Gay Russia News & Reports 2010 Jan-Sep

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Male sex workers in Moscow, Russia: a pilot study of demographics, substance use patterns, and prevalence of HIV-1 and sexually transmitted infections

by Stefan Baral; Darya Kizub; Nicole Franck Masenior; Alena Peryskina; Julie Stachowiak; Mark Stibich; Vladimir Moguilny; Chris Beyrer
Abstract
The Russian federation has been undergoing a concentrated epidemic of HIV-1 with high rates of infection among injecting drug users. Less is known about the relative risk and contribution to the country’s HIV epidemic by other at-risk populations including sex workers and men who have sex with men. The goals of this project were to explore demographic characteristics, substance use patterns, and estimate the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and high-risk behaviors among male sex workers (MSW) in Moscow and to assess the feasibility of prospective cohort recruitment and retention among this population. Research design was a longitudinal study of 50 men with a six-month follow-up period. Participants were recruited through venue-based and snowball sampling methods. Results revealed an HIV prevalence at baseline of 16%; one MSW seroconverted during the follow-up period, yielding an incidence estimate of 4.8/100PY (95%CI 0.0-11.2). Twenty-four percentage were diagnosed with at least one STI: 12% had syphilis; 8% had Human Papilloma Virus (HPV); and 4% had Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV)-2. Three (6%) of the study participants had evidence of previous Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) exposure at baseline. Retention rates were poor with higher retention significantly associated with older men (OR: 13.1, 95% CI 3.3-52.5). This was the first study to evaluate baseline demographics, substance use patterns, and prevalence of infectious disease among MSW in Moscow. Identification and recruitment of this population appears to be feasible, but retention a challenge. While the sample size in the current study was small, the results also suggested that this is a population at considerable high risk for HIV. MSW in Moscow may be an important at-risk population in the Russian HIV epidemic and further research is urgently required to address their needs and explore prevention strategies.

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February 8, 2010 – UK Gay News

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St. Petersburg Set to be Second Russian City to Host a Gay Pride – Date set for June 26 – parade planned

Moscow and St. Petersburg(GayRussia.ru) – The first Lesbian and Gay Pride to be staged in St. Petersburg will be on June 26, the chief organiser of Moscow Pride, Nikolai Alekseev, told the Russian news agency Interfax today. “Given our experience in organising public actions and campaigning for LGBT Rights in Moscow, a group of activists from St Petersburg asked for our support in conducting the first Gay Pride in St. Petersburg – and we responded to their request,” Mr. Alekseev to the news agency.

He said that the event was supposed to be announced at the end of this month during a press conference, but the encouraging remarks by the St Petersburg Ombudsman, Alexey Kozyrev, this morning led to the group unveiling its plans earlier and build on what they called “the positive momentum”. Speaking a press conference in St. Petersburg, Mr. Kozyrev said that gay parades could be staged in St. Petersburg. Mr. Kozyrev said that Russian legislation gives people the right to freedom of assembly and marches and envisions gender equality, including for people of non-traditional sexual orientation.

“If there is a right, why not hold it [a gay pride parade],” he said. And he added that he believed the Moscow authorities are “too tough” on the idea of staging a gay pride parade in the Russian capital. “It seems to me that Moscow is fighting to its own detriment,” he said.

Maria Efremenkova, who chairs the organising committee of the St Petersburg Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival said this afternoon that “everyone has the right to freedom of assembly, and we intend to make use of this right for the LGBT community in the northern capital of Russia”.

“I am glad that the gay pride movement, which started in Moscow in 2006, is now gaining momentum beyond Moscow,” she added.

Ms. Efremenkova said that “the request for holding St Petersburg LGBT Pride festival will be made two weeks before the event in accordance with the Russian legislation, but in case the event is banned by the Governor of the city, we will still go in the streets to exercise our constitutional rights.

“We are very determined – and any denial from the city authorities will be appealed though the Russian Courts and up to the European Court of Human Rights. We welcome the declaration of support of the St Petersburg Ombudsman to our planned event and we hope that the Governor the St Petersburg will not act in contradiction with the constitution like the Mayor of Moscow.”

The European Court of Human Rights is expected to give a decision later this year in the ban of the Moscow Pride in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Based on the Court precedent against Poland in the ban of the Warsaw Gay Pride, the Russian authorities are left with only little hope to win against the organisers of Gay Prides in Russia. Mr. Alexeyev said that the plans to hold Moscow Gay Pride in the capital have not changed. “The fifth anniversary of Moscow Gay Pride will be held on May 29 – and we expect foreign activists and politicians to attend, as in previous years since 2006,” he said.

February 12, 2010 – UK Gay News

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UN Human Rights Committee Asked to Take a Position on Russian Anti Gay Law

Moscow,(GayRussia/UK Gay News) – A Russian campaign against the law banning the ‘propaganda of homosexuality’ to minors aims to bring positive changes globally. Yesterday, Irina Fedotova-Fet an LGBT activist, who last year married her life partner Irina Shipiko in Toronto following an ill-fated attempt at getting married at last year’s Moscow Gay Pride, submitted a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee arguing that her right to freedom of expression had been breached in connection with a law that forbid any propaganda of homosexuality to minors.

Also this week, the European Court of Human Rights acknowledged receipt of a similar complaint made by a gay activist and Moscow Gay Pride co-organizer Nikolai Baev. This latest campaign in Moscow started in March 2009, when gay and lesbian activists choose to hold a public action against homophobia in Ryazan, a city located 180 km south east of Moscow. Two of them were arrested after taking the streets with posters showing “Homosexuality is normal” and “I am proud of my homosexuality. Ask me about it”

Mr. Baev and Ms. Fedotova-Fet were detained by police, and later charged with committing the administrative offence of “promotion of homosexuality to minors”. In April last year, a Justice of the Peace in Ryazan fined the two activists to 1,500 rubles each (about 50USD). Later – on May 14 – the decision was upheld on appeal by the District court. Three months ago, Mr. Baev took his case to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that Russia violated his right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. He hopes that his case will set a precedent by the Court on the issue.

In her complaint sent yesterday to the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, Ms. Fedotova-Fet argues that Russia violated her right to freedom of expression (Article 19) and to non-discrimination (Article 26) as guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). She decided to lodge the complaint with the UN ‘College of experts’ despite the fact that its decisions are not officially binding.

