CYPRUS-SOGI-TBs-CCPR

Concluding Observations on Report 5 (2023) (Link)

3. The Committee welcomes the adoption by the State party of the following legislative measures:

(a) The Criminal Code (Amendment) Law (No. 87(I)/2015), by which public incitement to violence or hatred against a group of persons or a member of such a group on the basis of their sexual orientation or their gender identity constitutes a criminal offence;

(b) The Criminal Code (Amendment) Law (No. 31(I)/2017), which provides that the court, at the sentencing stage, may take into account as an aggravating factor the motivation of prejudice against a group of persons or a member of such a group of persons on the basis of race, colour, national or ethnic origin, religion or other belief, descent, sexual orientation or gender identity;…

…(l) The Criminal Code (Amendment) Law (No. 39(I)/2023), which bans conversion practices and criminalizes any form of conversion therapies aimed at changing or suppressing a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.

 

***

Non-discrimination, hate speech and hate crime

9. The Committee welcomes the legislative and institutional steps made by the State party to combat and raise awareness of discrimination and hate crimes against vulnerable groups, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, Turkish Cypriots and Roma communities, and notes with appreciation the creation in 2021 of an inter-agency working group on hate crimes in Cyprus. However, the Committee is concerned by recent incidents of violence and discrimination against members of racial and ethnic minorities and against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, especially in rural areas (arts. 2, 18–20 and 26).

 10. The State party should intensify its efforts to combat hate speech and incitement to discrimination or violence on the grounds of, inter alia, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, with particular attention given to rural areas, in accordance with articles 19 and 20 of the Covenant and the Committee’s general comment No. 34 (2011) on the freedoms of opinion and expression. The State party should, inter alia:

(a) Promptly elaborate and adopt the proposed national action plan to combat discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, age, disability, ethnicity and religion, ensuring effective consultation of civil society;

(b) Take effective measures to prevent and sanction both online and offline hate speech, and improve the collection of disaggregated data on discrimination, hate speech and hate crime;

(c) Strengthen awareness-raising efforts aimed at promoting respect for human rights and for diversity, and at eradicating prejudices on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity;

(d) Encourage the reporting of hate crimes and ensure that such crimes are promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigated, that perpetrators are prosecuted and, if found guilty, appropriately punished, and that victims receive full reparation;

(e) Reinforce cooperation among the relevant stakeholders, including civil society, and provide adequate training to national and local authorities, law enforcement officials, judges and prosecutors and to media workers on addressing hate speech and hate crimes and on promoting the principles of equality and diversity.

---

Concluding Observations on Report 4 (2015) (Link)

[no mention]

---

Concluding Observations on Report 3 (1998) (Link)

[no mention]

---

Concluding Observations on Report 2 (1994) (Link)

[no mention]

---

Concluding Observations on Report 1 (1977) (Link)

[no mention]

---