In Greece, asylum seekers are economic scapegoats in racially motivated attacks

Source: The Guardian

By Hans Lucht 

On the morning of 25 May, Kelly from Ghana was on the bus going to a pickup place at the outskirts of Athens, where African immigrants and asylum seekers go to look for work, when he was attacked by a mob. He saw them from afar, standing at the bus stop – a group of about 10 young men – but thought nothing of it. They were probably going to one of the demonstrations, he supposed. But as they entered the bus, they pulled out bats, iron rods and knives, and attacked him.

As Greece struggles to avoid economic meltdown, dark-skinned immigrants and asylum seekers have become scapegoats in racially motivated attacks that, according to the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, have become an almost daily occurrence in Athens.

Last week, in cases pertaining to asylum seekers caught entering the UK and Ireland, the European court of justice upheld that asylum seekers could not be sent back to Greece because they risk being subjected to "inhuman or degrading treatment".

Ninety per cent of undocumented immigrants enter the EU via Greece. The Greek response has been to announce the construction of a barbed wire wall on the Turkish border, though the EU has made clear that such a wall will receive no funding. The influx of migrants has not been welcomed by some segments of the Greek population. Thus the extreme rightwing party Golden Dawn won its first ever seat on the Athens city council in November 2010 on an anti-immigrant agenda.

On top of the many struggles they face, asylum seekers like Kelly now live in constant fear of attack. I met Kelly while doing anthropological fieldwork in Athens in February of this year. He was a friend of a friend, and he had agreed to show me around the west African immigrant quarters, where he and a group of several hundred young Ghanaian migrants and asylum seekers had settled, looking for a route into Europe.

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St. Petersburg: How you can help fight anti-gay laws in Russia?

Image of St. Petersberg gay demo, broken up by police and attacked by fascists, source GayRussia

Source: LGBT Human Rights Project GayRussia.Ru

Many of you have been asking us how you can help to fight the bill in the most effective way. This Press Release aims to answer your questions as well as bring more insight about the context.

In the last few days, GayRussia has been consulting with its activists, other Russian based LGBT activist groups and legal specialists to think of how to best address the current circumstances.

First, you need to know that the bill is politically motivated: Russia’s Parliamentary election will take place on December 4th and targeting LGBT is a way to earn support from religious and nationalist organizations. The bill received support from Valentina Matvienko the former Governor of the city who is now the speaker of the Upper Chamber of Parliament. Politicians in Moscow said that they are ready to implement a similar law in the Russian capital but also at the Federal level.

Second, we want to stress that the ban of the promotion of LGBT rights on the public place is de facto enforced in Russia since 2005. Implementing this law is only materializing what has been a sad reality for years. For several years, GayRussia has been denouncing the absence of freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of association for Russian LGBT. As a reminder, over 300 public events applied by GayRussia have been banned, LGBT groups partnering with us have been denied registration by the government in several regions, our activists have been often fined, arrested, judged and humiliated. They introduced 20 cases with the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations. Russian prosecution refused to open criminal investigation against Mufti Talgat Tadjudin, the Governor of Tambov, Oleg Betin, and the former Mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, for calling hatred or to kill LGBT people. The Russian Courts even legalized the insult “gomik” (faggot) which was used by Yuri Luzhkov while referring to gays.

Third, we see this law as a "unique" chance for the Russian LGBT community to re-mobilize itself as it did in 2002 upon the attempt to re-criminalize homosexuality and in 2006, on the eve of the first Moscow Gay Pride.

Russia’s LGBT community has historically been divided and GayRussia would like to hope that today’s attacks by politicians in St. Petersburg will serve as a lesson for LGBT groups in St. Petersburg who have been appearing in the media since 2005 arguing that both “gay prides” and “gay marriage” are provocations.

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Update: St Petersberg Passes Anti-Gay Law

Image of St. Petersberg gay demo, broken up by police and attacked by fascists, source GayRussia

By Paul Canning

Russia's second city has passed a law banning so-called 'gay propoganda'.

Update: The law passed second reading but lawmakers have delayed the third reading until 30 November, according to a video statement by Polina Savchenko.

The law, which has been rushed through the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly, prohibits so-called propaganda of ‘sodomy, lesbianism, bisexualism and transgenderism, and pedophilia to minors.’ The bill was introduced by Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party.

The law has drawn worldwide protest, however it has yet to be condemned by any Western governments.

In St Petersberg itself there have been protests. At one on Sunday protesters held up signs saying "I am gay, a human, not propaganda. Milonov [the law's legislative proponent], do not be afraid! " and "I am a lesbian - do not be afraid of me, Babich!" On Saturday at the NGO Forum of the Nordic countries and Russia in St Petersberg activists took over the rostrum - to the applause of some delegates and silence from the Russians and many others (see video).

The St Petersberg law has been widely reported in Russian media.

Two regions of Russia — Arkhangelsk and Ryazan — have previously passed the same law, which have been deemed constitutional by Russian courts despite the chilling of free speech and the attack on LGBT organizing and ability to protest that they represent.

Polina Savchenko, General manager of LGBT organization Coming Out, Russia, described the law as "absurd, both in terms of legal logic, and in terms of plain common sense."

"So what is the real goal?" she asked. "It is clear that adoption of this law would impose significant limitations on the activities of LGBT organizations. Organizers of public events cannot restrict access of minors to any open area; people under 18 can be there just by chance. Consequently, it makes any public campaigns aimed at reducing xenophobia and hate crime prevention impossible.”

“In the name of ‘public interest,’ members of the Legislative Assembly decided to ignore the Federal law, the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention for Human Rights, Council of Europe Recommendations and other decrees by international organizations, of which Russia is a member. However, no public discussions were held.”

UK Gay News points out that on 7 November, the United Kingdom took over the Chairmanship of the Council of Europe for six months.

Russia is a member of the Council of Europe and both the Council and its European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly found against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Moscow's bans on gay pride demonstrations have been before the court and the first anti 'gay propoganda' law in Ryazan is also due to come before it. However Russia has previously paid any fines but refused to actually make any changes.