“Due to a heavy backlog, we know that the case of Nikolai Baev will not be considered by the European Court anytime soon, and since the process with the UN is much faster, it made more sense for me to apply there,” Ms. Fedotova-Fet told GayRussia/UK Gay News. On September 1 last year, Mr. Baev, Ms. Fedotova-Fet and Nikolai Alexeyev filed a joint complaint with the Constitutional Court of Russia with the requirements to assess the validity of the law prohibiting propaganda of homosexuality to minors in Ryazan with the Russian Constitution.

Ryazan region remains so far the only Russian region to implement a law expressively banning and form of promotion of homosexuality to minors. “This law is absurd because it allows the authorities to systematically ban any public action by gays and lesbians in this region simply because there can be minors in any public space at any time,” Mr. Alexeyev said.

“We want this law to be declared unconstitutional in Russia. By taking these cases to the European Court and the UN, our aim is to send out a powerful message to populist politicians who would be tempted to implement the same elsewhere in Europe – and beyond. Leveraging on our domestic campaigns in Russia to try to make positive changes outside the country is typically our aim from the beginning”.

In Europe, Lithuania attempted last year to pass bill openly discriminating gays and lesbians by prohibiting “public dissemination of the information about homosexuality”. Following pressure from Europe, especially from the European Commission and European Parliament, the Lithuanian Parliament finally adopted a revised version which no longer explicitly target gays and lesbians but “any concept of the family other than that set down in the constitution”.

March 1, 2010 – Asylum Law

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Russian gay marriage group denied registration

by Rex Wockner
Excerpt:
Russia’s Justice Ministry on Feb. 22 refused to register the activist group Marriage Equality Russia. The ministry said the group’s aims contradict a law that defines "marriage as a union between a man and a woman." The organization will appeal as far as the European Court of Human Rights, if necessary, said spokesman Nikolai Alekseev.

"Russia is a country where you cannot hold a march in the streets if you openly advertise it as gay, and this is the same with registering an openly gay organization," Alekseev said. Attempts to stage gay pride marches in Moscow over the past four years have been met with official bans from Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Small groups of activists who tried to march anyway were violently attacked each year by riot police and anti-gay mobs.

Assistance: Bill Kelley, Andrés Duque

March 31, 2010 – UK Gay News

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Russian Court: Ban of ‘Gay Propaganda to Minors’ Is Constitutional

Final say on the case is expected from the European Court of Human Rights

Moscow – The Russian Constitutional Court has dismissed a complaint that the laws of Ryazan region prohibiting “propaganda of homosexuality” to minors are in contradiction with the the country’s Constitution. Nikolai Baev, who was one of two gay activists arrested last September in Ryazan, said this morning that the decision of the Constitutional Court legalised official homophobia in Russia.

“The decision of the Constitutional Court legalized official homophobia in Russia,” Mr. Baev said in a statement to UK Gay News. “Now, the Russian authorities can not be afraid to be homophobic. Now they can easily pursue their discriminatory policy towards gays and lesbians. It is sad that the judges sides with those who justify discrimination of a big large number of Russian citizens on the basis of their sexual orientation. The decision of the Constitutional Court is monstrous just because it clearly states: there are “good”, “traditional” people and relations and there are “bad” and “non traditional” people and relations which can be discriminated and suppressed.”

Mr. Baev questioned why the Constitutional Court decided that homosexuality is a threat to children. “ Is there no such threat from heterosexuality? Why heterosexual “propaganda” is allowed and homosexual is not? Everyone knows that there is the same number of rapists, seducers and perverts among heterosexuals. Why the judges decided that it is justifiable to make homosexuals as scapegoats? This is not fair and not right,” he concluded.

On September 1 last year, gay activists Mr. Baev, along with Nikolai Alekseev and Irina Fedotova, appealed to the Constitutional Court asking it to check the constitutionality of Article 4 of Ryazan region law on the protection of the morality of minors in Ryazan region and Article 3.10 of Ryazan region law on administrative offences. Both laws officially ban any propaganda of homosexuality to minors and impose fines for the offenders. Neither law gives definitions of the notions “propaganda” and “homosexuality”.

In their complaint to the Constitutional Court the gay activists expressed the position that Ryazan laws contradict a number of provisions of the Russian Constitution, in particular Article 29 (right to freedom of thought and speech), Article 19 (ban on discrimination) and Article 55 (allowance to limit citizen’s constitutional rights only by federal law). In its decision the Constitutional Court held that the issues of human rights protection are in joint competence of federal and regional authorities which allows regional legislators to introduce their own administrative offences, including those which limit the rights of citizens.

The Constitutional Court stressed that the Russian Constitution gives special protection to the motherhood, childhood and family which is the joint competence of federal and regional authorities. It held that “the family, motherhood and childhood in their traditional understanding, taken from the ancestors, represent those values which provide for the continuous change of generations and condition for safeguarding and development of the multinational people of the Russian Federation, which means they need special protection on the part of the state”.

Additionally the Court said that “the ban of such propaganda – as purposeful and uncontrolled activity connected to the dissemination of information which can harm the health, morals and spiritual development, including forming of distorted perceptions about social equivalence of traditional and nontraditional marriage relations, among persons, who are deprived, due to their age, of the ability to critically evaluate such information, can not be considered as breaching the constitutional rights of citizens”.

Constitutional Court came to the conclusion that the laws of Ryazan region “do not contain any measures directed at the ban of homosexuality or its official blaming, do not contain features of discrimination, do not, in their essence, allow excessive actions by the state bodies. Thus, the provisions of the laws which were appealed by the applicants can not be considered as limiting the freedom of speech.” A year ago, Russian gay activists staged their demonstration against homophobia and discriminatory ban of homosexual propaganda in Ryazan. They went to the streets with the placards “Homosexuality is normal” and “I am proud of my homosexuality. Ask me about it”.

The campaign took place next to Ryazan schools – and next to Ryazan children’s library.

Mr. Baev and Ms Fedotova were arrested by the local militia and were charged with the administrative offence of homosexual propaganda to minors. On April 6 justice of peace Marina Nazarova found both activists guilty of the administrative offence on the basis of Article 3.10 of the Ryazan law on administrative offences. Both of them were fined 1,500 roubles (around 50 pounds). Then on May 14, Oktyabrskiy District Court of Ryazan dismissed the appeal of the activists against this decision.

Russian Constitutional Court is the highest court in Russia on the constitutional matters. Its decisions are final and can not be appealed. The organizer of Moscow Gay Pride Mr. Alekseev today expressed his disappointment with the decision of the Constitutional Court. “We expected a higher level of judicial analysis from the main body of constitutional control in Russia. The decision of the Constitutional Court in our case goes not very far from the level of local court decisions in Moscow.

