Despite months of planning and intense dialogue with state authorities the Belgrade Pride parade 2011 was banned. The ban, however, may bring some positive effects. Listen to an interview with Boban Stojanovic and Goran Miletic, two of the organisers.
In an open letter we urge Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt to increase the pressure on the Cambodian government to abandon plans for a repressive law on NGO:s. We have previously warned that the law’s real purpose is to give the government a tool to silence inconvenient voices.
On July 31, sixteen peaceful protesters were arrested at a rally for freedom of assembly in Nizhny Novgorod. The same day several dozen people were also arrested in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. We call for the immediate release of all peaceful protesters.
Several human rights organizations including Civil Rights Defenders condemn the recent arrests of peaceful demonstrators in Belarus. We call upon the Belarusian authorities to immediately release all detained protesters and respect the right to freedom of assembly to all its citizens.
Civil Rights Defenders is concerned about the continued harrassment and intimidation of human rights defenders in Russia. Igor Kalyapin, head of our Russian partner organisation Committee Against Torture, along with nearly forty others, were arbitrarily arrested on March 31, 2011.
According to a newly released report, the behaviour of the Belarusian authorities after the Presidential election in December, 2010, shows that the Belarusian Government does not fulfill the country’s obligations regarding freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
Support our petition to the President of Belarus. We urge the President to fulfil the country’s obligations i regard to the respect of human rights.
On Sunday October 10th a new attempt will be made to carry out a Pride parade in Belgrade. Robert Hårdh, Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders, will be in the Serbian capital to participate in the parade.
Despite all the obstacles, the International Festival of Queer Culture opened successfully on September 16. In the last minute, the organisers had been forced to find a new location for the opening ceremony and the photo exhibition.
From April 29th until May 2nd Gay Pride is arranged in Moldova. A demonstration on Sunday May 2nd has been forbidden with reference to protests from religious and other groups. The event will be an important test for the new coalition government Alliance for European Integration.
On this day, a year ago, the first attempt to organise a Queer festival in Sarajevo ended in violence. The festival had to go underground since the security of the participants could not be guaranteed by the authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. To remind about everyone’s equal rights and everyone’s right to freedom of peaceful assembly and [...]
In the last minute the Ministry of Interior in Serbia stopped the Belgrade Pride planned for Sunday Sep 20. On Saturday morning the police suddenly stated that it would not be abel to guarantee security for the participants in the parade if the parade as planned was to be held in the center of Belgrade. [...]
On Sunday, September 20th, a Pride parade will be arranged in Belgrad. During the last attempt in 2001, peaceful demonstrators were attacked and beaten by nationalist groups and football hooligans. The police stood on the sidelines and watched. This time the Ministry of Interior and the police have promised to guarantee security for the participants, [...]
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