Says UK Gay News:

In the Committee of Ministers during the handover from Ukraine, British Foreign Minister William Hague MP said that the UK Chairmanship will work to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity across Europe.

“Too many people still suffer outdated prejudices, discrimination and violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” he told the Committee of Ministers. “We will work with the secretariat and our partners in the Committee of Ministers to improve all member states’ performance in this area.”

So, over to you Mr. Hague. The repressed LGBT community in Russia needs help.

According to a 2005 poll, 43.5% of Russians supported the re-criminalisation of homosexual acts between consenting adults.

The City of Moscow is reportedly considering a similar 'gay propoganda' law and there are reports of discussions about a federal Russian law.

Renowned Russian gay activist Nikolai Alekseev has called for Russian politicians to be blocked "from spending their holidays in Nice, Cyprus or Spain" and that Russia’s voting rights at the Council of Europe be suspended. He has also said that petitions from the West to Russian politicians are "useless".

allout.org has a petition, which has quickly gathered 100,000 signatures, which is directed to 'world leaders' and which they plan to deliver to Foreign Ministries around the world.

Related articles

• Moscow now proposing anti-gay law (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• A(nother) day in the life of homophobic Russia (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Russian politicians ban 'gay propoganda', hire trans prostitutes (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Assaults, arrests at St Petersberg Slavic Pride (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Moscow now proposing anti-gay law

Image of St. Petersberg gay demo, broken up by police and attacked by fascists, source GayRussia

By Paul Canning

After two regions and then St. Petersberg proposed anti-gay laws now it is Moscow's turn.

Gazeta reports that the City authorities will adopt the St Petersberg ban on so-called 'gay propoganda'.

"Yes, we plan to adoption of this law in Moscow and now [are] just working on its development,” chairman of the Moscow City Council Committee on Health Care and Public Health, Lyudmila Stebenkova told the newspaper, adding that the committee “commends the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg”.

St. Petersburg's authority has already passed the bill through its first reading, near unanimously. The bill is proposed by Vladimir Putin's United Russia party and, analysts say, will help shore up support for the party in a city where its poll numbers have been falling, as the ruling party's have all over Russia.

The bill would generate fines for “public actions, aimed at propagandizing sodomy, lesbianism, bisexuality, [and] transgenderness among minors.” It deliberately conflates homosexuality and paedophilia. The bill bans any LGBT public event, such as the existing film festival, but activists have questioned if it would ban even wearing a rainbow pin or any news reporting quoting openly gay people - or a performance of a Tchaikovsky symphony.

Vitaly Milonov, the bill proposer, says that St. Petersberg is drowning under “a wave popularizing sexual perversion.”

The Russian backlash on an increasingly visible LGBT movement - 52% of Russians are aware of the repeated attempts to stage a Pride march in Moscow - began in the region of Ryazan, south of Moscow, and earlier this year spread to the far-North region of Arkhangelsk. Activists now believe a federal law will follow.

In an angry opinion piece for UK Gay News, the former organiser of Moscow Pride and the most well-known Russian gay activist, Nikolai Alekseev, who travelled to Arkhangelsk 17 November to publicly challenge the anti-gay propaganda law, calls such laws "cheap populism" and castigates his fellow gay Russians for being 'asleep at the wheel':

In this country, you are taken seriously only if you constantly show your teeth.  If you are too kind, people will not respect you simply because they will not be impressed by you.  The basis is fear and not diplomacy.

As Russian politicians like to tell us: “Go to the Gay Parade in Berlin, but not on our sacred land”.  If you are Russian and gay, lesbian, bi or trans, you can only enjoy your human rights abroad.

And this is the problem.

Our Russian LGBT people ... Their lack of motivation to defend their rights is not an act of cowardice; it is an absence of long term vision.  As some start to wake up today in St. Petersburg to fight this law which will soon directly affect them, others will probably wake up when Russia re-criminalises homosexuality. Then, it will be too late.

Alekseev points to:

The European Court of Human Rights’ decision which found Russia guilty for banning Moscow Prides.  Despite the decision which is obligatory, nothing changed.  Moscow keeps banning the Pride.  The Council of Europe stays silent.

And argues for what Russia might listen to from overseas:

You cannot be diplomatic with those who do not even respect their own words.  Russia signed international conventions that no one forced her to accept.  Either the country pulls out from these institutions, or it must respect their rules.

Think what would have happen in 1962 if JFK sent a letter of protest to Khrushchev instead of organising the blockade of Cuba.  Do not forget history?

Alekseev proposed that the EU "hit the Russian politicians where it will be painful for them" and ban homophobic politicians "from spending their holidays in Nice, Cyprus or Spain" and that Russia’s voting rights at the Council of Europe be suspended.

Related articles

• Now St. Petersberg proposes anti-gay law (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• A(nother) day in the life of homophobic Russia (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Assaults, arrests at St Petersberg Slavic Pride (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Russian politicians ban 'gay propoganda', hire trans prostitutes (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Turkey guilty at Euro Court on treatment of trans woman

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Today's Zaman

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found the Turkish government guilty of failing to carry out an effective investigation in the case of a transgender woman who was harassed by a police officer.

In the judgment, issued on Nov. 8, in the case of Esma Halat, the ECtHR ruled “by five votes to two, that there had been a violation of the procedural aspect of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights [ECHR]. The case concerned allegations of ill-treatment in police custody.” Article 3, which refers to the prohibition of torture, states, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Halat had complained about a police officer who took her to the Beşiktaş Police Station in İstanbul by force when she was on her way home on Oct. 21, 1999. Halat, who was exposed to physical and psychological harassment by Barış Gözen, deputy police chief of the Beşiktaş police, applied to the ECtHR after domestic remedies had been exhausted. Gözen was tried in İstanbul at the time and was found not guilty. The ECtHR ruled that Turkey should pay Halat 17,000 euros in compensation.

Related articles

• Turkey jails trans activists for 'insulting police' (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• LGBT in Turkey: not an illness nor a crime (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

More arrests in Northern Cyprus for supposed gay sex

Northern Cyprus politician Michalis Sarris is paraded outside the court by police with one of the teenagers arrested

By Paul Canning

It has emerged that at least five men have been arrested in North Cyprus for 'homosexual offenses', not three as previously reported.

