexual partners, even in cases where there is little or even zero risk of transmission. This means a person engaging in consensual sex that causes no harm, and poses little or no risk of harm, can be prosecuted and convicted like a violent rapist. We welcome the Committee’s recognition of this unjust reality and their call to end the use of sexual assault laws. We and our allies have spent many years advocating for this critical change.

The report also recommends that Canada limits HIV criminalisation to actual transmission only. The Legal Network notes:

But we must go further: criminal prosecution should be limited to cases of intentional transmission as recommended by the UN’s expert health and human rights bodies. Parliament should heed such guidance. Criminal charges and punishments are the most serious of society’s tools; their use should be limited and a measure of last resort.

However, one of the recommendations that the Legal Network takes issue with is the recommendation to broaden any new law to include other infectious diseases.

Infectious diseases are a public health issue and should be treated as such. We strongly disagree with the recommendation to extend the criminal law to other infectious diseases. We will not solve the inappropriate use of the criminal law against people living with HIV by punishing more people and more health conditions.

Currently, there is a patchwork of inconsistent approaches across each province and territory. Only three provinces — Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta — have a formal policy in place or have directed Crown prosecutors to limit prosecutions of HIV non-disclosure, and they all fall short of putting an end to unjust prosecutions.

A December 2018 federal directive to limit HIV criminalisation, which solely applies to Canada’s territories, is already having some impact — in January 2019 it led to Crown prosecutors in the Northwest Territories dropping a wrongful sexual assault charge against a man living with HIV in Yellowstone. “We followed the directive and chose not to prosecute,” said Crown attorney Alex Godfrey.

Other positive recommendations in the report include:

  • An immediate review of the cases of all individuals who have been convicted for not disclosing their HIV status and who would not have been prosecuted under the new standards set out in the recommendations of the Committee.
  • These standards must reflect “the most recent medical science regarding HIV and its modes of transmission and the criminal law should only apply when there is actual transmission having regard to the realistic possibility of transmission. At this point of time, HIV non-disclosure should never be prosecuted if (1) the infected individual has an undetectable viral load (less than 200 copies per millilitre of blood); (2) condoms are used; (3) the infected individual’s partner is on PrEP or (4) the type of sexual act (such as oral sex) is one where there is a negligible risk of transmission.”
  • And, until a new law is drafted and enacted (which is only likely to happen if the current Liberal Government is re-elected in October), there should be implementation of a common prosecutorial directive across Canada to end criminal prosecutions of HIV non-disclosure, except in cases where there is actual transmission.

The report also recommends that any new legislation should be drafted in consultation with “all relevant stakeholders including the HIV/AIDS community”, which the Legal Network also welcomed.

The report is the result of a study of the ‘Criminalization of Non-Disclosure of HIV Status’ that ran between April and June 2019. Many Canadian experts testified as key witnesses to help MPs gain insight into why Canada’s current approach is wrong. HIV JUSTICE WORLDWIDE also submitted a brief to the committee, providing international context to Canada’s extremely severe approach to HIV non-disclosure.

The Legal Network concludes:

The next step is actual law reform. The report makes clear that change to the criminal law is needed. Any new legal regime must avoid the harms and stigma that have tainted the law these past 25 years.

Colombia: Constitutional Court overturns HIV criminalisation law

Court strikes down article criminalising the spread of HIV
Google translation, for article in Spanish, scroll down.
 
Among the reasons for the decision, the high court stated that the rule “stigmatized” a population.
Three reasons led the Constitutional Court on Wednesday to overturn Article 411 of Law 599 of 2000, which penalized the spread of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV, and of Hepatitis B.
 
A first reason was that this rule was not a necessary and proportional measure. Second, it stigmatized a population. And the third is that there is another rule in the Penal Code that already typifies the spread of epidemics.
 
The Court’s decision accepted several of the plaintiff’s arguments. According to the plaintiff, the rule violated the rights to equality and restricted the free development of personality, in particular sexual freedom. 
 
The norm established that there would be a prison term of 6 to 12 years for those who, knowing they are HIV positive or sick with hepatitis B, “carry out practices by means of which they can contaminate another person, or donate blood, semen, organs or, in general, anatomical components”.
 
According to the lawsuit, this penalized the fact that a person living with these diseases had sex, and made it a crime regardless of whether that person took the preventive measures that make the transmission of diseases unlikely, such as antiretroviral treatments and others.
 
The plaintiff argued that, although the purpose of this measure was to protect public health, this did not justify prohibiting a population group from freely expressing its sexuality, and stressed that there would be no effect when there were consensual relationships in which measures were taken to prevent contagion.
 
Regarding the violation of equality, the lawsuit held that the article only referred to and penalized people with HIV or hepatitis B, and not others with potentially contagious and delicate diseases.
 
Other views
As part of the debate on this law, the Court received 15 statements from different organizations, ministries, universities, and even from the Constitutional Court of South Africa – against it – to take into consideration. And there were almost as many arguments in favour as against. 
 
