On Nov 6th, 2013, the Duma, which is the Russian lower house of parliament, passed a national law that allows for punishing any so-called "non-traditional sexual relations" that are publicly expressed and that may be seen by children. It was said by Yelena Mizulina, a supporter of this law and the chairman of the lower house’s committee on family issues, that this law intends to protect minors (Ostaptschuk, 2013). Individuals and companies that violate the law would be charged from $117 to more than $27,000 (but in Russian roubles). Any expression of homosexuality through social media would also be unacceptable and one could be fined $2370 (Ostaptschuk, 2013). Alexander Suturin, a newspaper editor, was fined $1010 for printing “Being gay is normal” (Day, 2014). Even foreigners can be punished, arrested, and expelled if they are thought to have “affected” Russian citizens. Vladimir V. Putin claimed that the establishment of this “Gay Propaganda” law has set Russia as a righteous defender of Christianity and traditional values that Western world have long abandoned (Chan, 2017).
Although homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, widespread prejudice still remains. In 2011, a number of prominent gay rights activists including Dan Choi, a openly gay US soldier, were arrested and detained by Moscow police during the banned Moscow Pride march close to the Kremlin. The marchers were attacked and disturbed by a group of Russian neo-nazis, and witnesses claimed that there was collusion between Moscow police and neo-nazis, as neo-nazi members were seen to leave the crowd and enter police buses parked nearby. Since Russia’s anti-gay laws were established, a tremendous burst of vigilantism has occurred across the country. Gay people were lured to meetings and being beaten and humiliated, often on camera. In February 2014, three men in Russia were sentenced for the violent murder of a man they stabbed and set on fire, all because they suspected he was gay. The victim was lured from his car into a forest and was kicked and stabbed multiple times. The murderers then put the body in the car and burned it with petrol (Day, 2014). In another case, a gay man from Volgograd, a southern city of Russia, was sexually assaulted with beer bottles and was smashed by stones on his head. The men who committed this terrible crime said that they saw the victim drinking with other two men, so they followed him and asked him whether he was homosexual. After the victim admitted, they started torturing him (Day, 2014). Similar incidents happened all over the country, and many of them were believed to be permitted and even instigated by the government.
A graphic video of a gay rights activist being assaulted by Russian paratroopers in St. Petersburg. Viewer discretion is advised.
An image of a victim's car being burnt, after he was killed in a hate crime.
After the anti-gay law was set in 2013, three Russian gay rights activists brought the case against the this federal statute. They were all arrested between 2009 and 2012 for protesting against local anti-gay laws, which were later used as the model for the national law. Russia’s constitutional court dismissed their cases, the three men were fined for breaking the law and appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (Chan, 2017). Then they brought the case to EU, and in June, 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of three homosexual activists, saying that “the very purpose of the laws and the way they were formulated and applied” was “discriminatory and, over all, served no legitimate public interest.” Russia was ordered to pay the men a total of $48,000 as compensation for the damage. However, there is no strong enforcement mechanism in the ruling, as with much of international law. Russia also vowed to file an appeal. The Russian Justice Ministry insisted that this law did not violate international practice and was for the purpose of minors’ morality and health. Apparently it “did not impose any measures that would ban homosexuality or condemn it officially”, thus they were not discriminatory at all (Chan, 2017).
A photo of the UN Human Rights Council chamber in Geneva
A photo of the UN Human Rights Council chamber in Geneva
The European Human Rights Court ruled that the homosexual-propaganda law does the opposite of what Russia intended--it actually hurts children instead of protecting them. According to Human Rights Watch, the law “reinforces stigma, encourages homophobia, and discriminates against a vulnerable minority – harming children in the process”(Reid, 2017). Children are hurt by law because they are taught to not be themselves for fear of danger. The Kremlin says this law is about minors morality and health, but how can it be moral to encourage people to hurt others? These discriminatory anti-homosexual laws violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Gay people are not seen as equal before the Russian law, they do not have the freedom of expression, or freedom of thought (UN, 1947). Russia’s constitution supersedes the European Human Rights Court, which is interesting for a country that has had issues with human rights very recently.
"Vitaly I. Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, addressing the Security Council" (Sengupta, 2016).
Russia has not exactly been a champion of human rights in the international community. In 2016, Russia lost its seat on the UN Human Rights Council, with many believing that the country’s interference with Syria had to do with the loss (Sengupta, 2016). States are supposed to guarantee human rights to all its people, thus guaranteeing human rights in the international community. Russia apparently does not do so, with its record of human rights violations in the past few years. International society and the United Nations were created to set specific norms for the international community, but when Russia, a member of the UN Security Council, violates the human rights of its own citizens, these norms are threatened.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia
Russia as a country has a very large sphere of influence. Even though the USSR has dissolved, countries that were once part of the union still have a relationship with Russia. If Russia shows that discrimination against gay people is okay, other countries may discriminate against gay people as well. Also, Russia is on the UN Security Council, so really it is showing the entire world that it believes discrimination is okay. There are countries in the world where discrimination of gay people is even worse, and if a security council member promotes discrimination, these violations of human rights will not stop anytime soon. This post has described several of the terrible things that have happened in Russia, and if the international community wants these things to stop, action must be taken against Russia.
Links:
http://www.dw.com/en/european-human-rights-court-rules-russian-gay-propaganda-law-illegal/a-39325178
Sources:
Chan, S. (2017). Russia’s ‘Gay Propaganda’ Laws Are Illegal, European Court Rules. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/world/europe/russia-gay-propaganda.html?_r=0
Day, A. (2014). The 25 most shocking anti-gay stories from Russia so far. Pinknews. Retrieved from http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2014/02/07/the-25-most-shocking-anti-gay-stories-from-russia-so-far/
Ostaptschuk, M. (2013). Russia's Duma muzzles gays and lesbians. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved from http://www.dw.com/en/russias-duma-muzzles-gays-and-lesbians/a-16875052
Reid, G. (2017). European court condemns Russia's gay propaganda law. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/22/european-court-condemns-russias-gay-propaganda-law
Sengupta, S. (2016). Russia loses seat on U.N. Human Rights Council. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/29/world/russia-loses-seat-on-un-human-rights-council.html
United Nations General Assembly (1947). Universal declaration of human rights. United Nations. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
I feel this post is very relevant to why many nations feel there need to be changes made to the security council. Because Russia is seen as a world leader, it is necessary for them to make these social advancements.
ReplyDeleteGood job! The embedded video really put this entire issue into perspective for me. Seeing violence enforced on an individual who simply wants to express their sexuality and thoughts is horrifying and cannot be legitimized. I also agree with what your group is saying about children not benefitting from the homosexual propaganda law. Children shouldn't live in shame or fear for something as simple as their sexuality, this could potentially create future violence and discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Especially because Russia is a world leader, the community can face further discrimination on an international scale if no changes are made to the law itself.
ReplyDeleteThis post did a great job at explaining the horrifying realities of sexual discrimination in Russia. As well as analyzing why members of the security council needs to be changed.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post on a law that I would have otherwise had no idea about. This makes me wonder if there are greater horrors that occur to the LGBTQ community of countries that Russia occupies, where the civilians are already horribly mistreated in many instances.
ReplyDeleteThe part about how it actually harms children as well in a great point to pick out and discuss. I think this post is interesting as well because people sometimes forget how cruel and discriminatory some Russian laws are because Russia is a relatively "more developed" country and it is one of the UN P5. But there is a lot that goes on in Russia that blatantly violates basic human rights.
Awesome discussion, ladies!
ReplyDelete