The Cyprus Mail reports that in addition to former finance minister Michalis Sarris there are four others aged 14, 16, 17 and 29. ILGA-Europe says that they believe there are seven now in custody.

During Monday’s remand hearing in Nicosia, Northern Cyprus police requested a further eight day remand for those already seized to take testimonies from 20 more people, three of whom were missing.

At the hearing four men complained of police brutality in detention but a judge ordered them back into detention, though the court also ordered that all five be examined by a doctor.

The three teenagers were taken from the court in handcuffs with T-shirts pulled over their heads to a waiting press outside the courtroom as friends looked on in sympathy.

I understand that there has been much speculation in the North Turkish media regarding sexual contact between Sarris and a teenager based on the alleged charge of sex with a minor despite their being no such charge, only the homosexual offense of 'committing an unnatural act', which is a hangover from the British Empire. The Cyprus Mail report was illustrated with a picture of Sarris being paraded in front of the cameras by police with one of the teenagers.

Northern Cyprus group Initiative Against Homophobia has accused the Northern Cyprus media in their reporting of the case of 'normalizing an attitude of hatred' and 'feeding homophobic reports and comments to the public'.

The Cyprus Mail reports that:

A doctor who examined both Sarris and the 17-year-old testified before the court, ruling out the possibility of sexual contact between the two. She also told the court that the 17-year-old had a wound on his forehead which did not exist when he was first examined on Friday.

ILGA-Europe claims that:

"Their [the arrested] dignity was breached when the men were made to undergo anal examinations in a hospital to prove that [the sodomy law] has been breached."

On Saturday, Turkish Cypriot police rounded up two teenagers, aged 14 and 16, claiming that the 14-year-old had confessed to having sexual relations with the 29-year-old. They also said they had a written confession from the 17-year-old regarding his relations with Sarris. This was after raiding a house in North Nicosia and arresting Sarris and two others.

The 17-year-old has continually alleged police brutality and named the alleged police perpetrators in court who he said beat him to extract a 'confession'. The 29-year-old, the Cyprus Mail said, had injuries showing clearly on his face.

A member of the Council of Europe’s Legal Affairs and Human Rights committee, Christos Pourgourides, who was present at the hearing, said that he would take the case to the Council.

A lawyer pointed out to Cyprus Mail that as Northern Cyprus police are controlled by Turkey it would be Turkey taken to the European Court - despite homosexuality being legal there.

Michael Cashman MEP, Co-president of the Intergroup on LGBT Rights in the European Parliament, today called for the release of the men:

"The binding jurisprudence from the European Court of Human Rights must be implemented immediately in the whole island of Cyprus," he said. "The criminalisation of homosexuality has no place in the 21st century.”

ILGA-Europe has also sent a letter to the President and the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus demanding the men's release.

ILGA-Europe say that they have been asking for the sodomy statute to be removed from the books for some time. They say they met with the Speaker of the Assembly, Hasan Bozer, in 2010 and were assured that he was well aware of the problem with the law and were told it was no longer enforced.

In July, two were charged with 'unnatural intercourse' in Northern Cyprus, which carries a five year imprisonment term.

The [Cypriot] Cyprus Republic in the south of the island decriminalised homosexuality in 1998.

Head of the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation Emine Erk said earlier that the use of the sodomy law is “usually mixed up with something else. Usually police are trying to pressure someone involved on some other issue.”

Update: The Greek Cypriot group Accept LGBTI Cyprus has issued a statement:

“We call on the international community, the European Union and also the Cypriot Republic to immediately exert pressure to ensure that the legal statues of the Cypriot Republic, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, is applied and the charges, thereby dropped.“

Turkish Cypriot daily Ortam reports that on Monday, outside the court, the New Cyprus Party (YKP) and seven civil society organizations gave a press conference saying "We do not want a homophobic state".

Writing in financialmirror.com, Fiona Mullen says that Sarris is suffering "Death by a thousand tweets"

She said that rumours about him are rife in Cyprus:

"One Turkish Cypriot suggested that the reason the police tried to make a more serious case was because they did not realise until after the arrest that they had caught “a big fish”, so rather than suffer the embarrassment of jailing someone just for homosexual sex, they had to scrabble for more serious charges. We shall probably never know if that theory is true."

Update, 20 October: Michalis Sarris has been released today on bail.

Update, 21 October: According to a legal source speaking to Cyprus Mail, Sarris faces the charge of committing an unnatural act with the 17-year-old. For the same act, he is being charged with conspiracy to commit a felony.

Police in the north are also claiming two separate incidents of indecent assault involving two males. The first involves a 16-year-old Turkish national who was not brought to court by police during any of the remand hearings. This 16-year-old is believed to be serving a jail sentence for a drugs-related offence. 

The second charge of indecent assault is connected to a 22-year-old Turkish national currently in detention for being in possession of a fake passport.

British Conservative MEP Marina Yannakoudakis says that she received assurances from Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu yesterday that he would sign a decriminalisation bill 'should it land on his desk'.

Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu yesterday,

Related articles

• More arrests of gays in Northern Cyprus (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

More arrests of gays in Northern Cyprus

Image via Wikipedia

By Paul Canning

Northern Cyprus LGBT group Initiative Against Homophobia reports that three more men have been arrested for homosexuality.

The three were charged with “relations against nature” 14 October.

In July, two were charged with 'unnatural intercourse', which carries a five year imprisonment term.

Northern Cyprus is the only country in Europe which retains such laws, in their case a relic of the British Empire.

According to the Cyprus Mail, one of those arrested is Michalis Sarris, a former finance minister.

Sources told the Cyprus Mail that the Turkish Cypriot authorities raided a house in north Nicosia, arresting three males: Sarris and two Turkish Cypriots, believed to be aged 17 and 30-something. The same sources said police in the north raided the house without a warrant.

Initiative Against Homophobia claim that the three "have been subjected to police violence."

Head of the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation Emine Erk said that she hoped that the high-profile arrest of a former finance minister and World Bank employee in connection with an alleged offense that has been decriminalised throughout Europe may bring attention to the need to change the law in the north.

