Gay Pride march in Moscow will go under watchful eye of the international community
05/01/2006
Submitted by
Nikolay Alekseev, Human Rights LGBT Project GayRussia.ru
Gay Festival will become a democratic stratum between the start of Russian presidency in the Council of Europe and G8 Summit in St. Petersburg
Russia, for the first time in its history, has taken over the presidency of the G8, the forum of the leaders of the industrially developed nations of the world. The decision that from January 1, 2006, Russia would become the “president country” of this elite club was taken in 2002 at the Kananaskis, Canada, summit. Russia took over the presidency from the United Kingdom and will hand it over to Germany in 2007. The annual “summit” of leaders will take place in July in the “Palace of Congress” complex in Strelna, 15 km from St. Petersburg. The pearl of this complex is Konstantinovski Palace, built by Peter the Great on the banks of the Finnish Gulf.
The presiding G8 country defines topics which will become priorities for the discussion of the world leaders during the year. One of the main issues of Russian presidency will be global energy security but also, among the main topics will be others, like fight against various epidemics, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in particular.
According to the statistics released by United Nations before the World AIDS Day the number of HIV-positive people in the world crossed 40 million. Today in Russia there are between 860,000 and 1,400,000 HIV-positive. International experts admit that the epidemic is getting close to the critical mark of 1% of the population. Only last year 30,000 new HIV cases were registered in Russia. In the year when Russian took the presidency in G8 it has the leadership in Europe in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS. What is also very important is not only the search for the decision of the issue of HIV distribution but also finding of solution for social problems of HIV-people. Discrimination and stigmatization of HIV-positives is still very common in the society. That is why the decision of Russia to put part of its efforts during world leaders meetings in St. Petersburg to find the ways to stop the growth of the infection and its consequences looks like a good and important decision.
Apart from presidency in G8, Russia will also have another very important role in 2006. May 19 sees the end of the presidency of Romania of the Council of Europe. Russian Federation will be the next to take over this position. Council of Europe is the main human rights organization on the continent uniting 46 countries, slightly more than half of them are also members of the European Union. The presiding state rotates every six months in alphabetical order in the English language. Russia which entered Council of Europe in 1996, has never headed the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, main executive body of the organization. The next time the presidency comes to Russia will be in 23 years. The importance of the upcoming leadership should not be underestimated. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Russian first TV channel ORT that “the role of president means special efforts to find compromises and mutually acceptable solutions with partners. That is how we are going to act on the position of the president”.
Presiding positions in G8 and Council of Europe has a direct effect on the Russian LGBT community. Since the fight against HIV/AIDS was named by Russia as one of the priorities for 2006 in G8, the organizers of the first conference of the International Day against Homophobia, which takes place as part of Moscow LGBT “Pride” festival in May this year, decided to give special consideration to the issues of HIV/AIDS among sexual minorities as part of the conference programme. Representatives of Paris City Hall will take about the prevention of HIV/AIDS in big cities. Apart from that participants of the conference will listen to the speeches of other international and Russian experts in the field. A special workshop on HIV/AIDS will be held as part of the conference.
The presiding role of Russia in the Council of Europe will undoubtedly have an important influence on the realization by Russian gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals of their constitutional rights, in particular those for meetings and demonstrations. The first gay pride parade which will take place in Moscow on May 27 – the 13th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality, will be conducted just a week after the change of the president on the Council of Europe. Obviously the Russian authorities will not allow any decision of Moscow city authorities to limit Russian gays and lesbians of their right to demonstrations, guaranteed not only by Russian Constitution but also by the European Convention – the main document of the Council of Europe.
“The mere fact of conducting such event and the provision of security for its participants will become a major check for Russia in terms of its readiness to respect rights and liberties as well as principles of democracy, followed by member-states of the Council of Europe and G8,” said Nikolai Alekseev, the head of GayRussia.Ru and one of the organizers of Moscow LGBT-festival.
“In the current political and international circumstances, in which Russia found itself in 2006, I cannot even imagine that Russian authorities will take steps to ban the gay pride and other events of the festival. Russia can not allow itself to risk its reputation a week after the start of Russian presidency in the Council of Europe and just before the summit of G8 leaders in St. Petersburg,” he suggested.
As the fact that Russia is becoming president of two prestigious forums in 2006, this year can bring further developments in democracy and liberty in Russia. Many experts are saying that political and international reputation of Russia rests on presiding in G8 and Council of Europe.
