RUSSIA-RIGHTS/GAY Russia failing to prevent rising homophobic violence - HRW

Record ID: 278230

  • Title: RUSSIA-RIGHTS/GAY Russia failing to prevent rising homophobic violence - HRW
  • Date: 15th December 2014
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (DECEMBER 15, 2014) (REUTERS) HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH AND RUSSIAN LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT) COMMUNITY REPRESENTATIVES DURING NEWS CONFERENCE COPIES OF REPORT ON DESK (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT RESEARCHER IN RUSSIA, TANYA KUPER, SAYING: "What we see - is a more organised way of (carrying out) such attacks, all of them are j
  • Embargoed: 30th December 2014 12:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA21QFZC3C40WQBOACIH9GMPFB6
  • Story Text: Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday (December 15) said Russian authorities showed unwillingness to investigate cases of intolerance and violence against members of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, which were on the rise.
    The report says gay propaganda law adopted by the Russian parliament a year and a half ago has lead to a deterioration of gay rights in the country and to an increase in violence against sexual minorities.
    The law banned the spreading of "propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations" to minors and sets heavy fines for violations.
    "What we see - is a more organised way of (carrying out) such attacks, all of them are justified by the idea that gays are bad, that LGBT in itself is bad for Russian children, which is very dangerous not only for LGBT, but also for the people that support LGBT rights, because this moves them to the risk group," said Tanya Kuper, an HRW researcher and one of the report authors.
    The report criticises Russian law enforcement bodies for not investigating crimes against members of the LGBT community, as well as failing to punish those that are guilty.
    "As a result of our study we have discovered that in the cases of homophobic violence law enforcement bodies do practically nothing in order to launch a criminal investigation of such violence and stop it. They intentionally ignore a motive of hatred in such cases," said Kuper.
    HRW conducted 98 interviews with members of the LGBT community, human rights activists and lawyers in 16 cities across Russia.
    "I would like to mention one more consequence of this legislation, apart from violence (against LGBT community members), one of the main consequences - and maybe this was the main goal for adopting this law - was to make lives of LGBT people invisible, so that no one would see, hear them, so that the LGBT community was not a part of Russian society," said Rachel Denber, HRW Deputy Director of the Europe and Central Asia Division.
    Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has embraced the Russian Orthodox Church as a moral authority and harnessed its influence as a source of political support, has championed socially conservative values since starting a new, six-year term in May 2012.
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