“The Constitutional Court avoided answering our question concerning the limitations in the scope of application for the ban of homosexual propaganda in Ryazan laws. The judges did not consider particular circumstances in which these laws were applied to us as applicants opening the way for the ban of dissemination of absolutely any public information concerning homosexuality in the places where children can potentially be present, which means anywhere.”

Mr. Alekseev continued: “The final decision in this case will be given by the European Court of Human Rights where we applied with the similar complaint in November last year. The Ryazan ban contradicts with Article 10 of the European Convention which guarantees the right to freedom of expression. We are sure to win this case in Strasbourg.”

This month, the UN Human Rights Committee started proceedings on a similar complaint against Russia giving Russian authorities 6 month to explain their position. Ryazan region is the only one in Russia which passed laws directly prohibiting propaganda of homosexuality to minors.

April 2010 – Passport Magazine

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Russian Evolution

by Bill Strubbe
St. Petersburg,Russia – One summer vacation my mother presented me with a copy of the best-selling Nicholas and Alexandra for my 13th birthday. Initially intimidated by the voluminous tome, by the third chapter my interest in such diversions as horseback riding, water skiing, and the bulges in the male beach goers’ swim suits had waned as I was transported to another realm: the resplendent halls of the Winter Palace, Alexandra’s mauve boudoir, the imperial yacht’s sunny decks, and the streets of St. Petersburg seething with royalty and revolution. When I reached the final chapter, and the family was summarily executed, I secretly cried in my bunk bed. In the following years, I devoured endless books about Russia and surprised my history teacher with an understanding of the minutiae of the Russian Revolution.

With Russia impregnated in my imagination, it was destined that I would later visit the USSR numerous times during the Gorbachev years; several times on Anti-Nuclear Peace Walks and in 1991 for the country’s first Gay/Lesbian Human Rights Conference. More recently, last summer, I had an opportunity to visit St. Petersburg for five days before boarding a cruise back to Moscow. The timing was fortuitous as it fell during the City Day Celebrations, and a rare heat wave that had the denizens out strolling in shorts and halter tops on the blocked off Nevsky Prospekt, lounging in the parks, and sunning at the Fortress beach on the banks of Neva River that flows through the city.

It comes as a surprise to many visitors to learn that Boston, New York, and Philadelphia are older than St. Petersburg, an astonishing vision of palaces, broad boulevards, canals, and culture founded a mere 306 years ago by rumored bisexual Tsar Peter the Great (some believe his best chum Mikhail Menshikov was also his lover) on 42 swampy islands in the Neva River. Despite all that, this “Venice of the North” has endured thousands who died during its construction, devastating floods, bloody court intrigues, uprisings and revolution, Stalinist purges, and a 900-day Nazi siege. Conversely, perhaps no other city has engendered such a profusion of creative luminaries: Balanchine, Diagilev, Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Pavlova, Prokofiev, Pushkin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Sergei Eisenstein, Rudolf Nureyev, and Vaslav Nijinsky.

Though these latter five famous Russians are known to be bisexual or gay, being queer now in St. Petersburg, and in Russia, is still not a fact to be broadcast to anyone but your closest friends. Hints of change, however, are on the horizon: a half-dozen bars and clubs now cater to gays and lesbians; a nascent gay rights organization opened an office in 2009, and for a third summer the cruise liner Eurodam disgorged over 2,000 gay travelers for two days of sightseeing and clubbing. With over 100 museums, glorious churches and palaces, parks, monuments, ballets, and music performances, any traveler, gay or straight, will be hard-pressed to not be enthralled by Russia’s cultural capital.

On the first day in the city, my fellow traveler, Rob, and I decided to take advantage of the stellar weather and minimal traffic by renting bikes to see neighborhoods otherwise well off the tourist beat. I was particularly eager to visit the Cathedral in the Peter and Paul Fortress (its golden spire is the city’s landmark) the resting place of the Romanovs, including the remains of Nicholas, Alexandra, their five children, and three servants that were only recently discovered and identified. Odd, the sense of relief and completion I felt in reading their names etched in white marble.

Well into the endless evening, we pedaled along the numerous canals past the gilt dome of St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the world’s third largest, and the onion-domed Church of the Savior of the Blood where Alexander II’s carriage was blown up by anarchists in 1881. Further along the Griboyedoya Canal is the delightful, golden-winged Griffin Bridge; touch its paw, make a wish, and walk across.
The next day, we toured the opulent rooms of the Yusupov Palace, the highlights being the lavish miniature theater that still holds regular performances, and the bachelor’s apartment where Rasputin met his demise at the hands of the very gay Felix Yusupov and several Romanov royals. Though he was poisoned, shot, and thrown into the Neva, the autopsy showed that the terminator Rasputin had actually died of drowning.

With so many museums and palaces, including the Museum of Political History, Memorial Museum of the Siege and Defense of Leningrad, Russian Fine Arts Academy, Russian Ethnographic Museum, the Stroganoff Palace, Fyodor Dostoevsky Museum, etc., you can’t possibly see them all, but topping the short list is, of course, the Hermitage. Built between 1754 and 1762 on the Neva’s bank, the Winter Palace was intended for Peter’s daughter Elizabeth, but upon her death Catherine the Great moved in, commissioning adjoining buildings for her ever-growing art collection. Today, the green and white palace complex contains 1,057 rooms, among them the Malachite Room, and over three million art pieces spanning from Greek and Roman antiquities to modern masterpieces by Rubens and Gauguin.

While there, I was thrilled to see the newly restored Renoir paintings, “Man on a Staircase” and “Woman on a Staircase,” commissioned in 1876 by French publisher Georges Charpentier, an early admirer of Renoir. A German bought the pair from Charpentier’s heirs, which were then confiscated and sent to Russia after the war. Last displayed in 1995, their luster was hidden under layers of dirt and darkened lacquer, but since the restoration, art lovers can once again view these fine Renoirs in all their glory.

Though the Hermitage contains many must-sees, make sure to check out the Peacock Clock in the Pavilion Hall. Each Wednesday at 5 P.M. this magnificent gilded clock, created by celebrated 18th-century English clockmaker James Cox, is wound up and the action begins: the owl in a cage blinks its eyes and turns its head, a rooster crows, and the gilded peacock sitting on a golden branch spreads its tail, the gold feathers raise upright, and the whole bird rotates. It gets crowded so arrive ten or 15 minutes ahead so you can see. While waiting, admire the white marble, mosaics, and chandeliers in the Pavilion Room.

