The situation and treatment of Bulgarian homosexuals during the time frame of this Response have been the focus of earlier Responses with BGR33514.E of 24 January 2000 being the most recent. Further, a statement by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) in response to a request for information on police protection of homosexuals in the period between 1997 and 2001 is included in BGR37530.E of 7 August 2001.

In addition to this information, a BHC report entitled Bulgarian Legislation about Homosexuals that was published in October 2001 stated:

Discriminatory attitudes of police officers towards sexual minorities are no different from discrimination against any other minorities.

Until now, no information has been collected on cases of homosexual victims of police violence and arbitrariness. Individual cases provide evidence indicating the presence of the following discriminatory practices:

1. Police officers seek information of a personal nature about homosexual persons who are victims of violence. This information is of no relevance to the prosecution of the crimes against those victims.

2. Police officers refuse to register cases of brutality committed against representatives of sexual minorities and do not conduct investigations that would seek criminal responsibility from the perpetrators of crimes motivated by homophobic prejudice. The passive behavior of the police is an expression of the state's desire to ignore and to not protect the violated rights of homosexuals and persons with different sexual behavior in society.

3. Police have conducted unprovoked actions in bars frequented by homosexuals.

...

Bulgarian legislation contains no laws that refer specifically to perpetrators of crimes motivated by homophobia, despite the fact that the Council of Europe considers homophobia to be equivalent to racism. In the Criminal Code, homosexuals are only singled out when they are the "subjects" of a crime (i.e. when they are the perpetrators), and not when they are "objects" (i.e. victims of a crime).

Judicial and police organs do not express any eagerness to collect evidence about the homophobic motives of those who perpetrate crimes. Judges are not obliged to consider such motives as aggravating the circumstances of guilt, nor to impose more severe punishments when homophobic motives are present

...

[A Constitutional Court] decision excludes sexual orientation from the designated social characteristics on whose basis discrimination is prohibited. In other words, the court affirmed that in cases of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the law provides no protection to victims. A change in the current position of the court is possible, but only in the presence of "strongly motivated juridical" complains in concrete cases (Oct. 2001).

A Council of Europe, Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights report dated 10 April 2002 similarly stated that "[t]he police ... are charged with exceeding their powers [and] are accused of making disproportionate use of force ... and of victimising vulnerable groups such as the Roma/Gypsy community and homosexuals...." (4).

For information concerning inter alia the police response toward skinhead activities, reports specifically detailing Bulgarian police policies toward racial motivated crimes or the prosecution of skinheads can be found in BGR34587.E of 2 June 2000. However, current information remains scarce and the Research Directorate did not find a systematic study of this subject among sources consulted.

One report mentioning attacks on homosexuals by skinheads and subsequent police responses is a March 2001, International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) report that stated:

There are cases of gay bashing. Gemini [a Bulgarian gay organisation] has been informed about attacks on gay people by "skin-heads", especially after leaving gay discos at night. Due to a lack of co-operation from the police, no such cases have been legally investigated. The police are gradually changing their attitudes; however, individual police officers still do not agree to act as witnesses in cases of anti-gay violence. There have also been cases of police violence against gays but none of the affected were willing to testify when asked, because of fear of public censure (11).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee. October 2001. Bulgarian Legislation about Homosexuals. http://www.bghelsinki.org/en/special/2001homosexual.html [Accessed 17 June 2002]

Council of Europe, Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights. 10 April 2002. "Report by Mr. Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioner for Human Rights on His Visit to Bulgaria, 17-20 December 2001." http://www.commissioner.coe.int/docs/CommDH(2002)1_E.pdf [Accessed 17 June 2002]

International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA)- Europe. March 2001. Equality for Lesbians and Gay Men: A Relevant Issue in the EU Accession Process. "Bulgaria." http://people.a2000.nl/hverkerk/Hearingintergroup/documents/ee-report.pdf [Accessed 18 June 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

BgLesbian

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee

Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights

Crosspoint Anti-Racism Bulgaria

East Garden

EuroLetter

European Country of Origin Information Network

Gemini, Bulgarian Gay Organisation

Human Rights Watch

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

International Helsinki Federation

International Lesbian and Gay Association

International Lesbian and Gay Association- Europe

World News Connection