March, 14 2012, 01:03pm EDT
Russian Court Ruling Bans LGBTI Group from 2014 Winter Olympics
Today, Human Rights First condemns a recent Russian court decision which discriminates against LGBTI persons. The organization is concerned that the court construed homosexuality as "extremist" behavior and urges the Russian government to amend vague anti-extremism laws to prevent their misuse.
WASHINGTON
Today, Human Rights First condemns a recent Russian court decision which discriminates against LGBTI persons. The organization is concerned that the court construed homosexuality as "extremist" behavior and urges the Russian government to amend vague anti-extremism laws to prevent their misuse.
Human Rights First's call comes after the Pervomai district court of Krasnodar, Russia, published the full text of its February decision that upheld a Krasnodar Ministry of Justice verdict denying registration to Sochi Pride House--a civil society group that, like many advocacy organizations of many different causes, seeks to capitalize on the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi to promote tolerance in sports.
"The court's decision discriminates against LGBTI Russians by denying them the right to freedom of association simply because they are gay," said Human Rights First's Innokenty Grekov. "The court's flawed reasoning equates the struggle with homophobia and 'extremist activities' that may threaten Russia's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Human Rights First urges Russia's Federal Ministry of Justice to seek reversal of this decision. Alarmingly, last year, the same court in Krasnodar banned several Jehovah's Witnesses and Falun Gong publications as "extremist." The verdicts of those and similar cases that misuse of Russia's anti-extremism legislation are likely to be reversed at the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR). The organizers of Sochi Pride House is expected to appeal to the ECHR; their leader Nikolai Alexeyev won a case in 2010, after the court declared bans on Moscow Pride to violate European human rights guarantees.
The latest decision against Sochi Pride House states that "propaganda of nontraditional sexual orientation" is a direct threat to the Russian society, while calling attempts to confront homophobia "extremist" because they inherently "incite social and religious hatred."
The Russian government's approach to confronting "extremism" focuses on both combating violent hate crimes, most of which are still committed by neo-Nazi gangs, and clamping down on fundamental freedoms of speech, religion, and association by engaging in dubious efforts to seek out "extremism" in nonviolent dissent.
"The authorities in Russia can solve this problem by amending the country's ambiguous anti-extremism legislation to prioritize violent crime instead of going after dissenting voices," concluded Grekov. "Month after month, we see verdicts that violate Russia's constitution and its international obligations to freedom of expression and assembly under the guise of anti-extremism. LGBTI persons are not a threat to Russia's statehood, nor can they 'incite hatred' toward themselves. The official rhetoric advanced by the court in Krasnodar sets a tone that is provocative and dangerous, and Russian authorities must speak out to temper such accusations."
Human Rights First is a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York and Washington D.C. Human Rights First believes that building respect for human rights and the rule of law will help ensure the dignity to which every individual is entitled and will stem tyranny, extremism, intolerance, and violence.
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Amnesty International on Thursday called for a war crimes investigation into recent Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon that killed dozens of civilians, as well as a suspension of arms transfers to Israel as it attacks Gaza, the West Bank, and Syria.
In a briefing paper titled The Sky Rained Missiles, Amnesty "documented four illustrative cases in which unlawful Israeli strikes killed at least 49 civilians" in Lebanon in September and October amid an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign of invasion and bombardment that Lebanese officials say has killed or wounded more than 20,000 people.
"Amnesty International found that Israeli forces unlawfully struck residential buildings in the village of al-Ain in northern Bekaa on September 29, the village of Aitou in northern Lebanon on October 14, and in Baalbeck city on October 21," the rights group said. "Israeli forces also unlawfully attacked the municipal headquarters in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on October 16."
Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty's senior director for research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns, said in a statement that "these four attacks are emblematic of Israel's shocking disregard for civilian lives in Lebanon and their willingness to flout international law."
The September 29 attack "destroyed the house of the Syrian al-Shaar family, killing all nine members of the family who were sleeping inside," the report states.
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On October 16, Israel bombed the Nabatieh municipal complex, killing Mayor Ahmad Khalil and 10 other people.
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In the deadliest single strike detailed in the Amnesty report, IDF bombardment believed to be targeting a suspected Hezbollah member killed 23 civilians forcibly displaced from southern Lebanon in Aitou on October 14.
"The youngest casualty was Aline, a 5-month-old baby who was flung from the house into a pickup truck nearby and was found by rescue workers the day after the strike," Amnesty said.
Survivor Jinane Hijazi told Amnesty: "I've lost everything; my entire family, my parents, my siblings, my daughter. I wish I had died that day too."
As the report notes:
A fragment of the munition found at the site of the attack was analyzed by an Amnesty International weapons expert and based upon its size, shape, and the scalloped edges of the heavy metal casing, identified as most likely a MK-80 series aerial bomb, which would mean it was at least a 500-pound bomb. The United States is the primary supplier of these types of munitions to Israel.
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Guevara Rosas said: "These attacks must be investigated as war crimes. The Lebanese government must urgently call for a special session at the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigative mechanism into the alleged violations and crimes committed by all parties in this conflict. It must also grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over Rome Statute crimes committed on Lebanese territory."
"Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful airstrikes in Gaza and past wars in Lebanon taking a devastating toll on civilians."
Last month, the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Israel's 433-day Gaza onslaught, which has left more than 162,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing in the embattled enclave.
The tribunal also issued a warrant for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes committed during and after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, in which more than 1,100 people were killed and over 240 others were kidnapped.
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice is weighing a genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel. Last week, Amnesty published a report accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
The United States—which provides Israel with tens of billions of dollars in military aid and diplomatic cover—has also been accused of complicity in Israeli war crimes in Palestine and Lebanon.
"Israel has an appalling track record of carrying out unlawful airstrikes in Gaza and past wars in Lebanon taking a devastating toll on civilians," Guevara Rosas said. "The latest evidence of unlawful air strikes during Israel's most recent offensive in Lebanon underscores the urgent need for all states, especially the United States, to suspend arms transfers to Israel due to the risk they will be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law."
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"The CFPB is cracking down on these excessive junk fees and requiring big banks to come clean about the interest rate they're charging on overdraft loans."
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