The mid-summer “White Nights” (early June through mid-July) is a magical time to experience St. Petersburg. The sun doesn’t set until 11 P.M. or so, pearl twilight lingers on and on and on then merges into the yellows and corals of dawn. Gauging bedtime at this time of year can be problematic, so all hotels have blackout curtains. Make sure to take a boat ride to see the palaces all lit up and the bridges opening at 1:30 A.M. to let the ships pass through (if you’re stuck on the wrong side you’re plumb out of luck until they lower them again at 4:30 or so). The night of our boat ride we had a couple hours until it launched so we decided to track down a couple of the gay venues.

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April 2010 – apla.convio.net

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The Situation Of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, And Transgender People In The Russian Federation

by Igor Kochetkov (Petrov) and Xenia Kirichenko, Russian LGBT Network
This report is the result of specifi c monitoring of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the Russian Federation carried out by the Moscow Helsinki Group in cooperation with the Russian LGBT Network in 2007-2008. This is the fi rst specifi c study of the legal situation of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people (the LGBT community) in Russia.

A long time ago, the international community, of which Russia is a part, recognised that all people are born free and have equal dignity and rights. At the same time, there are still social groups that are systematically excluded by society and the state from the respect for human dignity and the universality of human rights. The LGBT community made up of people with a sexual orientation and/or gender identity that is diff erent from that of the majority of the population, is one of such groups.

Along with race, national and religious affiliation, gender and other characteristics, sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent elements of everyone’s dignity and personality and, thus, should not be grounds for discrimination or the violation of rights. Society and the state must do their best to provide people of any sexual orientation and gender identity with equal opportunities and freedom. This is the only approach that corresponds to the modern understanding of the principle of the universality, indivisibility, interdependence, and interconnection of human rights.

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April 5, 2010 – Asylum Law

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Russian court OKs ban on gay ‘propaganda’

by Rex Wockner
Excerpt:
Russia’s Constitutional Court dismissed a complaint from gay activists March 31 which argued against the Ryazan region’s ban on "exposing minors to homosexual propaganda." Gay activists Nikolai Alekseev, Nikolai Baev and Irina Fet had claimed the ban violates a constitutional guarantee that only federal laws can limit constitutional rights, as well as guarantees of freedom of thought and speech, and freedom from discrimination.

The court, however, ruled that regional legislators are permitted to create administrative offenses that limit citizens’ rights. It also said Russia’s constitution specially protects "the family, motherhood and childhood."

Further, the court wrote, "The ban of such propaganda — as a purposeful and uncontrolled activity connected to dissemination of information which can harm health, morals and spiritual development, including formation of distorted perceptions about the social equivalence of traditional and nontraditional marriage relations among persons who are deprived due to their age of the ability to critically evaluate such information — cannot be considered as breaching the constitutional rights of citizens."

Alekseev said activists also appealed against the ban to the European Court of Human Rights last year. "The Ryazan ban contradicts Article 10 of the European Convention, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression," he said. "We are sure to win this case in Strasbourg."

In March 2009, Baev and Fet deliberately violated the law by carrying pro-gay signs near a school and library in downtown Ryazan, which is 200 km (120 miles) southeast of Moscow. They were fined 1,500 rubles ($51) each.

Assistance: Bill Kelley

May 05, 2010 – en.rian.ru

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The attacker of an elderly Russian human rights activist has been given a one-year suspended sentence by a Moscow court

Konstantin Pereverzev hit the chairwoman of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alexeyeva on March 31 while she was paying her respects to those killed in the Moscow metro bombings. Pereverzev approached 82-year-old Alexeyeva while she was laying flowers at Park Kultury metro station and asked "Are you still alive?" before slapping her in the face. Alexeyeva said the assault caused a rise in her blood pressure but no broken bones.

Pereverzev, who studied theology and now heads a construction company, claimed that he was drunk when he committed the assault. He said had been in a desperate situation as a result of his business going badly, a kidney disease and the ill health of his mother. "I sincerely beg your forgiveness. I swear from the bottom of my heart that this will never happen again. Believe me," Pereverzev said. His mother also asked Alexeyeva to excuse her son for the attack. Alexeyeva said Pereverzev was a "weak-willed and drinking man" and his assault on her was not due to "personal dislike," but a result of outside influence.

She said she was in court and is satisfied with the judge’s verdict. "I did not want anyone put in the prison because of me. I am very satisfied that he [Pereverzev,] was punished as he deserved to be, but also that his freedom was not taken from him. I think the judge acted very wisely," she said in an interview with RIA Novosti. Earlier the human rights activist personally asked the court to give her attacker the minimum sentence.

May 21, 2010 – PinkNews

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Moscow Pride banned as protesters say they will march anyway

by Jessica Geen
Moscow city hall has banned a Pride parade for the fifth year running. Gay rights activists applied for permission to hold a march on May 29th but officials turned it down, citing reasons of security. Organiser Nikolai Alexeyev told PinkNews that the decision was "purely political" and had nothing to do with safety. He said he saw no reason why activists would not hold a march anyway.

Moscow’s mayor Yuri Luzhkov has consistently refused permission for the march and has called gays and lesbians"satanic" in the past. Despite five years of bans, marches have been held anyway and some have ended in violence. In May 2006, more than 120 people were arrested and in 2007, gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell were severely beaten by neo-Nazis. Last year, marchers accused police of brutality. Activists applied on May 17th for permission to hold the event on a street in central Moscow. An appeal will be heard today but Mr Alexeyev said he expected it to be rejected.

He said: "The reasons are absolutely the same as previous years – security reasons. That it will endanger participants and passersby. It’s nothing to do with security. I have talked to the police and they say it would be no problem to provide security. There will be no anti-gay protesters if the protest is protected by police. They are scared of the police. There will not be direct clashes unlike in Vilnius and Riga. This is the decision of the mayor. . . it is purely a political decision."

Mr Alexeyev said that if permission was denied, campaigners would still march as they have done in recent years. He said: "Yes. I don’t see any reason why we won’t do it this year." He added that activists had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights over the repeated bans and hoped to receive a decision on the case this year.

When asked whether he believed public opinion was starting to turn in favour of gay rights, he said that unlike previous years, no organised protests had yet been made against the parade. Last year’s march caught worldwide attention as it was held while Moscow hosted the Eurovision Song Contest final. Under the scrutiny of the world’s media, marchers escaped serious injury but were roughly arrested and fined.