The Colombian League for the Fight against AIDS supported the lawsuit because it considered that the law did violate rights, added that laws that penalize exposure to HIV leave the entire burden of prevention on people living with it and said that the real challenges were more education and better access to medical testing and counseling services.
 
The statement sent by the Ministry of Justice gave reason to the plaintiff that the rule was discriminatory because it was addressed only to people with HIV – who have also been recognized as subjects of special constitutional protection – or hepatitis B. It also argued that there was no justification for the rule being for people with these two diseases and not for others who are aware of having different risks of infectious-contagious diseases. 
 
However, faced with the restriction of sexual freedom, the Ministry of Justice considered: the rule “does not violate the right to the free development of the personality, but is limited to establishing the penal consequences that its abusive and harmful exercise entails with respect to the rights of others and the community”. 
 
The Ministry of Health indicated, on the contrary, that the article did not violate either the right to equality or the free development of the personality and asked to leave it as it was.
 
The Attorney General’s Office agreed with the plaintiff that the rule punished the fact of having sex even when there was no transmission of the disease, which, says the Public Prosecutor’s Office, is not true. For the Attorney General’s Office, the rule was clear that in order for the crime to be configured there must be an intention to cause harm by engaging in practices that could end in contagion. The Public Prosecutor’s Office asked the Court to declare itself inhibited.

Corte tumba artículo que penalizaba la propagación del VIH

Entre las razones, el alto tribunal dijo que la norma “estigmatizaba” a una población.

Tres razones llevaron este miércoles a la Corte Constitucional a tumbar el artículo 411 de la ley 599 del 2000 que penalizaba la propagación del Virus de Inmunodeficiencia Adquirida, VIH, origen al sida, y la Hepatitis B.

Una primera razón es que esta norma no era una medida necesaria y proporcional. La segunda, estigmatizaba a una población. Y la tercera es que hay otra norma en el  Código Penal que tipifica ya la propagación de epidemias.

La decisión de la Corte acoge varios argumentos del demandante. Según este, la norma vulneraba los derechos a la igualdad y restringía el libre desarrollo de la personalidad, en particular, la libertad sexual. 

La norma establecía que habría prisión de 6 a 12 años para quien, sabiéndose portador del VIH o enfermo de hepatitis B, “realice prácticas mediante las cuales puedan contaminar a otra persona, o done sangre, semen, órganos o en general componentes anatómicos”.

De acuerdo con la demanda, esto penalizaba el hecho de que una persona que viviera con estas enfermedades tuviera sexo, y lo convertía en delito sin importar si se esa persona tomaba las medidas preventivas que hacen improbable la transmisión de enfermedades, como tratamientos antirretrovirales y otros.

El demandante sostenía que, aunque el fin de esta medida era proteger la salud pública, esto no justificaba prohibirle a un grupo poblacional expresar libremente su sexualidad, y resaltaba que no habría afectación cuando se tuvieran relaciones consensuadas en las que se tomaran medidas para prevenir contagios.

Sobre la vulneración a la igualdad, la demanda sostenía que el artículo solo se refería y penalizaba a personas con VIH o hepatitis B, y no a otras con enfermedades también potencialmente contagiosas y delicadas.

 

Otras voces

Como parte del debate sobre esta norma, la Corte recibió 15 conceptos de diferentes organizaciones, ministerios, universidades, e incluso de la Corte Constitucional de Sudáfrica- en contra-, para alimentar sus consideraciones. Y hubo casi tantos argumentos a favor como en contra. 

La Liga Colombiana de Lucha contra el Sida apoyó la demanda pues consideró que con la norma sí se vulneraban los derechos, agregó que leyes que penalizan la exposición al VIH dejan toda la carga de la prevención a las personas que viven con él y dijo que los verdaderos desafíos son más educación y mejor acceso a servicios de pruebas médicas y consejería.

El concepto enviado por el Ministerio de Justicia le dio la razón al demandante en que la norma es discriminatoria pues estaba dirigida únicamente a personas con VIH –que además han sido reconocidas como sujetos de especial protección constitucional– o hepatitis B. También argumentó que no se advertía justificación para que la norma fuera para personas con esas dos enfermedades y no para otras que conscientes de tener enfermedades infectocontagiosas riesgosas distintas. 

Sin embargo, frente a la restricción a la libertad sexual, la cartera de Justicia consideró: la norma “no vulnera el derecho al libre desarrollo de la personalidad, sino que se limita a establecer las consecuencias penales que acarrea su ejercicio abusivo y lesivo frente a los derechos de las demás personas y la comunidad”. 

El Ministerio de Salud indicó, al contrario, que la norma demandada no vulneraba ni el derecho a la igualdad ni el libre desarrollo de la personalidad y pidió dejarla como estaba.

La Procuraduría coincidió con el demandante en que la norma castigaba el hecho de tener sexo aun cuando no exista transmisión de la enfermedad, lo cual, dice el Ministerio Público, no es cierto. Para la Procuraduría, la norma era clara en que para que se configurara el delito debía existir una intención de causar daño realizando prácticas que podían terminar en contagio. El Ministerio Público pidió a la Corte declararse inhibida.