Russia: Information on the treatment of homosexuals
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 January 1992 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | RUS10136 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Russia: Information on the treatment of homosexuals, 1 January 1992, RUS10136, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acc564.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A researcher with Helsinki Watch indicated that there is an article in the Criminal Code of Russia which prohibits homosexuality (27 Jan. 1992). This article is enforced (Ibid.). A new draft of the RSFSR Criminal Code has been prepared, but has not yet been adopted (Ibid.). The researcher was not aware of whether the article prohibiting homosexuality had been amended.
The World Human Rights Guide indicates that in 1986 homosexuality was condemned in the Soviet Union as a "bourgeois perversion" (1986, 292). The New State of the World Atlas also indicates that homosexuality was unlawful and repressed in 1986 (1987, No. 55).
Please find attached a copy of Article 121 from the RSFSR Criminal Code, as amended to 1983. A copy of the same article from the 1990 RSFSR Criminal Code is also attached; however, an English translation is not currently available.
Bibliography
Helsinki Watch. 27 January 1992. Telephone Interview with Researcher.
Kidron, Michael and Segal, Ronald. 1987. The New State of the World Atlas. London: Pan Books.
World Human Rights Guide. 1986. London: Economist Publications Ltd.
Attachments
Butler, W.E., ed. and translator. 1983. "Criminal Code of the RSFSR: Special Part - Chapter One" in Basic Documents on the Soviet Legal System. London: Oceana Publications, Inc.
Criminal Code RSFSR (in Russian). 1990. Moscow: "Yuridicheskaya literatura."