Erk said that the law is “not very commonly applied”, with few charges actually been pressed.

“It’s usually mixed up with something else. Usually police are trying to pressure someone involved on some other issue,” she said, adding that raiding a private residence was also “not very common”.

The [Cypriot] Cyprus Republic decriminalised homosexuality in 1998 five years after gay activist Alecos Modinos won his battle at the European Court of Human Rights but it took another two years to have deliberately offensive terms describing homosexual relations removed from the new legislation and then only under threat from Europe.

In 2002, parliament removed a further bone of contention, equalizing the age of consent for heterosexuals and homosexuals to 17.

The Cyprus Mail notes that if Turkish Cypriot police pursue the case and it goes to trial, a further line of defense will be to question the validity of the crime itself since it violates the European Convention on Human Rights which the North has bound itself to.

Initiative Against Homophobia accuse the Northern Cyprus media in their reporting of the case of 'normalizing an attitude of hatred' and 'feeding homophobic reports and comments to the public'.

The group has called on "all concerned citizens, activists and human rights supporters not to remain silent and join us in voicing our concern in front of the State Courts in Nicosia."

Related articles

• In North Cyprus, arrests for gay sex (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Iranian refugees in Sweden go on hunger strike, sew lips together

By Paul Canning

A large group of asylum-seeking Kurds in Stockholm have gone on hunger strike with some sewing their lips together in a desperate attempt to try and stop their removal to Iran

The men and women, who are also with their children, have been refusing food since 25 September.

They are political activists who have worked hard for human rights and for introducing democracy in Iran. As a result of their activities and their membership in various Kurdish political parties, they were forced to flee Iran and take refuge in Sweden.

Despite having been in the country for  up to eight years, and despite having photos and documents from the Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that confirm the obvious threat to their lives, the Swedish Migration Board has rejected their applications to stay in Sweden.

Their condition is deteriorating for every hour that passes - five men have already collapsed from hunger and been taken to the hospital.

One of those who sewed his lips together said:

“I am not treated as a human being. Most of us here have the same problem. The Migration Board does not understand our situation, they refuse to listen. We want to know why we have been refused a residence permit. Everybody here would rather die of starvation than be sent back.”

“We have begged and shouted, but the Migration Board has not listened. Now we will silence our voices, perhaps then they will listen”.

One of the photos pinned to a tent in which they are staying shows an Kurdish teacher in Iran, Farzad Kamangar, surrounded by some twenty children. Kamangar was executed three months ago for having taught the children to read and speak Kurdish. Another picture shows another Kurd, Shirin Alanholi, who was executed because she wanted freedom and democracy in Iran.

The Iranian Penal code detains and prosecutes political refugees who are returned to Iran.

Last year the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg ruled that Sweden’s deportation of an Iranian was in violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Despite this, Sweden has repeatedly made unlawful deportations.

Last December I reported on how the removal by Sweden of a lesbian Kurdish couple from Iraq had only been stopped by a ECHR ruling.

Iranian refugee activists have also been engaged with protesting the removal of asylum seekers from Norway, and abuse of Iranian refugees in Cyprus. In July, Cypriot police officers and other Cypriot authorities violently assaulted a group of Iranian and other refugees, including a 72 year old man, held in Larnaca detention center. Neither the government of Cyprus nor the UNHCR has taken any substantive action.

Iranian refugees in Greece have also gone on hunger strike in protest at their treatment and sewn their lips together. Refugees in Athens and other Greek cities have suffered repeated and violent vigilante attacks.

• Petition to Swedish authorities
• Petition to Cypriot authorities

Related articles

• Video: Ahmadinejad: 'No, still no gays in Iran' (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Video: In Cyprus, asylum detainees suffer violent, unprovoked assault (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

A(nother) day in the life of homophobic Russia

Arrest of Dan Choi at Moscow Pride 2011. Pic GayRussia.eu

By Paul Canning

In the latest news from homophobic Russia: Moscow police have stopped investigating the bashing of a lesbian journalist; Moscow authorities refuse to register LGBT NGOs; and another Russian region wants to outlaw LGBT and pro-gay organising.

But, in good news, 'liberal' St Petersberg held a successful LGBT festival.

Elena Kostyuchenko is a well-known Russian journalist who recently came out as lesbian in her newspaper, Novaya Gazeta.

At the May Moscow Pride march she was beaten up in full view of the world's media. But Moscow police just announced that they were closing the case due to 'lack of evidence'. The man who bashed her, Roman Lisunova, now has the right to bring a civil action for compensation for moral damages for unlawful prosecution - this was explained to him by the police investigator.

Kostyuchenko told Moscow Times:

"It appears that in Moscow anyone can beat a person in broad daylight with witnesses and in front of the cameras and get away with it."

Also this week, the Russian Ministry of Justice has again refused to register four gay organizations in Moscow, which means that the capital has still not registered a single open-social organisation of sexual minorities.
Russian activists have pledged to sue the refusal to register their groups before the European Court of Human Rights.

Russian gay leader and organiser of Moscow Pride, Nikolai Alekseev, pointed out that gay groups have been registered in St. Petersburg.

"The impression is that Moscow and St. Petersburg are cities located in different countries," he said. "There is no unity of legal space in Russia, none."

In 2010 a request to register the 'Movement for Marriage Equality' was denied on 'public morality' grounds. A complaint against Russia about that is with the European Court of Human Rights, as is one from the LGBT organization Raduzhny Dom (Rainbow House) from the city of Tyumen, 2000k east of Moscow.

In the court, the Russian state is arguing that:

“The activities of this organization relate to propaganda for un-traditional sexual orientations that could result in an undermining of the safety of Russian society and government. The spiritual values of society are being undermined, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Russian Federation are being undermined in terms of preserving her population.  Moreover, the activities of this organization could arouse social and religious hatred and hostility, which also signifies the extreme nature of their activities. Propaganda for untraditional sexual orientations is encroaching on the institutions of marriage and family as protected under the law”.

