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During a silent protest, 20 gays in Chisinau wore rainbow tape on their mouths to show their lack of freedom of expression

NEW YORK (Tiraspol Times) – City authorities in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, should stop interfering with lesbian and gay rights demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch is a United States based international non-government organization that advocates human rights. Its headquarters is in New York City.

In a letter to Moldova’s president, Human Rights Watch stated that both European and domestic laws guarantee freedom of assembly and freedom from discrimination for all.

In April, Chisinau authorities banned a public march planned for later that month by GenderDoc-M, a group of local gays and lesbians. The march was to be a part of the “All Different, All Equal Campaign” of the Council of Europe and the European Commission.

In its letter, Human Rights Watch called on the Moldovan government as well as city officials to ensure that peaceful demonstrations proceed without hindrance and to pass as a matter of priority legislation outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

" - For the third year in a row, city authorities have tried to bar lesbians and gays from celebrating their community publicly in Chisinau," said Scott Long, a spokesman from Human Rights Watch.

" - Freedom of assembly and equality before the law are basic rights, and all Moldovan officials should protect them."

Tiraspol, PMR, more tolerant

Tiraspol has instead offered its city as an alternative location for gays on both sides of the Dniester river.

The move by Tiraspol to open the city for gay rights is in line with Pridnestrovie's more tolerant atmosphere for its gay and lesbian communities. The European Parliament's Intergroup website has published commentary praising the gay-friendly position of Pridnestrovie's authorities.

" - We have found Transnistria to exhibit a higher level of openness and tolerance on issues of gay and lesbian rights. We especially laud the position of Human Rights Ombudsman Vasili Kalko and his office's work with the Constitutional Law Court to ensure the conditions for a satisfactory climate of non-discrimination," explained liason officer Dieter Graf.

Homosexuality, which was partially illegal in Soviet times, has long been de-criminalized in Pridnestrovie, and - unlike in Moldova - there is no evidence that gays and lesbians are subject to discrimination in Pridnestrovie. The new and emerging country, which is also called Transnistria or Transdniester, declared independence in 1990. It is located between Moldova and Ukraine.

The Chisinau city hall banned similar demonstrations in 2005 and 2006. Moldovan lesbian and gay activists are appealing the 2005 ban to the European Court of Human Rights.

The ban by City Hall came despite a 13 February 2007 finding by the Moldovan Supreme Court that the city’s ban on the 2006 pride march was illegal.

The decision stated: “The Supreme Court considers unjustified the refusal of the Chisinau City Hall to authorize a march of solidarity by GenderDoc-M, rationalizing it by possible threat to public order, as this motive is inconsistent with the right to freedom of assembly.”

" -Chisinau authorities prefer their own prejudices to the mandates of Moldova’s highest court," said Long.

European Parliament condemns homophobic attacks

In protest, twenty Moldovan gay activists wanted to lay flowers at a monument in Chisinau. However, they faced arrest for trying to do so, and was turned back by a strong contingent of police before they could reach the monument. Instead, they stood silently before City Hall for 15 minutes with their mouth taped with "rainbow tape" to protest their lack of freedom of expression. During this event, a counter demonstration hurled insults and threw eggs at them.

Within the past month, two other bans on European gay pride parades have been declared illegal. On 2 May 2007 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that a ban on a 2005 gay pride parade by Warsaw’s then-mayor Lech Kaczynski, who is now Poland’s president, violated the rights to freedom of association and assembly and to freedom from discrimination.

On 12 April 2007 the Regional Administrative Court in Latvia's capital Riga ruled that a ban against a lesbian and gay pride march last summer was illegal.

The European Parliament, in a resolution on “Homophobia in Europe,” has condemned “a series of worrying events” involving “banning gay pride or equality marches.” These bans—ranging from Poland to Latvia to Russia—violate basic rights protections. (With information from Human Rights Watch)

See also:
» No pride in Moldova; gay event attacked by homophobic mob [1]
» Tiraspol welcomes gays banned from marching in Chisinau, Moldova [2]
» EU Parliament group slams Moldova over gay crackdown; praises PMR [3]

On the web:
» Human Rights Watch: Protest to Vladimir Voronin [4]