Posts Tagged ‘gay rights’
January 16th, 2012
One person has been killed and at least three others have been injured in
clashes between security forces and Shia protesters in
Saudi Arabia.
22 year-old Issam Mohammed died in al-Awamiya on Friday, after live ammunition was fired into the crowd by troops. The troops began firing after protesters threw stones at them. Officials also said a security vehicle was shot at and attacked with petrol bombs.
Meanwhile, a Saudi Arabian man has been arrested by the country’s religious police for allegedly using Facebook to
arrange dates with other men. If charged with being gay, the man could face massive fines, flogging, jail or death.
October 3rd, 2011
Forty people have been arrested in
Moscow during a gay pride rally. The rally, which took place on 1 October was one of the few gay rights events which had been approved by authorities. Participants in the rally found themselves faced with protesters, some of whom threw tomatoes at them. Authorities are trying to work out how many of those arrested were involved in the rally, and how many were trying to stop it. Attempts to hold gay pride marches in Russian cities in the past have been
blocked by police, church activists and football fans. The arrests follow reports that Russia’s Arkhangelsk region has adopted a draft law
banning all events promoting homosexuality, including Gay Pride marches.
September 21st, 2010
A Russian gay rights activist who went missing from a Moscow airport last week, said he was
kidnapped by state security agents. Nikolai Alekseyev was told he would have to undergo
further security checks as he prepared for his flight to Geneva on 15 September. He was then driven to a police station in Kashira where he was detained for two days. The men holding him demanded that he withdraw a
complaint from the European Court of Human Rights against Moscow’s ban on gay rights rallies. He refused to sign any documents. News agencies received text messages that appeared to be from the activist saying he was seeking political asylum in Belarus. Alekseyev later confirmed these were sent by his captors. He was released on 18 September.
May 25th, 2010
Two employees of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe, the country’s only gay and lesbian advocacy group, have been arrested after police raided their offices.
Ellen Chademana and Ignatius Muhambi were accused of possessing pornographic materials and dangerous drugs, after a search conducted under Zimbabwe’s repressive censorship laws which also saw the seizure of documents and computers. Since their arrest, the suspects have been
denied contact with their lawyers, despite the fact that Chademana suffers from diabetes. Police have not confirmed either the specific charges being brought against the pair, or when they are likely to be released.
February 11th, 2010
Moscow gay pride parade organisers have complained to the European Court of Human Rights about the ban on the 2009 parade. Moscow’s
Mayor Luzhkow has previously labelled the parade “satanic” and the case follows a number of unsuccessful appeals against the bans in the Russian court system. Moscow Pride are seeking €200,000 in damages from the Russian Federation. The Strasbourg court has given Russian authorities ten days to lay out their position on the ban.
February 4th, 2010
Peter Sawali was arrested in Blantyre on 3 February for putting up posters saying ‘Gay rights are human rights’. He was charged with ‘conduct likely to cause a breach of peace’ and could face up to three months in prison. A police spokesman
Dave Chingwalu said “We cannot rule out international sponsors because of the quality and the quantity of the posters.”
June 29th, 2009
A law passed by the Lithuanian parliament that would ban “propaganda for homosexuality and bisexuality” from public places for their ‘detrimental’ effect on children has been vetoed by the president after protests by gay-rights activists
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