Written declaration No. 481 | Doc. 12648 | 13 October 2011
The banning of the Moscow Pride March in 2011
In September 2010 the European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that the Russian Federation had violated the right to freedom of assembly when banning public events in support of LGBT rights in Moscow in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
In May 2011 the authorities again prohibited such an event, and arrested a number of people who tried to proceed with a peaceful demonstration. This indicates a lack of commitment of the Russian Federation to the principles of the Council of Europe. Not only does it damage respect for human rights in Russia, it undermines the standing of the Court and of the Council of Europe itself.
We the undersigned express our grave concern at the manifest failure of the Russian Federation to carry out its obligation to respect the European Convention on Human Rights and the damage this is causing to the standing of the Council of Europe. We call upon the rapporteurs on Russia in the Monitoring Committee to give due consideration to these concerns in their next report.