UK accused of wrongly taking DNA of gay men
Source: Agencies |
January 18, 2013, Friday
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IN 1983, Stephen Close was arrested, jailed and expelled from the British army for having sex with a male squad mate. Three decades later, police tracked him down to the northern England city of Salford and demanded a sample of his DNA.
Close, now 50 and openly gay, said he was shocked.
"I was horrified that after all these years they suddenly decided to bring this up again," Close said in a telephone interview.
While it is not illegal in the UK to collect genetic material from adults, Britain's DNA database - one of the largest in the world, with some 6 million samples - has long been a magnet for controversy.
Human rights advocate Peter Tatchell says gay men convicted years ago under Britain's now-defunct gross indecency law may have had their rights violated recently by police who ordered them to submit their genetic material to the database.
"It is absolutely wrong to lump a consenting, victimless offense like 'gross indecency' with rape and child sex abuse," he said.
Europe's top human rights court in 2008 struck down a British law that allowed the government to store DNA and fingerprints from people with no criminal record. But in 2011, a new law allowed police to collect DNA from offenders who had been convicted of serious offenses before the DNA database was created in 1995.
Amanda Cooper of the Association of Chief Police Officers' DNA database program said police forces were told that "certain sexual offenses, such as gross indecency and buggery, should not have a DNA sample taken on the grounds of a sole conviction." In Close's case, he was first convicted of a gross indecency charge and later theft.
The "gross indecency" law dates back to 1885, and has been used to persecute thousands of English homosexuals, including playwright Oscar Wilde, who spent two years in prison after a trial in 1895, and World War II code breaker Alan Turing, who committed suicide after being convicted in 1952.
Although England decriminalized homosexuality in 1967, elements of the indecency legislation remained in place until 2003, including anti-gay restrictions relating to the age of consent, the military, and sex under various circumstances.
Police have apologized to Close, telling him his DNA sample will be destroyed. They have also promised a review of the some 850 DNA samples they've collected since 2011 for people with old convictions.
The Association of Chief Police Officers said on Wednesday it would re-issue guidance to police forces on taking DNA samples.
Close, now 50 and openly gay, said he was shocked.
"I was horrified that after all these years they suddenly decided to bring this up again," Close said in a telephone interview.
While it is not illegal in the UK to collect genetic material from adults, Britain's DNA database - one of the largest in the world, with some 6 million samples - has long been a magnet for controversy.
Human rights advocate Peter Tatchell says gay men convicted years ago under Britain's now-defunct gross indecency law may have had their rights violated recently by police who ordered them to submit their genetic material to the database.
"It is absolutely wrong to lump a consenting, victimless offense like 'gross indecency' with rape and child sex abuse," he said.
Europe's top human rights court in 2008 struck down a British law that allowed the government to store DNA and fingerprints from people with no criminal record. But in 2011, a new law allowed police to collect DNA from offenders who had been convicted of serious offenses before the DNA database was created in 1995.
Amanda Cooper of the Association of Chief Police Officers' DNA database program said police forces were told that "certain sexual offenses, such as gross indecency and buggery, should not have a DNA sample taken on the grounds of a sole conviction." In Close's case, he was first convicted of a gross indecency charge and later theft.
The "gross indecency" law dates back to 1885, and has been used to persecute thousands of English homosexuals, including playwright Oscar Wilde, who spent two years in prison after a trial in 1895, and World War II code breaker Alan Turing, who committed suicide after being convicted in 1952.
Although England decriminalized homosexuality in 1967, elements of the indecency legislation remained in place until 2003, including anti-gay restrictions relating to the age of consent, the military, and sex under various circumstances.
Police have apologized to Close, telling him his DNA sample will be destroyed. They have also promised a review of the some 850 DNA samples they've collected since 2011 for people with old convictions.
The Association of Chief Police Officers said on Wednesday it would re-issue guidance to police forces on taking DNA samples.
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