Read more »

Human rights defenders need solidarity from all parts of Europe when repressed by their governments

Destroyed Azeri human rights group office

By Thomas Hammarberg

The clampdown on human rights defenders in Belarus continues unabated. In early August, Ales Bialiatski, the chair of the Human Rights Centre Viasna and vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), was arrested. He is still being held in pre-trial detention. Activists who have demonstrated for his release have been summoned by the police and one of them is awaiting trial.

Viasna has been at the forefront of human rights defence in Belarus for years. The detention of Ales Bialiatski and the current criminal investigation process are seriously jeopardising the organisation’s activities to the detriment of victims of human rights violations, who have come to depend on the assistance provided by Viasna.

Another sad example has been reported from Azerbaijan. In mid-August, bulldozers demolished a building in Baku where several human rights organisations were located, including the Office of the Institute for Peace and Democracy led by Leyla Yunus. This demolition took place in the evening, despite a court decision temporarily prohibiting the destruction of the building.

As the house was torn down without any prior notification the persons who worked there were unable to salvage any papers, computers or other working materials. It is generally believed that the action was directed towards Leyla Yunus, who has been vocal in denouncing corruption and forced evictions in Azerbaijan.

Rights that protect and enable the work 

The importance of the work of human rights defenders is recognised in international conventions. The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders lists several fundamental rights necessary for the work of human rights defenders, such as freedom of association, peaceful assembly, expression and opinion, the right to be protected and the right to effective remedy. Many of these rights are also enshrined in other binding human rights treaties of the UN, in the European Convention on Human Rights and in the OSCE commitments.
Yet reports about breaches of these standards continue to reach me. Authorities can obstruct the work of human rights defenders by making it difficult to register organisations or by creating burdensome reporting and financial requirements. Hindering access to funding through excessively cumbersome procedures is another method which is frequently employed.

Viasna, for example, was dissolved in 2003 and has since then been denied the possibility to re-register. Belarusian legislation outlaws the operation of unregistered organisations and criminalises the activities of their individual members – a clear breach of international standards. In 2007, the UN Human Rights Committee concluded that Viasna’s dissolution was a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article 22).

Denial of right to receive funding 

The Belarusian authorities are now accusing Ales Bialiatski of “concealment of profits on an especially large scale”. They are using information provided by official institutions in Vilnius and Warsaw about bank accounts established in the name of Bialiatski, to which foreign donors have been able to send contributions.

The right to access funding is protected in international and regional human rights treaties. The UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders states that everyone has the right “to solicit, receive and utilize resources for the express purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms through peaceful means”.

I know that the governments in Vilnius and Warsaw regret that the protection of human rights defenders’ integrity and work was not taken into account when information was provided to the Belarusian authorities and that they are now trying to limit the damage.

Sadly, this unintended mistake is being used in the case against Ales Bialiatski who is threatened with a long prison sentence. And he is not the only victim of policies to prevent voluntary solidarity efforts for those who suffer human rights violations.

Governments have a primary responsibility 

It is therefore particularly important that the protection of the safety of human rights defenders be reaffirmed as a crucial standard. Whenever this universally agreed undertaking is abrogated in one state, governments in other countries – including Council of Europe member states – must react.

Thomas Hammarberg is the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights

Related articles

• Azerbaijan's Eurovision welcome for gays questioned again (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Poland apologizes for exposing Belarusian activist (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• The snitches of Vilnius (economist.com)

Paper: Sur place claims and the accommodation requirement in Dutch asylum policy

Image via Wikipedia

By Hemme Battjes
 
In many jurisdictions, applications  for asylum by persons who state they fear persecution or risk ill-treatment because of their sexual orientation are refused on the ground that these persons should accommodate, hide their orientation, in order to escape persecution or ill-treatment. Dutch asylum law at first sight seems to be different. The Aliens Circular states that as far as appeal to the Refugee Convention is concerned, “persons with a homosexual orientation are not required to hide this orientation after return”.

At closer look, it appears that accommodation is required in case of sur place claims. A sur place claim is an appeal to (for present purposes) the Refugee Convention or Article 3 ECHR based on events or circumstances that came up after the applicant left the country of origin. As for LGBTI people, it may concern a coming out after arrival in the country of refuge or public expression of the orientation there after hiding it in the country of origin or a transgender treatment. In such cases, accommodation is required.

In this paper I will address treatment of sur place claims in Dutch asylum policy and case-law, and discuss whether this treatment is in accordance with the Refugee Convention and with the European Convention of Human Rights. As the number of cases of LGBTI people is not very great I will address also other sur place claims where accommodation is discussed, in particular claims by Afghan women who adopted a “westernized” life-style in the Netherlands, and by Muslims who converted here to a Christian denomination that requires them to try and convert others. To these categories, more or lees the same applies: the Aliens Circular states that applicants are not required to hide their westernized life-style or affiliation to a minority religion, but at the same accommodation is required if it concerns sur place claims.
  
When interpreting the Refugee Convention, I apply (next to the rules laid down in the Vienna Treaty Convention) both the UNHCR Handbook and Guidelines and the EU Qualification Directive as authoritative, hence not necessarily correct interpretations.
 
Apart from Dutch case-law, I discuss a view foreign cases – not pretending to present a comparative overview, but because those cases present valuable arguments for discussing the Refugee Convention. As to the European Convention of Human Rights, I simply follow the European Court of Human Rights. I will first discuss whether the Refugee Convention or Article 3 ECHR state special  requirements as to sur place claims (para. 2). Then I address the accommodation requirement in Dutch asylum law (para. 3). This requirement is then tested to Article 3 ECHR and the Refugee Convention (paras. 4 and 5); I end with a number of concluding observations. 

Accommodation. Sur place claims and the accommodation requirement in Dutch asylum policy

Related articles

• Report: In six EU countries refugee protection "significantly divergent" (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Paper: You are not gay enough; Proving sexual orientation and gender identity within the asylum regime; the credibility challenge In varying cultural expressions of sex and gender (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Visualising asylum disparities in the European Union (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Video: In Russia, activists look forward to 'gay century'

Source: Russia Today



Russian gay rights activists have planned their demonstrations for the next hundred years and have sent applications to the city authorities. They say the aim is to expose what they call the “absurdity” of the laws which the authorities use to deny them the right to conduct their events.