They have unsuccessfully tried to have the mayor prosecuted under Article 149 of the Russian Criminal Code for using his political power to prevent legal public events for the LGBT community in the city. Mr Luzhkov said in December: "For several years, Moscow has experienced unprecedented pressure to conduct a gay pride parade, which cannot be called anything but a Satanic act. "We have prevented such a parade and we will not allow it in the future. Everyone needs to accept that as an axiom."

May 13, 2010 – Pride Source

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31 Russian cities take part in LGBT Day of Silence

by Rex Wockner
Activists in 31 Russian cities took part in the LGBT Day of Silence on April 24 and 25. The youth-oriented international event targets anti-LGBT discrimination, defamation and violence. In most Russian localities, activists opted for a "flashmob" approach, since it’s difficult or impossible to get city permission for LGBT events on public property. Activists appeared and distributed literature in the cities of Abakan, Arkhangelsk, Cheboksary, Chelyabinsk, Cherepovets, Glazov, Ivanovo, Izhevsk, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Kemerovo, Kirov, Krasnodar, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novokuznetsk, Oboyan, Omsk, Perm, Petrozavodsk, Pskov, St. Petersburg, Samara, Severodvinsk, Syktyvkar, Tyumen, Vladivostok, Volgograd, Voronezh, Vyborg and Yekaterinburg.

For the most part, "the reaction of the passersby was calm and even friendly," said national coordinator Valery Sozaev of the Russian LGBT Network. "People took flyers with interest." One exception was in Syktyvkar, a city of 230,000 people located 1,000 km (620 miles) northeast of Moscow. Local organizers had to change the date of the protest following threats from neo-Nazis, who gathered on the original date at the original location with the intention of stopping the event.

"Our Day of Silence was successful, since we were able to attract 21 new cities," Sozaev said. "Most importantly, in most of the regions, people took initiative on their own, without waiting for organizations. This is very much in the spirit of the Day of Silence — individual responsibility in the process of building the world without homophobia."

For more information.

29 May 2010 – PTHRF

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Moscow Gay Pride march success – First full march, police outwitted, no arrests

Moscow – Thirty Russian lesbian, gay and bisexual activists foiled the police and FSB security services by holding a 10 minute flashmob Gay Pride march on one of Moscow’s major thoroughfares, Leningradsky Street, this afternoon, Saturday 29 May. Carrying a 20 metre long rainbow flag and placards in Russian and English calling for "Rights for gays", the protesters chanted "No homophobia" and "Russia without homophobes."

Photos, videos and a message from the Moscow Gay Pride organizer, Nikolai Alekseev, here

"The guerrilla-style hit-and-run Moscow Gay Pride march was over before the police arrived. When they turned up, officers scurried around aimlessly, searching for protesters to arrest. All escaped the police dragnet," said British gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who joined today’s parade to support the Russian gay campaigners.

"All morning the Gay Pride organisers fed the police a steady stream of false information, via blogs and websites, concerning the location of the parade. They suggested that it would take place outside the EU Commission’s offices. As a result, the police put the whole area in total lockdown, closing nearby streets and metro stations, in bid to prevent protesters assembling there. This was the fifth Moscow Gay Pride and the first one with no arrests and bashings. It was also the first time activists succeeded in staging an uninterrupted parade.

"The Russian gay activists have won a big political and morale victory. They staged their Gay Pride march, despite it being banned by the Mayor and the judges, and despite the draconian efforts by the police and FSB security services to prevent it from taking place. I pay tribute to the courage and ingenuity of the Russian gay and lesbian activists. They outwitted the Mayor and his police henchmen. Today’s events felt like steeping back into the Soviet era, when protests were routinely banned and suppressed. It is madness that Russian gay rights campaigners are being treated as criminals, just like dissidents in the period of communist dictatorship.

"The real criminals are not the peaceful Gay Pride protesters but the Moscow Mayor and judges who banned this protest. They are the law breakers. They should be put on trial for violating the Russian constitution. The EU, US and UK governments have shamefully failed to condemn the banning of Moscow Gay Pride. They support Gay Pride events in Poland and Latvia, but not in Moscow. Why the double standards?" Western ambassadors to Russia offered no support to the Moscow Gay Pride organizers. They ignored suggestions that they host Gay Pride events in their embassy grounds and that they fly the gay rainbow flag on Moscow Pride day, 29 May.

Commenting on Friday’s court decision to uphold the Mayor’s ban on Moscow Gay Pride, Mr Tatchell added: "In a shameless display of feeble deference to the Mayor of Moscow, a court in the Russian capital upheld Mayor Luzhkov’s ban of the fifth attempted Moscow Gay Pride parade. The judge acted in defiance of the Russian constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and the right to protest.

"This is a sad day for Russian democracy. It is the latest of many suppressions of civil liberties that happen in supposedly democratic Russia. Many other protests are also denied and repressed, not just gay ones. Autocracy rules under President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin. This is much bigger than a gay rights issue. We are defending the right to protest of all Russians – gay and straight. The courage and resolve of the Russian LGBT activists is inspiring. They were ready to take whatever brutality the police threw at them," said Mr Tatchell.

Further information Peter Tatchell in Moscow 7 903 539 5179

May 29, 2010 – Gay Russia

13
Moscow Pride took place Today – Stories, photos and videos

A group of 30 activists waived a 20 meters Rainbow Flag during a 10 minutes walk LGBT activists fom Moscow, St Petersburg and Minsk staged today the first ever successfull Gay Pride in Moscow, despite the ban. Though the March was short – it happened. Russian media reports that this is the first time that LGBT activists were able to stage a Pride event without being arrested by the police and assaulted by protesters. The March started from the Belarusakaya train station (which links Russia and Belarus) on Leningradsky Prospect which goes to St Petersburg. This was a way for the organizers to symbolically link Minsk and St Petersburg Prides to Moscow Pride. Activists from the three cities are forming together the Slavic Gay Pride.

