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License to Harm: Violence and Harassment Against LGBT People

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License to Harm: Violence and Harassment Against LGBT People HUMAN RIGHTS LICENSE TO HARM Violence and Harassment against LGBT People and Activists in Russia WATCH License to Harm Violence and Harassment against LGBT People and Activists in Russia Copyright © 2014 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-32095 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org DECEMBER 2014 978-1-6231-32095 License to Harm Violence and Harassment against LGBT People and Activists in Russia Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1 Violence and Harassment against LGBT People ........................................................................ 2 Government Response .............................................................................................................. 3 Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 5 To the Government of the Russian Federation ............................................................................ 5 To the Ministry of Interior .......................................................................................................... 7 To the Investigative Committee ................................................................................................. 7 To the Prosecutor General’s Office ........................................................................................... 8 To Domestic and International Nongovernmental Organizations ............................................... 8 To the Governments of the United States, the European Union, and Individual European Union Member States ........................................................................................................................ 8 Glossary ........................................................................................................................... 10 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 11 I. Background ................................................................................................................... 12 Homophobia in the Soviet Union and Russia ........................................................................... 12 Data on Homophobic Violence ................................................................................................ 13 Russia’s Anti-LGBT “Propaganda” Laws .................................................................................. 14 Federal Law Banning “Propaganda of Nontraditional Sexual Relations” ............................ 14 Cases of Enforcement of the Anti-LGBT “Propaganda” Law ................................................ 16 Regional Anti-LGBT “Propaganda” Laws ............................................................................ 19 Other Anti-LGBT Legislation .............................................................................................. 21 Anti-LGBT Rhetoric .................................................................................................................. 22 II. Harassment and Physical Attacks against LGBT People ................................................ 26 Violence and Harassment by Vigilante Groups ....................................................................... 26 Occupy Pedophilia (Оккупай Педофиляй) ........................................................................ 27 Occupy Gerontophilia (Оккупай Геронтофиляй) ............................................................... 30 Everyday Violence and Harassment against LGBT People by Individuals .................................. 36 Attacks and Intimidation against LGBT Activists ..................................................................... 40 Attacks on LGBT Public Gatherings .................................................................................. 40 LGBT Organizations and Groups Supporting the LGBT Community ..................................... 53 III. Government Responses ............................................................................................... 59 Dismissive Attitudes, Victim Blaming, Ineffective Investigations ............................................ 60 Unwillingness to Qualify Anti-LGBT Violence as Hate Crimes ................................................... 64 Hate Motivation in Russian Law ....................................................................................... 64 Cases .............................................................................................................................. 66 Response To Attacks By Occupy Pedophilia And Their Imitators ............................................... 67 IV. Harassment and Discrimination of LGBT Persons: Job Dismissals ................................. 71 V. Russia’s International and Domestic Human Rights Obligations ................................... 76 International Obligations Regarding Protection from Violence and Nondiscrimination ............. 76 International Human Rights Law and the Federal Anti-LGBT Propaganda Law .......................... 80 Children’s Rights ............................................................................................................. 82 Russia’s Domestic Obligations ................................................................................................ 83 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 84 Appendix.......................................................................................................................... 86 Translation from Russian ........................................................................................................ 91 Translation from Russian ....................................................................................................... 96 Translation from Russian ...................................................................................................... 101 Summary In June 2013 Russia passed a law banning the distribution of information about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) relationships to children. The law effectively legalizes discrimination based on sexual orientation. Its passage coincided with a ratcheting up of homophobic rhetoric in state media and an increase in homophobic violence around the country. All over Russia there has been an increase in attacks by vigilante groups and individuals against LGBT people in the past two years. There has also been an increase in attacks on LGBT activists, and anti-gay groups have used the 2013 law to justify mounting campaigns of harassment and intimidation of LGBT teachers and other school or college staff to get them fired from their jobs. Although Russian law enforcement agencies have the tools to prosecute homophobic violence, there appears to be no will to do so and no policy or instructions from the leadership to take homophobic violence seriously. Aside from several isolated investigations, the authorities have done little to hold assailants accountable. Instead of publicly denouncing anti-LGBT violence and rhetoric, Russia’s leadership has remained silent. In some cases public officials have engaged in explicit anti-LGBT hate speech. This inaction has only served to perpetuate the cycle of discrimination, harassment, and violence. Moreover, it contravenes Russia’s obligations under domestic law and many key international human rights treaties to which it is a party to protect all people, including LGBT people of all ages, from violence and discrimination. This report documents the spread of homophobic and transphobic violence and everyday harassment against LGBT people and activists that has taken place in the lead-up to and aftermath of the adoption of the 2013 anti-LGBT law. It is based on 94 interviews with LGBT people and activists from 16 cities and towns in Russia. LGBT people and activists described the types of abuse they were subjected to and the obstacles they encounter when they seek redress. The report analyzes the authorities’ overall lack of a proper response to such violence. 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | DECEMBER 2014 Violence and Harassment against LGBT People LGBT people in Russia face stigma, harassment, and violence in their everyday lives, and most people who spoke with Human Rights Watch said that this intensified in 2013. In some cases they were attacked by anti-LGBT vigilante groups that sprang up in late 2012 across Russia. These groups consist of a network of radical nationalist men who lure gay men and teenage children on the pretext of a fake date, hold them against their will, and humiliate and expose them by videotaping the encounter. Such
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