The legal loophole the activists are trying to exploit stipulates that applications to hold a demonstration should be filed to local authorities no less than 45 days before the event. The law does not prohibit filing requests earlier.

The gay community, thus, had every right to submit their requests “to help mass cultural and educational activities from 2012 to 2112.” All the events are to take place on Bolotnaya Square in central Moscow, right next to the Kremlin.

The dates chosen for Gay Pride parades in 2012 are March 4, coinciding with the first round of presidential elections, and May 27, the anniversary of the ban on criminal prosecution against homosexuals in Russia. Up to 2112, the gay community is planning to hold demonstrations every Saturday around May 27.

According to Russian law, the authorities’ answer can be expected to follow in two weeks. So far, no official comments on the issue have been released.

“I think they will try to look for ways to ban it without looking stupid,” LGBT activist and lawyer Nikolay Alekseev told RT. “But in this situation it would be really hard not to look stupid."

"I’m really looking forward to such headlines as ‘Moscow authorities ban Gay Pride parades for 100 years.’ The entire world will be laughing at this, including the judges from the European Court. The Council of Europe will have to take steps to pressurize the Moscow authorities into allowing such an event to take place.”

The last attempted gay pride effort was dispersed by police in Moscow on May 28. More than 60 people, both supporters of LGBT rights and their opponents, were detained.

Russian gay rights activists have been applying for permission to hold a parade in Moscow for several years without success. Former mayor Yury Luzhkov was an outspoken critic of gay marches, branding them on one occasion “satanic.”

With Luzhkov replaced by Sergey Sobyanin, the LGBT community said they hoped for change. The new mayor, however, deemed such events in the capital “unnecessary.”

The bans have always been warmly supported by the Russian Orthodox Church. The authorities are entitled to ban any propaganda based on its potential moral damage to the people, church officials say.

In July 2011, Russia has paid 30,000 euros in compensation to gay activists over Moscow's decision to ban so-called pride marches.

The fine was issued by the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that the decision to repeatedly ban gay pride parades in 2006, 2007 and 2008 was unlawful.

Related articles

• In Russia, Moscow Pride has changed attitudes for the better (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

In UK, immigration detention 'legal but unfair'

Image by Ann Althouse via Flickr

Source: Compas

By: Stephanie Silverman, DPhil Politics and International Relations

The UK immigration detention system is always attracting attention, most of it negative.  There are protests organised monthly – if not weekly – outside of detention centres and in the centre of London.  MPs ask Parliamentary Questions about the statistics and treatment of detainees; the United Nations intervenes in UK domestic politics to express its disapproval; the Immigration Law Practitioners Association publicly calls foul on the lack of bail options for detainees; and, during the 2010 General Election campaign, Nick Clegg makes ending child immigration detention a key manifesto promise.

So, why all the fuss? Why are activists, barristers, mental health professionals, students, pensioners, and politicians all working towards improving conditions for UK immigration detainees, if not ending the practice altogether? Because, while it may be legal, the UK immigration detention system is far from fair.

To better understand why the stakes are so high, here is a potted list of some of the current issues, and why they might provoke anxiety and outcry.


The size and cost of the system

The UK immigration detention system expands virtually every year.  As of 2011, the UK boasts one of the largest networks of immigration detention facilities in Europe.  According to Home Office statistics, approximately 30,000 non-citizens entered detention under Immigration Act powers in 2009.  Put another way, nearly 3,000 non-citizens in the UK are being detained under Immigration Act powers on any given day. This compares to 1,950 total immigration detainees on 25 December 2004 and 780 on 30 December 1998.

After the re-purposing of the Morton Hall prison as an immigration removal centre (IRC) in June 2011, UK detention capacity expanded to approximately 3,500 places.  As a snapshot example, 2,525 non-citizens were detained in UK facilities on 31 December 2010.

The detention system is extremely expensive to run.  In 2010, the average overall cost of one bed per day in the immigration detention estate was £120.  This means that, to take our example of 31 December 2010, the detention system cost taxpayers approximately £303,000 for that one day only.  Further, since the UK Home Office outsources the operations of the majority of its detention facilities, much of this money is being pocketed by private firms and this in turn raises issues of accuracy and transparency.

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EU surveys LGBT rights Union-wide

Image via Wikipedia

By Alex Wright

The European Union's European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has produced research reports on LGBT issues since 2008. The 2011 report builds on previous FRA legal and social research from 2008 and 2009, enabling, for the first time, a review of legal trends.

The latest periodical report from the FRA takes a broad look at LGBT discrimination over the whole of the EU focusing on six key areas: Sterotyping, violence, asylum, family rights, employment and freedom of assembly and expression. The research was done in a holistic and wide-ranging manner, involving working groups, meetings with NGOs, experts and policy bodies.

Key findings

Public opinion across the EU seems to show that perception of LGBT discrimination being widespread to be slightly down. Unsurpisingly, the report notes some recurring ideas, that younger people are more accepting of LGBT than older, that some seek ‘invisibility’ to avoid persecution and that actions by political and religious figures can be spurred on by negative public opinion towards LGBT people.

The report finds that violence and abuse can stem from public figures making discriminatory statements, which often characterise LGBT people in a sub-human manner or in a way which implies they are going against societal norms. Attacks do seem to take different forms based on gender and sexual orientation: lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to be attacked in the home, gay and bisexual men are more likely to be attacked in public by groups and there is an implication that attacks on trans people tend to be more violent and can in some cases lead to death . There is also a focus on the impact of bullying in schools on emotional and educational development.

Discussions of violence lead directly into discussions about Pride. There is a reiteration of the unlawfulness of the Russian ban (although they are outside of the EU). It is also mentioned that although many countries will allow Pride parades, they will not provide adequate protection for participants

Although there is an appropriate EU framework to ban homophobic and transphobic discrimination in the workplace, it is not uniformly implemented across Europe. On a positive note, the recent Maruko judgment said that in all instances where a country has registered partnerships for same-sex couples rather than marriage, such partners must be treated as spouses for the sake of employee benefits. Multiple discrimination in employment is also mentioned, the report commenting that understanding and dealing with this is in its early
stages and most NGOs remain single issue eg. Women or disabilities, and are often able to provide advice for such multi-dimensional experiences.