A message from Nikolai Alekseev, Moscow Pride Chief Organizer:
"5th Moscow Pride took place today in Moscow! For the first time, we have been able to walk with a 20 meters Rainbow flag, in the streets of Moscow. We managed to fool the police and the anti pride protesters and as a result, the event went on peacefully, We showed today that despite what the Mayor of Moscow is saying and despite the Court decision, it is POSSIBLE to host a March in support of gay rights in Moscow, We are now looking forward for the Court decision from the European Court and we do hope that next year, the fist authorized Moscow Pride will take place in Moscow,

"We are very sorry for the journalists who were waiting for the March at the Office of the European Commission and who missed the action which took place today but we hope you understand that given the very particular context we have to face here in Moscow where the police is watching gay activists and journalists and our will to avaoid any arrest and any beatings, the way w conducted the 5th Moscow Pride attempt was the most appropriate"

Videos of Moscow Pride 2010 are already available on Youtube. Click for Video 1 and Video 2

June 3, 2010 – UK Gay News

14
St. Petersburg Gay Pride Organisers Arrested at Opposition Demo – Activists were taking part in a regular protest to defend freedom of assembly

St. Petersburg,(GayRussia.ru) – Gays and lesbians who joined the “March of Opposition” on May 31 in St Petersburg were arrested by anti-riot police (OMON). This public protest, organised on the last day of each month by the political opposition and several human rights groups, was not authorised by the authorities.

The French news agency Agence France Presse reported that 300 participants in the St. Petersburg rally. Organisers said that 100 people were arrested during the march. St. Petersburg Gay Pride organisers Maria Efremenkova and Alexader Sheremetyev were among the people detained in St Petersburg.

“They were violent and threw us on the ground,” said Ms Efremenkova. Mr Sheremetyev was also arrested in Minsk, Belarus, last month for taking part in the unauthorised Slavic Gay Pride. The first ever Gay Pride will be held in St Petersburg on June 26.

June 23, 2010 – PinkNews

15
Marchers to defy St Petersburg Pride ban

by Christopher Brocklebank
The organisers of St Petersburg’s first gay pride march, which was due to take place this Saturday, have been told by city officials that they are forbidden to go ahead with the event. The organisers had proposed a selection of different routes and itineraries for the march, all of which were turned down flat by City Hall. In the days prior to the verdict, support from worldwide Prides arrived following communication that anti-gay groups were covertly organising violent attacks against Pride participants in St Petersburg.

The St Petersburg-based LGBT group behind the march, Equality, said they had letters of support from Sydney Mardi Gras, Victoria Pride, Athens Pride, Tucson Pride, and the smaller Gloucester Pride in the UK which will also take place this Saturday. InterPride, the International Association of Pride organisers and the IDAHO Committee slammed the ban which they claim goes against the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

On top of this, organisers of St Petersburg Pride who said they turned to 13 Embassies of EU member States plus the US, Canada, Norway and Switzerland, claim to have received not one public statement of support in return. Maria Efremenkova, the chief Pride organiser said, "We are extremely disappointed by the attitude of foreign diplomats. We did not ask anything more than what the same embassies did in Vilnius, Bucharest, Belgrade or Bratislava when they issued a public statement of support to local Pride organizers." St Petersburg City Hall did, however, give their blessing to the Youth faction of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party to organise a March in support of traditional family values which will take place the same day than the banned Pride March.

This has made some LGBT people even more determined to defy the ban, and several plan to risk their safety by marching regardless on Saturday. Ms Efremenkova said, "We will march despite the ban because we have a duty to defy injustice like we already did last month in Minsk and Moscow[. . .] the St Petersburg authorities decided to put an embargo on our civil rights and this is absolutely unacceptable". She added, "There will be just a couple of us ready to face arrest, detention and beating, but we have no intention of giving up on our civil rights". A seminar is planned on the eve of the march to offer participants information on how to react if they are arrested. St Petersburg is the fourth Russian city to officially ban a Gay Pride March, the others being Moscow, Tambov and Ryazan.

June 26, 2010 – OnTop Magazine

16
Six Russian Activists Arrested Attempting To Hold Gay Pride

by On Top Magazine Staff
Six gay activists were arrested Saturday attempting to hold an unsanctioned gay pride rally in St. Petersburg, Russia. About 30 gay rights activists gathered in a public courtyard within the city’s State Hermitage Museum and chanted “Homophobia the shame of the country” and “Marriage rights without compromises.” Police quickly swooped in to collar six people, who offered little resistance.

The demonstration comes after St. Petersburg officials followed in the steps of three other Russian cities – Moscow, Tambov and Ryazan – in banning such demonstrations, gay newssite UKGayNews.org.uk reported. Two applications by the St. Petersburg Gay Pride committee outlining six separate parade routes were rejected by authorities. But on Thursday, City Hall OK’d a demonstration to be held on the same day by the group Molodaya, the youth wing of the United Russia party helmed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Maria Efremenkova, who heads the committee, called the city’s moves “a joke” “The march that is being permitted is against the rights of LGBT people throughout Russia,” she said. Keeping the event’s location under wraps except to the media, organizers attempted to recreate last month’s brief 10-minute demonstration in Moscow that ended without arrests. “This is outrageous that police stopped us and they didn’t give us a chance to speak about the violation of our rights,” Nikolai Alexeyev, who heads Russia’s fledgling gay rights movement, told the AP.

Organizers complained that no foreign nation came to their aid after the city banned their demonstration, including the United States and Great Britain. “We are extremely disappointed by the attitude of foreign diplomacies [sic],” Efremenkova said in explaining that her organization had appealed to 12 foreign embassies for a statement of support. Some media is reporting that Efremenkova was among those detained by police. This is the first year gay rights organizers had attempted to hold a rally in St.Petersburg, Russia’s second most populous city after Moscow.

July 09, 2010 – Gay Russia

17
Moscow Gay Pride picket ban becomes one of the last cases for Tagansky district court judge, Mikhail Kazakov

GayRussia.Ru, translation Ksenia Sidorenko
The judge left his post before his term of office expired It became known to project GayRussia.ru on monday June 21st that federal judge Mikhail Kazakov from the Tagansky district court of Moscow, who had dismissed the greatest number of complaints from Russian LGBT activists against bans of public events in Moscow by the prefecture of the Central Administrative District, has tendered his resignation. The Tagansky district court informed project GayRussia that ‘Mikhail Yurievich resigned with the intention of taking another job.’

We would like to remind readers that one of judge Kazakov’s last cases was on the legality of the ban of three pickets at Moscow Gay Pride, planned for May 29th of this year. Two days before the event, on May 27th, the judge recognized the bans of the Central Administrative District prefecture as legal and denied the requests of the Moscow Gay Pride organizers. Since his appointment as judge of the Tagansky district court of Moscow in 2006, Mikhail Kazakov rejected dozens of complaints by organizers of various public demonstrations – LGBT activists and other oppositional groups that stand against the government’s arbitrariness.

Many of Mikhail Kazakov’s cases are now being brought before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The outcome of some of them will be decided in the near future as part of the broader case on the bans of Moscow Gay Pride events in the years 2006-2008. Project GayRussia’s attempts to find out about Mikhail Kazakov’s new position have thus far been unsuccessful. According to the Russian Federation’s Presidential Decree, Mikhail Kazakov’s term of office would not have expired until 2012.

