Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Attack on the LGBT Center in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
We received the following press release condeming an attack on the LGBT Centre in Skopje and calling on the Interior Ministry to find and prosecute those who attacked the center and to protect LGBT persons, calling upon the Prime Minister and President to condemn the attack, and calling upon media to report accurately.
Coalition 'Sexual and Health Rights of Marginalized Communities' - Skopje
LGBT United - Tetovo
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia
PRESS RELEASE
STOP THE HATE VIOLENCE TOWARDS LGBT PEOPLE
We strongly condemn the hate violence that occurred in front of the
monument "A Warrior on a Horse" and the demolition of the LGBT Centre in
the Old Bazaar (during a projection of a film and the forum for the rights
of transgender people) and the hate speech that provokes violence and
discrimination.
We demand that the Ministry of Interior most urgently identify and arrest
the criminal offenders who assaulted a person in the Centre of Skopje, who
yet again demolished the LGBT Centre in the Old Bazaar, who attacked and
injured a police officer while on duty, and who spread and continue to
spread threats and hate speech that provokes violence and discrimination
on the ground of sexual orientation and gender identity. Unfortunately, in
spite of the undertaken preventive measurements by the Ministry of
Interior, serious criminal acts were committed (violence on the Square,
violence towards the LGBT Centre and the activists inside it, an attack of
a police officer) for which there are numerous indications to have been
criminal acts committed out of hatred on the ground of sexual orientation
and gender identity.
Even though this is not the first attack of the LGBT Centre, it is the
first one committed in the presence of people and during an event, hence
it is our opinion that the intolerance towards the LGBT community is
increasing. As a result, we call upon the Public Prosecutor's Office to
finally recognize the criminal acts committed out of hate towards people's
characteristics, therefore we demand that the criminal offenders be found
and prosecuted for violence caused from discrimination on the ground of
sexual orientation and gender identity of people. We demand that the
decisions of the European Court of Human Rights be finally applied,
wherein it is stated that "sexual orientation as a fundamental
characteristic of a person, should be treated in the same manner as the
categories race, ethnicity and religion, which are most often covered by
laws for sanctioning hate speech and hate crimes." It is our opinion that
with this the LGBT Community shall receive the protection and support from
the institutions whose obligations is to protect the rights of all
citizens and shall prevent such violence from occurring again in the
future.
We would like to remind the public that as early as 21.06.2012, the
Coalition and the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights reported to the
police that publicly "open violence is encouraged towards LGBT people" and
that "we expect from the Ministry of Interior to undertake the necessary
measurements for protection against violence, discrimination and spread of
hate on the ground of sexual orientation and gender identity and to
provide peaceful and undisturbed proceeding of the planned activities
within the "Pride Week".
We call upon the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic of
Macedonia to condemn such violence, because LGBT people are also citizens
of the Republic of Macedonia and should be respected and protected as the
rest of the citizens of this state.
We demand from the leaders of the political parties, as well as the
religious communities to condemn the violence towards the LGBT people and
the human rights activists and to disassociate themselves from the
hooligans and the neo-Nazi groups who publicly encourage violence and
discrimination.
We demand that the Government and the Members of Parliament prepare
amendments to the laws in order to criminally punish hate speech on the
ground of sexual orientation and gender identity and to foresee more
severe punishments for acts committed due to hate towards sexual
orientation and gender identity.
We make an appeal to the media and the journalists to stop spreading
misinformation (for instance the misinformation regarding the "Gay
Pride"), to refrain themselves from spreading negative stereotypes and
prejudices regarding LGBT people and from publishing contents that
encourage violence and discrimination on any ground.
We call upon the civil and intellectual public of the Republic of
Macedonia to condemn most strenuously the violence towards the LGBT people
(who were attacked by masked hooligans during a tribune in the LGBT
centre), as well as the extremists groups (from neo-Nazis, masked
hooligans to religious fanatics) who have begun to ravage publicly in the
centre of Skopje.
Once more, we demand from the Ministry of Interior to undertake the
necessary measures for protection of the LGBT people and human rights
activists against violence, discrimination and spread of hatred on the
ground of sexual orientation and gender identity, and to provide peaceful
and undisturbed proceeding of the other planned activities within the
"Pride Week."
Skopje 23.06.2013
(mew) (h/t rw)
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/international_law/2013/06/macedonia.html