The difficulties of free movement within the EU for same-sex couples are noted as only couples moving from one country to another that both have at least same-sex partnership laws equivalent to marriage can still bring along their spouse. A series of recent cases are analysed, focusing on the need of States to realise the nature of family life is shifting to newer and non-nuclear definitions.

As regards LGBT asylum seekers, proposals to recast the Refugee Qualification Directive are praised for taking into account gender identity issues. Mention is also made of a recent European Parliament resolution calling for experts to educate states on the experience of LGBT asylum seekers and ending fast-track
deportations.

Previous research is used by ILGA-Europe for their country-by-country guide on LGBT asylum in Europe. An in-depth research project by Sabine Jansen (COC) and Thomas Spijkerboer (VU University Amsterdam) is underway and will be presented at the Fleeing Homophobia conference taking place in Amsterdam in September.

Recommendations

The report makes several recommendations for progress in each section. The most significant ones are:

Combating predjudice and misunderstanding against LGBT people by educational campaigning. Governments and appropriate EU institutions should support these.

The FRA mention that data regarding hate crime is lacking and calls for better categorisation and submission of data by EU Member States. This should help to enable the EU to better monitor where, when and why discrimination happens.

Neither Public order interests nor active counter-events should not be allowed to halt the ability of LGBT communities to have public events such as Prides Parades.

Schools should actively deal with LGBT issues in order to shape attitudes of young people towards acceptance.

Gender identity issues are not clearly understood enough both within employment and in larger society. It is suggested that the European Commission add gender identity to the prohibited grounds for discrimination.

More must be done regarding mutual recognition between Member States of registered same-sex couples in order to facilitate free movement.

It is hoped that the creation of the new European Asylum Support Office will be able to support countries in dealing with LGBT asylum issues. Surprisingly nothing is mentioned regarding recent questions raised by Germany as to the legality of returning LGBT people on the grounds that they can act discreetly to avoid persecution.

Country initiatives:

Sweden: A project has shown that schools are taught in a heterospecific context and has challenged this, trying to show the problems of assuming a heterosexual norm. The Government’s ‘Living History Forum’ are also working to combat institutionalised heterosexuality’. Of particular note is the ‘Normgiving diveristy’ project, working with the police, church and defence forces to create inclusive workplaces.

Greece: Homophobic intent has been expressly included as an aggravating factor in criminal cases.

Latvia: A group have created a monitoring system for evaluating political speeches regarding gays and lesbians.

Lithuania: Homophobic intent has been expressly included as an aggravating factor in criminal cases however on the flip side, recent law has brought in a ban on ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in the classroom.

The Netherlands: A national plan called ‘Simply Gay’ includes 24 projects by government agencies to improve social acceptance.

The UK: The Government Equalities office is praised for its plan to tackle outdated prejudice regarding sexual identity and gender orientation.

Alex Wright lives in Manchester where he is studying for his Masters in Law at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is currently writing his dissertation on the right of free movement for same-sex couples within the EU. He previously studied at the College of Law and at the University of Birmingham where he was also LGBTQ Officer. You can follow him on twitter @ShinyAlex.

Homophobia, transphobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in the EU M...

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'Section 28' type laws spreading in Eastern Europe

Image via Wikipedia

By Paul Canning

In 1988 Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government included a clause in a local government bill which said that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". This became known as 'Section 28', made teachers afraid of mentioning homosexuality in any context in schools and it wasn't repealed until 2003.

Now 'Section 28' type laws are coming back - in Eastern Europe.

Lithuania in 2009 pass a law to 'protect minors' banning "propaganda of homosexual, bisexual or polygamous relations". After an outcry from its fellow European Union members this was amended to a "ban to spread information that would promote sexual relations or other conceptions of concluding a marriage or creating a family other than established in the Constitution or the Civil Code" and a ban on information that "profanes family values". The Lithuanian government claimed it wasn't discriminatory but since coming into effect the law has only been used once and that is to try to ban the Vilnius Gay Pride in 2010.

Russia now has two regions with similar laws following the passage of a law in the Arkhangelsk region last week. The other one is Ryazan.

A group of local community and religious organizations calling themselves the "scientific community" of the region pushed the necessity of banning the "promotion of homosexuality". They argued that since only 1% of people are biologicaly born homosexual the rest must somehow catch it through being 'influenced by the society'.

Activists have already challenged the Ryazan law in the European Court of Human Rights after the Russian Constitution Court denied that the law contradict with the Constitution's freedom of expression provisions. But even if the European Court condemns the law it is likely to be added to the pile of rulings against them then ignored by Russia.

Now members of the Ukrainian Parliament have introduced legislation "On Introduction of Changes to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine (regarding protection of children rights on the safe information sphere)”. This would establish a criminal liability for "propaganda of homosexualizm".

Those introducing it say it's needed because:

"The spread of homosexualizm is a threat to national security, as it leads to the epidemic of HIV/AIDS and destroys the institution of family and can cause a demographic crisis."

This new law goes even further than the others - it establishes a 'liability for distribution of products that promote homosexualizm.'

So no exports of 'Glee' or rainbow earrings to Ukraine then. And surely the Eurovision Song Contest would have to be censored?

Related articles

• Second Russian region moves to ban 'homosexual propaganda' (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Second Russian region moves to ban 'homosexual propaganda'

Image via Wikipedia

Source: GayRussia.Ru

[via Google translation]

Deputies in the Arkhangelsk Oblast (regional) Parliament in North-Western Russia are preparing amendments to a regional law 'On some measures to protect the morals and health of children in the Arkhangelsk region' to prohibit so-called "propaganda of homosexuality" to juveniles.

These amendments are intended to "protect children from homosexuality and other corrupting influences," according to a 15 June press release on the official website of the Assembly of Deputies.

The main sponsors of the amendments is the homophobic chairman of the Committee on Youth Affairs and Sports Assembly  Alexander Dyatlov of the ruling United Russia party and his deputy Boris Vysokih of the Just Russia party, United Russia allies.