In the words of Nikolai Alekseev, organizer of Moscow Gay Pride, ‘Judge Kazakov has, in recent years, become a symbol of judicial mayhem in cases concerning the violation of the right to freedom of assembly in the centre of Moscow. His face was very well known to those organizing public events in the Capital and appealing against their bans. He unscrupulously rejected all our complaints against the lawlessness of officials in the prefecture of the Central Administrative District.’

September 8, 2010 – PinkNews

18
Court rules Moscow nightclub closure illegal

by Stephen Gray
A Moscow arbitration court ruled this week that a move to close one of the city’s prominent gay nightspots was illegal. Dush i Telo (Body and Soul) was closed when its lease was prematurely terminated by the Russian Society for the Blind, though the move was attributed to Northern Prefect, Oleg Mitvol. Moscow’s Gay Pride organiser, Nikolai Alexeyev, told Moscow News: “They were obliged to terminate the contract before the end date which was supposed to be in April 2010.”

Alexeyev contended that the closure, which came in November 2009 as city duma elections approached, was part of a desire on Mitvol’s part to advance his bid. He added: “They were the victims of electoral campaigning and Mitvol’s personal publicity campaign. He is known for a lot of scandalous things which have attracted a lot of media attention." Mitvol, having criticised the venue, declared before the club’s closure that it was "time to stop this lawlessness".

Alexeyev confirmed in August that Gay Pride organisers had filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against Mitvol, after he blocked their pickets calling for his resignation. The move to forbid their picket was, Alexeyev claims, a violation of Article 11, the guarantee of freedom of assembly.

September 16, 2010 – OnTop Magazine

19
Russian Gay Activist Nikolai Alekseev Arrested; Colleagues Fear Intimidation

by On Top Magazine Staff
Prominent Russian gay activist Nikolai Alekseev (also spelled Alexeyev) was arrested Wednesday at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, Russian news agency Interfax reported. Alekseev is the organizer of Moscow’s Gay Pride Parade. The annual event, which has been banned by Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, is more a protest event than a parade.

Alekseev was reportedly arrested as he tried to board a Swiss Air Lines flight bound for Geneva and taken to Minsk, Belarus. “At the moment I am in Minsk. I was squeezed out to here,” he messaged the news agency. “I was taken outside the city to some small town police station and was questioned there.”

Gay activists have challenged the mayor in the European Court of Human Rights for blocking their annual gay pride event from taking place. “They demanded that I sign a prepared paper stating that I recall the case about gay pride parades from the European Court due to a reached arrangement,” he said.

Colleagues say they fear the government is turning to intimidation tactics in an effort to quiet the protesters. “The government is clearly losing the legal fight with gay activists, so they are resorting to violence,” Nikolai Bayev said in a statement. “My guess is that Nikolai is now under colossal psychological pressure. I do not rule out homophobic insults, abuse and even torture.”

Sarah Ludford, the London LibDem MEP and European Parliament member, said the arrest was of “deep concern.” “State-sponsored homophobia, as shown by bans on gay prides, is common in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe, and I fear that this arrest of a prominent gay rights campaigner may be part of this,” she told UK Gay News.

Officials from the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA-Europe) joined in urging for Alekseev’s immediate release. “We are very concerned about Nikolai Alekseev’s safety and demand immediate and unconditional release of the activist by the Russian authorities and immediate end of intimidation and pressuring him to withdraw his ECHR complaints,” the Brussels-based group said in an statement.

Activists are planning a protest against Moscow Mayor Luzhkov on Tuesday. While other Russian cities have taken similar steps to ban pro-gay events, Luzhkov has been outspoken in his objections to gay rights, likened the parade to a “Satanic act” and a “social plague” on par with drug abuse, xenophobia and ethnic feuding.

September 16, 2010 – PinkNews

20
Missing Russian gay rights campaigner ‘in Minsk’

by PinkNews.co.uk Staff Writer
Nikolai Alekseev, the Russian gay rights campaigner who was arrested at an airport in Moscow yesterday, is believed to be in Minsk. Alekseev, who is unpopular with Russian authorities for attempting to hold Pride marches, was arrested by border control police yesterday at Domodedovo airport after passing through passport control. His whereabouts were unknown until today and several sources now say he is safe and well in the Belarussian capital.

According to LGBT Asylum News, his friends conveyed a message this evening which said: "We received a message from him that he is safe and in Minsk, we will know more from him when he can better communicate, probably tomorrow. We wanted to give you this update already and also to thank you for your incredible and huge mobilisation and solidarity. It paid off." Mr Alekseev was supposed to catch a flight to Geneva yesterday. It is not known why he was arrested or how he came to be in Minsk…

Correction to above story: "I was never inMinsk"…
http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/10/Sep/1702.htm

September 19, 2010 – OnTop Magazine

21
Abduction Was ‘Really Frightening’, Says Russian Gay Activist Nikolai Alekseev

by On Top Magazine Staff
Prominent Russian gay activist Nikolai Alekseev (also spelled Alexeyev), who was abducted Wednesday by security officials, said the ordeal was “really frightening,” the AP reported. Alekseev is the organizer of Moscow’s Gay Pride Parade. The annual event, which has been routinely banned by Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, is more a protest than a parade and is marred by frequent, often violent, clashes with the police. The activist was arrested as he attempted to board a Swiss Air Lines flight bound for Geneva.

He told the AP that he was whisked by four plain-clothed men to a police station in the city of Kashira, about 25 miles from the airport. The men, who didn’t identify themselves, hurled gay slurs at Alekseev and pressured him to drop cases before the European Court of Human Rights against Moscow’s bans on gay rights rallies. The Russian Interfax news agency on Friday reported that it had received text messages from Alekseev’s cellular phone saying that he was in Minsk, Belarus. But Alekseev said this telephone was confiscated and denied sending the messages.

Alekseev said he was moved to the city of Tula on Friday and released around dawn on Saturday. He traveled about 120 miles by bus to Moscow. “I really thought something bad was going to happen; it was really frightening,” he said.

Activists are planning a protest against Moscow Mayor Luzhkov on Tuesday. While other Russian cities have taken similar steps to ban pro-gay events, Luzhkov has been outspoken in his objections to gay rights, likening the gay parade to a “Satanic act” and a “social plague” on par with drug abuse, xenophobia and ethnic feuding.