May 27, 2006, the day of the first Moscow gay pride parade Russia will be under watchful eye of the whole international community. Russia has to prove to the world that it is following the principles of democratic development and respect for human rights, as well as has full involvement in the global problems of humanity.
www.gayrussia.ru
Russia, for the first time in its history, has taken over the presidency of the G8, the forum of the leaders of the industrially developed nations of the world. The decision that from January 1, 2006, Russia would become the “president country” of this elite club was taken in 2002 at the Kananaskis, Canada, summit. Russia took over the presidency from the United Kingdom and will hand it over to Germany in 2007. The annual “summit” of leaders will take place in July in the “Palace of Congress” complex in Strelna, 15 km from St. Petersburg. The pearl of this complex is Konstantinovski Palace, built by Peter the Great on the banks of the Finnish Gulf.
The presiding G8 country defines topics which will become priorities for the discussion of the world leaders during the year. One of the main issues of Russian presidency will be global energy security but also, among the main topics will be others, like fight against various epidemics, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in particular.
According to the statistics released by United Nations before the World AIDS Day the number of HIV-positive people in the world crossed 40 million. Today in Russia there are between 860,000 and 1,400,000 HIV-positive. International experts admit that the epidemic is getting close to the critical mark of 1% of the population. Only last year 30,000 new HIV cases were registered in Russia. In the year when Russian took the presidency in G8 it has the leadership in Europe in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS. What is also very important is not only the search for the decision of the issue of HIV distribution but also finding of solution for social problems of HIV-people. Discrimination and stigmatization of HIV-positives is still very common in the society. That is why the decision of Russia to put part of its efforts during world leaders meetings in St. Petersburg to find the ways to stop the growth of the infection and its consequences looks like a good and important decision.
Apart from presidency in G8, Russia will also have another very important role in 2006. May 19 sees the end of the presidency of Romania of the Council of Europe. Russian Federation will be the next to take over this position. Council of Europe is the main human rights organization on the continent uniting 46 countries, slightly more than half of them are also members of the European Union. The presiding state rotates every six months in alphabetical order in the English language. Russia which entered Council of Europe in 1996, has never headed the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, main executive body of the organization. The next time the presidency comes to Russia will be in 23 years. The importance of the upcoming leadership should not be underestimated. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Russian first TV channel ORT that “the role of president means special efforts to find compromises and mutually acceptable solutions with partners. That is how we are going to act on the position of the president”.
Presiding positions in G8 and Council of Europe has a direct effect on the Russian LGBT community. Since the fight against HIV/AIDS was named by Russia as one of the priorities for 2006 in G8, the organizers of the first conference of the International Day against Homophobia, which takes place as part of Moscow LGBT “Pride” festival in May this year, decided to give special consideration to the issues of HIV/AIDS among sexual minorities as part of the conference programme. Representatives of Paris City Hall will take about the prevention of HIV/AIDS in big cities. Apart from that participants of the conference will listen to the speeches of other international and Russian experts in the field. A special workshop on HIV/AIDS will be held as part of the conference.
The presiding role of Russia in the Council of Europe will undoubtedly have an important influence on the realization by Russian gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals of their constitutional rights, in particular those for meetings and demonstrations. The first gay pride parade which will take place in Moscow on May 27 – the 13th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality, will be conducted just a week after the change of the president on the Council of Europe. Obviously the Russian authorities will not allow any decision of Moscow city authorities to limit Russian gays and lesbians of their right to demonstrations, guaranteed not only by Russian Constitution but also by the European Convention – the main document of the Council of Europe.
“The mere fact of conducting such event and the provision of security for its participants will become a major check for Russia in terms of its readiness to respect rights and liberties as well as principles of democracy, followed by member-states of the Council of Europe and G8,” said Nikolai Alekseev, the head of GayRussia.Ru and one of the organizers of Moscow LGBT-festival.
“In the current political and international circumstances, in which Russia found itself in 2006, I cannot even imagine that Russian authorities will take steps to ban the gay pride and other events of the festival. Russia can not allow itself to risk its reputation a week after the start of Russian presidency in the Council of Europe and just before the summit of G8 leaders in St. Petersburg,” he suggested.
As the fact that Russia is becoming president of two prestigious forums in 2006, this year can bring further developments in democracy and liberty in Russia. Many experts are saying that political and international reputation of Russia rests on presiding in G8 and Council of Europe.
May 27, 2006, the day of the first Moscow gay pride parade Russia will be under watchful eye of the whole international community. Russia has to prove to the world that it is following the principles of democratic development and respect for human rights, as well as has full involvement in the global problems of humanity.
www.gayrussia.ru
