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EUROPEAN UNION/BELARUS/RUSSIA

Euro MPs Get Tough Over Lack of Gay Rights in Russia and Belarus

Commission chief Barroso quizzed by Liberal ALDE group in written questions
 

STRASBOURG, December 17, 2008  –  Three MEPs from the ALDE (Liberal Democrat) group have tabled questions to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso asking about the lack of gay rights in Russia and Belarus - and they are demanding answers.

The MEPs, Sophie In ’t Veld (Netherlads), Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert (Netherlands) and Marco Cappato (Italy), point out in the two seperate questions that there is a lack of rights in the two countries and ask what the European Commission is doing about this in their high-level talks with the two non-EU member countries.

The question on Belarus came as a direct result of last month’s meeting in Minsk between Russian and Belarus gay activists and the decision to stage a rotating Slavic Gay Pride in the two capitals

“Russian LGBT activists have applied to organize 170 public events in Russia (in both Moscow and Tambov) since May 2006,” the three MEPs write in their question on Russia.

“Local authorities have always banned the events.  The mayor of Moscow publicly called a gay pride a satanic gathering.  Activists have taken all the bans through the Russian courts.  The court has never given a decision in their favour thus acting in contradiction with both the Russian Constitution (article 31) and the European Convention of Human Rights (article on Right to freedom of Assembly).

“Activists have applied to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.  Their first application was sent in January 2007. Since then the court has not opened the case due to the court workload, despite considering the Warsaw Pride banning case within 18 months.

“In November 2008 activists wrote to the President of the Commission asking him to raise the issue of banned gay public events with President Medvedev during the EU-Russia summit.  The same letter was sent to the French Presidency.

“On May 16th 2009, the day of the Eurovision Song Contest final, Russian and Belarusian activists plan to organise a Slavic Gay Pride Parade in Moscow.  On December 10th Russian Mayor Yuri Luzhkov stated, referring to events organised around Eurovision, “Entertain yourself, no problem, but not on the streets, squares, marches and demonstrations”, the preamble concludes.

The MEPs ask four questions:

1. Has the President of the Commission raised the issue of Human Rights violation and more specifically LGBT Rights with the Russian President during the EU-Russia summit of November 14th 2008?

2. Will the Commission put on the agenda of its next meeting with Russian authorities the rights of sexual minorities to hold public events?

3. Will the Commission formally ask the Russian authorities to solve the question of Freedom of Assembly of LGBT people with the Russian authorities?

4. Does the Commission agree that the statements by the Russian mayor regarding the banning of gay rights activities in the context of the Eurovision Song Contest are unacceptable?  If so, what action will the Commission take? If not, why not?

Both Ms. In ’t Veld and Mr. Cappato have first-hand experience of attending Gay Prides in Moscow.

Ms. In ’t Veld was there in 2006 and 2007, while Mr. Cappato attended in 2007 – the year that UK gay human rights activist Peter Tatchell was viciously attacked by a member of the anti-gay mob, while the Moscow police and OMON riot police stood by watching.

To this day, Mr. Tatchell has not fully recovered from his injuries.

- continued after video clip
 

On Belarus, the three MEPs remind the Commission that homosexuality was decriminalised in Belarus in 1994

“But,” they point out, “over the last 17 years the situation of sexual minorities in the country has been difficult.  Freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of speech are only myths despite the end of the Soviet era.

“Apart from an annual march for the remembrance of Chernobyl disaster every year in April, no public demonstrations are allowed by the authorities.  For example, on May 10, a group of gay activists asked permission to hold a picket next to a monument in the centre of Minsk.

On October 27, the same group asked permission to hold a protest in support of gay rights near the Russian Embassy.  Both events were not authorised.  Because the country is currently not a member of the Council of Europe, Belarusians are not protected by the European Convention for Human Rights.

Last month, the EU decided to lift the travel ban of high ranking officials of Belarus.  In November, Belarusian LGBT activists decided to organise with Russian LGBT activists a Slavic Pride in support of Equality for sexual minorities in Moscow.  The march is planed to alternate between Moscow and Minsk every year.  The LGBT Belarus activists have written to the President of the Commission in November 2008.”

They ask the Commission three questions:

1. Does the Commission plan to include specifically LGBT Rights on the agenda of its discussions with the Belarusian government?

2. Does the Commission plan to remind the Belarusian government that it cannot ban a peaceful public event?

3. Will the Commission exert pressure on the Belarus authorities to facilitate the Slavic Pride, and the participation of Belarusian and Russian gay activists in this event?

Mr. Barroso has, under European Parliamentary rules, up to three months to answer both sets of questions.

Speaking tonight from Moscow, Nikolai Alekseev, the chief organizer of Moscow Pride, praised the three Euro-MPs.

“We express our big thanks to the European parliamentarians that they sent these questions to the Commission.

“Breaches of the rights of LGBT people to freedom of expression are now of systematic nature.  The Russian authorities, including courts, do not interpret Article 11 of the European Convention in a correct way and this leads to the breaches of our fundamental rights.

“We hope the issue of the breaches of the right of gays to freedom of assembly in Russia will finally be put on a very high level in negotiations between Russia and the European Union,” he added.

The move by the three MEPs came following lobbying by GayRussia.ru and, in the case of Belarus, with the involvement of Belarusian Initiative for Sexual and Gender Equality.

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