2023-11-22 21:26:13
A memorial law is in the works to rehabilitate people convicted of homosexuality in France. The Senate adopted on Wednesday November 22 a bill aimed at recognizing the ” responsibility “ of the French State in the convictions of people for homosexuality between 1945 and 1982 on the basis of old discriminatory laws.
This text from the socialist group, whose « principe » was supported by the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, was adopted unanimously by the upper house, which nevertheless rejected the provisions aimed at providing a ” repair “ financial to people convicted of homosexuality over this period.
Also read the column: Article reserved for our subscribers “How many people have been convicted in France for homosexuality? »
Two articles of the penal code introduced under the Vichy regime are targeted, one establishing a specific age of consent for homosexual relations and the other worsening the repression of public outrage of modesty committed by two people of the same sex. Writing the text allows you to ” recognize “ that these provisions “were sources of suffering and trauma for those convicted”.
“You replace a law of hatred with a law of unity, recognition and memory”launched the Minister of Justice, “favorable to the principle of this proposed law”. “It will recognize the implementation for forty years of a policy of discrimination and criminal repression which should never have existed”a politic “which shames our Republic”.
The “compensation” section removed
The blind “compensation” of the text was rejected at the initiative of the right and the center, the majority in the Senate. The socialist Hussein Bourgi wanted to grant these rehabilitated people an allowance of 10,000 euros, accompanied by 150 euros per day of deprivation of liberty.
Rapporteur Francis Szpiner (Les Républicains), spokesperson for the right-wing and center senatorial majority, justified this choice with reasons “legal difficulties”particularly relating to prescription. “It was not the law that was responsible for this harm” more “French society, homophobic in all its components at the time”he also explained in the hemicycle. “This is not the fault of the Republic. The law of memory is enough. »
The Keeper of the Seals went in the direction of the rapporteur: the ” put into practice “ of this compensation measure “appears extremely complex” due to the difficulty of providing proof of an old conviction and the execution of the sentence, he explained.
“Recognizing without repairing is not satisfactory, it is incoherent”regretted Hussein Bourgi. “The senatorial majority has only gone halfway”he added, affirming that reparation would not have weighed heavily on the state’s finances, most of the people concerned having died.
Similar devices in Europe
Even if it is difficult to count the victims of these old laws, the Minister of Justice estimated, on the basis of research, that “more than 10,000 people” had been concerned between 1945 and 1982, with a prison sentence for 90% of them.
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Other European countries have already looked into the subject. Germany decided in 2017 to rehabilitate and compensate some 50,000 men convicted of homosexuality on the basis of a Nazi text that remained in force long after the Second World War. Austria is in the process of implementing a similar system, which should come into force in February 2024.
This text, studied during a « niche » parliamentary reserved for the socialist group, must be included on the agenda by the National Assembly to be definitively adopted. The socialist group urged the government to take it upon itself.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers When a series from “Le Monde” inspires a proposed law aimed at rehabilitating those convicted of homosexuality before 1982
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