Green Party LGBT News

Greens condemn Russian violence: EU must impose travel ban on Moscow Mayor Part 1	29 May 2007
Summary "RUSSIA IS NOT A DEMOCRACY" - Peter Tatchell after his recent beating and arrest at Moscow Gay Pride "EU MUST IMPOSE TRAVEL BAN ON MOSCOW MAYOR" - Green Party Principal Speaker Dr.

Main Body

"RUSSIA IS NOT A DEMOCRACY" - Peter Tatchell after his recent beating and arrest at Moscow Gay Pride

"EU MUST IMPOSE TRAVEL BAN ON MOSCOW MAYOR" - Green Party Principal Speaker Dr. Derek Wall

The Green Party have condemned Moscow Police for arresting peaceful gay and lesbian rights activists, and standing by while those activists were attacked by extremist thugs, at a protest on Sunday to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Russia. The arrests and assaults took place in front of and opposite Moscow City Hall.

Activists, including European lawmakers, senior foreign human rights officials and celebrities, attempted to submit a letter, signed by around 50 MEPs, protesting against Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's renewed ban of the Moscow Gay Pride Parade.

Veteran human rights campaigner and Green Party member Peter Tatchell was amongst those beaten by gangs of neo-Nazis, nationalist extremists and Russian Orthodox fundamentalists, with the apparent collusion of sections of the Moscow police and the Russian OMON riot squad.

Peter Tatchell had traveled to Moscow at the request of the Moscow Gay Pride organizers to support the event and the campaign for gay rights in Russia. He was the keynote speaker at the opening session of the Moscow Gay Pride conference on Saturday morning, 26 May 2007 at the Swissotel. (1)

The first people arrested were Mr. Alekseev, the organizer of Moscow Pride and German Green Party Member of Parliament Volker Beck. They were seized as they attempted to deliver a letter to Moscow Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, at City Hall.

Soon afterwards, Peter Tatchell unfurled a placard reading, "Gay Rights," written in both Russian and English. He was set upon and repeatedly bashed by right-wing extremists. Moscow riot police, the OMON, stood by while neo-Nazis punched Mr. Tatchell in the face, dragged him to the ground, and kicked him all over his body.

Clutching a bloody eye, he was arrested by the riot police.

Speaking after the attacks he said: "They arrested me, but let my attackers walk free"

"There is no rule of law in Moscow. The right to protest does not exist. This is not a democracy

"Today's protest was about much more than gay rights. We were defending the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest for all Russians, gay and straight.

"The ban on Moscow Gay Pride is one aspect of a much wider attack on civil society and human rights. It is evidence of a failed transition from communism to democracy and of a rising trend towards autocracy and authoritarianism."

Green Party Principal Speaker Dr. Derek Wall condemned the attacks:

"This type of police action simply confirms that human rights are not respected in President Putin's Russia.

"Russia, as a member of the Council of Europe and a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, has a responsibility to allow its citizens the right to peaceful protest. European democracies must do everything they can to ensure that Russia does not shirk that responsibility. In this case, EU countries should impose a travel ban on Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, just as they did on Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko because of his appalling human right record.

"The EU is a force for anti-discrimination, and Green MEPs have been at the forefront of promoting new policies to ensure equal employment and partnership rights across the EU.

"The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population deserves political allies who will work with us to benefit our community.

"The Green Party will keep on campaigning for a Europe that we can be proud of, where the LGBT community is treated as an essential and valued part of the our rich and diverse culture."

ENDS
Notes for Editors:
For more information on the events in Russia, please contact the press office on 020 7561 0282, or see www.petertatchell.net

Below is a transcript of Peter Tatchell's opening speech at the Moscow Pride Conference:

"Greetings! I bring you a message of comradeship and solidarity from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex [LGBTI] human rights organizations OutRage! in London.

Your struggle is our struggle.
The quest for queer freedom is an international quest, in Russia and in all countries.
Gay and lesbian liberation is for all peoples everywhere, not just for some. We cannot accept dignity and rights for queers in Western Europe to the exclusion of queers in Eastern Europe and Russia.
We are in this fight for freedom together.

As long as gay people in Russia are not accepted and respected, then we are all diminished in all parts of the world. We are diminished regardless of whether we are gay or straight. An attack on one is an attack on all.
When gay rights are suppressed, it is a loss to the whole democratic and human rights movement. Conversely, when lesbian and gay people win victories, it is a victory for all lovers of freedom and liberty.

The advance of LGBTI human rights strengthens every struggle for freedom, justice and equality. It expands the democratic space for us all.

This is why it is so important that the LGBTI human rights movement is not separate from the broader human rights movement but part of it.

It is sad to see some human rights activists here in Russia distance themselves from the LGBTI human rights campaign and from this weekend's bid to stage the Moscow Pride march.
When human rights activists pick and choose which freedoms to defend, they undermine and compromise the whole human rights agenda.


Part 2
Green Party Press Office
020 7561 0282
www.greenparty.org.uk
Published and promoted by Jim Killock for the Green Party, both at 1a Waterlow Road, London N19 5NJ.
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