The amendments advanced during a 'round table' held 15 June in the regional parliament, and have legislative support to advance further.

"The request for action in this direction follows an approach to us by representatives of the scientific community of the Arkhangelsk region, community organizations and religious denominations," said Dyatlov.

"These amendments will prohibit the promotion of non-traditional sexual orientation in the Arkhangelsk region. The danger of this kind does exist. Today, our region, along with St. Petersburg and Murmansk region were among the areas where the regional public organization registered LGBT groups, whose work focuses on the promotion of homosexuality was supported by grants from foreign funds."

Said Vysokih:

"Russia is an Christian Orthodox country, and, for sensible people, homosexuality is a manifestation of an abnormal character. They came to us from the West."

"And that such things corrupts our youth, this is unacceptable. Cruelty, violence, homosexuality - all these are manifestations of a single cause-effect relationship. Our task is to protect young people from this, and when a person becomes an adult, he will understand it or not. And the fact that we make an amendment to the law, it is absolutely true. Such manifestations should be treated harshly. Immorality can never lead to good results."

The draft law will be considered at the next session of the Regional Council of Deputies [parliament], which will begin 29 June.

One region of Russia already has a similar ban on "advocacy of sodomy and lesbianism," enacted in 2006 in the Ryazan region [200km south of Moscow].

GayRussia says that Arkhangelsk region has the potential to become the second such region as the regional parliament is completely controlled by the United Russia party.

The other three factions, Fair Russia, Communist and Liberal Democratic Parties, are unlikely to vote against this homophobic initiative, they say.

In March this year, a regional branch of the Fair Russia party in Kemerovo, near Novosibirsk in Siberia, said in their election program that they would push for the introduction of "high fines" for the "promotion of homosexuality."

The Ryazan region law against the "propaganda of homosexuality" is an administrative offense punishable by a fine.

In 2009, GayRussia.Ru activists Nikolai Baev and Irina Fedotova were fined by a Ryazan court after protesting near a children's library and school in Ryazan. They were holding placards which read: "Homosexuality - this is normal" and "I am proud of my homosexuality. Ask me about it. "

Last year, the Russian Constitutional Court ruled that the Ryazan discriminatory ban on "propaganda of homosexuality" does not contradict the Constitution.

The Ryazan ban on "gay propaganda" has subsequently been taken to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Related articles

• In Russia, for IDAHO, activists catalogue hate speech, Moscow Pride banned (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Sweden mistreating Russian trans asylum seeker, says she is actually a gay man (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• …AND THE LAST CRUSADE: Hydra of LGBT phobia raises higher at the North-West of Russia (antonschteinberg.blogspot.com)

Gender Identity: What can and needs to be done at the UN level?

Justus Eisfeld

Source: ILGA

Justus Eisfeld, Executive Director of Global Action for Trans* Equality (GATE) talks about the need to address gender identity in the framework of the UN, as trans people face human right violations on a daily basis.

At the ILGA Panel at the UN Human Rights Council, 7 June 2011, “The Growing Consensus of governments towards the end of criminalization based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”, Eisfeld identified strategies on how to address discrimination on the basis of SOGI [sexual orientation and gender identity] at the UN level.

Welcome to everybody.

Thank you to the Belgian Mission and ILGA to give me this opportunity to address you all, and to speak to you about issues related to gender identity specifically. There is a need for that in the framework of the UN, as trans people face human right violations on a daily basis.

Let me take a moment to talk about terminology first. At GATE we use the term trans* with an asterix to indicate that we talk about people transgressing western binary gender norms. We come in many different shades and colors and are known by many names in different cultures, such as Hijra, meti, katoey, fa’afafine, fakaleiti, travesti, muxe, two spirit, genderqueer, transgender, transsexual, just to name a few.

Some of these names are proud names, while others carry stigma, even disgust, in their cultural load. We share our experience of identifying as a gender different from most people with our kinds of birth bodies. Many of us share experiences of rejections and violence as a result.

As different as we and the societies in which we live are, many of us share problems in the same areas.

For one being recognized by society and our governments as whole people, especially when we try to access ID documents with the names that we use in our daily lives and in the gender that we wish to express.

Many of us face violence and discrimination on a daily basis, and in fact in the last two years alone Transgender Europe has documented over 500 murders of trans people worldwide. Mind you, these are only the cases that were accessible through the internet with a few search terms.

Access to healthcare is an issue for most of us, as many doctors outright refuse to treat us, even for gunshot wounds. At the same time, trans women and men who have sex with men are the group most affected by HIV globally, yet it is also the group most overlooked in efforts to fight the spread of the disease.

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Moscow Gay Pride 2011: How to support them: “We will drive them off!” say Orthodox

By Paul Canning

Moscow Pride is going ahead on Saturday 28 May, despite its non-approval by the City government in defiance of a European Court of Human Rights decision. Far-right and Orthodox Church forces are planning a counter demonstration - approved by authorities - and already held one at the site last Saturday, delayed by rain, which one of the demonstrators blamed on the [Moscow Mayor] “Sobyanin lesbians.”

“We will drive them off!” Yury Ageshchev, coordinator of the Orthodox Brotherhood of the Russian Orthodox Church told Russian newspaper Kommersant.

“True, last year we had some issues with the police and there were arrests, but this time we will not give up. It’s going to get hot,” he threatened.

The office of the police chief has said "everything is ready to prevent [the gays] marching - and arrest them."

International gay activists including Dan Choi, Louis-Georges Tin and Peter Tatchell have arrived to join Moscow Pride.

Last night Moscow Pride organiser Nikolai Alekseev appeared on Russia's #1 talk show Poedinok. He walked off after accusing the moderator, Vladimir Solovyev, of slanting the show towards homophobes.

There are two four live blogs this year:

• Andy Harley of UKGayNews from Gloucester, UK
• Andy Thyler of GayLiberation from Chicago, blogging here 
• Norbert Blech of Queer.de (in German, Google translation)
• Judith Silberfeld of Yagg.com (in French, Google translation)

Moscow Pride organisers have responded to requests on how people internationally can support them, saying "pressure, can make a change, especially if it comes from many."

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