September 20, 2010 – PinkNews

22
Russian gay campaigners to protest against homophobic mayor
(See UTube video of this event on September 21)

by Jessica Geen
Gay rights activists in Moscow will hold an unauthorised protest outside the city hall tomorrow to condemn homophobic mayor Yuri Luhzkov. Moscow authorities denied permission for the march last week, saying that the area would be too busy and the pavements were narrowed. However, following the apparent abuction of gay rights leader Nikolai Alekseev by Russian security agents last week, the activists said the protest would go ahead anyway.

The protest, at 6pm local time, will call for Mr Luhzkov to be jailed and for a full investigation into Mr Alekseev’s detention. He was taken from a Moscow airport last Wednesday and held in an unknown location for more than two days by men who urged him to give up his legal challenges against Mr Luhzkov for banning gay Pride marches.

Mr Alekseev does not know why he was detained or who was responsible, although he has linked the incident to "obscure political games" around the mayor’s future. Mr Luzhkov is currently battling for his political life and has been on holiday over the weekend. The reason for his absence was officially to celebrate his birthday but Kremlin sources have said he is thinking about his future.

Russian media have accused him of corruption and president Dmitry Medvedev is believed to want Mr Luzhkov removed from his job. The mayor has called gays "satanic" in the past and has refused to allow Pride marches. In May 2006, more than 120 people were arrested and in 2007, British gay activist Peter Tatchell was severely beaten by neo-Nazis. In 2008, marchers accused police of brutality.

September 21, 2010 – The New York Times

23
Russia: Protest Over Gay Rights

by Reuters
At least eight gay-rights activists were taken into police custody on Tuesday at a protest calling for the arrest of Moscow’s conservative mayor, Yuri Luhzkov, left, a longtime opponent of gay rights. The rally was timed to observe the 74th birthday of Mr. Luzhkov, who is locked in an increasingly public struggle with the Kremlin over his job after 18 years as mayor of Russia’s economic powerhouse, a struggle that is testing President Dmitri A. Medvedev ahead of national elections in 2011 and 2012. The mayor has described homosexuality as satanic. There is little public support for gay rights in Russia, where the dominant church frowns on homosexuality.

September 28, 2010 – PinkNews

24
Russian president fires homophobic Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov

by Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk
Yuri Luzhkov, the homophobic mayor of Moscow, has been fired by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. Mr Luzhkov, who bans gay Pride marches and has called gays and lesbians "satanic", has been fighting for his political life in the past few weeks. According to a presidential decree, the 74-year-old, a senior member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, was sacked because he lost "the trust of the president of the Russian Federation".

Mr Luzhkov’s dismissal is said to be immediate. He has not yet commented. He has been the mayor of Moscow since 1992 and was once seen as a future Russian president. However, he lost the support of the Kremlin and has been plagued by allegations of corruption, along with claims he bulldozed Moscow’s historic buildings. One TV channel claimed he had channelled funds and deals to his wife, a property developer who is now Russia’s richest woman.

Mr Luzhkov’s departure is expected to be welcomed by gay rights campaigners in Moscow, who have had their plans for Pride marches thwarted for years.

September 2010 – DW World

24a
German human rights commissioner reports little progress in Russia

by Nina Werkhaeuser (dm)
German human rights commissioner reports little progress in Russia Germany’s commissioner for human rights, Markus Loening, says rights activists in Russia are still struggling against a government that is unsympathetic to their cause and which takes measures to hamper their work. Loening made the comments after returning from a three-day visit to Russia that saw him meet with human rights and gay rights activists as well as non-governmental organizations.

The commissioner reported being warmly welcomed by the Russian Foreign Ministry, but said that the country still had some way to go to ensuring some basic freedoms. He said the Russian government had "a completely wrong understanding" when it came to rights most Europeans take for granted, such as freedom of assembly. "It’s clear that the state there has this understanding: that citizens may only demonstrate when they are permitted to do so, and where they are permitted to do so," Loening said. "But of course this is not an acceptable position."

The German human rights commissioner reported little progress on human rights under the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev. Russia’s major TV broadcasters are still all state-controlled and the country’s judiciary is not independent. He also said a bad signal was sent when the murders of prominent journalists are not properly investigated.

Homophobic society
During his visit, Loening met with Russian gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev, who organizes the Moscow Gay Pride parade. Gay people living in Moscow face high levels of discrimination, and the Moscow city administration regularly seeks to scupper plans for the gay parade. Only a few weeks ago, Alexeyev says he was put under house arrest, and told to renounce a complaint he’s brought before the European Court of Human Rights. Loening expressed his amazement at what he called the tireless engagement of the gay community in the face of an extremely homophobic Russian society.

"Obviously gay and lesbian people should be able to push for their rights, here in Moscow as well. This has to be allowed. And for this cause I’ll always lend my support," he said.

The German rights commissioner also attended a hearing against Mikhail Khodorkovsky, formerly Russia’s richest man. The entrepreneur was arrested in 2003 after criticizing the Kremlin and charged with fraud and tax evasion. "Mr. Khodorkovsky sat in a glass box along with a former employee as the prosecutor read out long lists and acts," said Loening. "This trial borders on the absurd."

NGOs hindered
Loening also met with representatives of non-governmental organizations, which reported state-imposed restrictions on campaigning for the environment, human rights and democracy. Loening said the organizations were being increasingly impinged upon by the Russian government. "All in all, the NGOs spoke of consistently bad human rights conditions, and of the consistently difficult work that they have to do," he said. "I take my hat off to these people who involve themselves despite these adversities, and face things such as imprisonment and criminal charges."

Tanya Lokshina, the deputy director of the Russia office for rights group Human Rights Watch, supports this view. "On the level of rhetoric, things do not look so bleak in Russia these days," she told Deutsche Welle. "But as far as the actual situation on the ground is concerned it does remain very dire. I’m talking about the plight of human rights groups, the pressure on civil society, and the ongoing crisis in the Northern Caucasus region."

Lokshina insists however that the international community, and Europe, can play a part in improving human rights conditions in Russia. "The more officials from the European Union member states visit Russia the better, because international scrutiny always does help – at least it helps reduce the number of abuses by the mere fact that the government is aware that it is being watched," she said. It seems clear that conditions on the ground in Russia aren’t going to change anytime soon. But what Lokshina and the German human rights commissioner both agree on is that countries like Germany must continue to let Russia know that rights abuses there are not going unnoticed.

Editor: Chuck Penfold

Gay Russia News & Reports 2010 Jan-Sep

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