Russian Federation: Administrative proceedings against human rights defender Ms Lena Klimova
On 31 January 2014, the Nizhny Tagil department of the Ministry of the Interior launched an administrative case against Ms Lena Klimova for 'propaganda of non traditional sexual relations among minors' under Article 6.21 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. Lena Klimova is a journalist based in Nizhny Tagil, and is the author of a series of articles on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) teenagers. In 2013, she set up an online community on Facebook and on the social networking site Vkontakte named Children-404, which provides a space for teenagers to discuss LGBTI issues and support each other. The community also organises online discussions with leaders of the LGBTI movement.
The complaint against Lena Klimova as initiator of the Children-404 page was lodged by Mr. Vitaly Milonov, a member of St. Petersburg City Parliament who sponsored the adoption of the 'propaganda law' at the municipal level in 2012. Lena Klimova was informed about the opening of the administrative case against her on 31 January 2014. She was previously summoned by police and interrogated in relation to Milonov's complaint on 17 January 2014. The date of the trial is yet to be set. In March 2013, Lena Klimova published a series of articles on the situation of teenagers who are aware of their homosexuality. She began to receive a large number of responses from adolescents and teenagers with stories of their experiences and the discrimination they faced. She set up the project Children-404 as a result of this response, to provide a forum where these letters could be shared.
In June 2013, the Russian Parliament adopted a federal law banning ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations’ among minors. The text does not provide a definition of ‘non-traditional relations’, which are only described in opposition to ‘traditional family values’, but the bill was passed in its first reading under the headline ‘propaganda of homosexuality among minors’. Propaganda is broadly defined as spreading information in order to form non-traditional sexual desires in children, describing such relations as attractive, promoting a distorted understanding of the social equality of traditional and non-traditional relations and through unwanted exposure to information that could provoke interest in such relations.
Front Line Defenders is concerned that the prosecution against Lena Klimova under the law on 'propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations' is in violation of her right to promote and protect human rights, and is directly linked to her peaceful and legitimate work in defence of children's rights.
http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24858#.UvLV5saRSsU.facebook
The complaint against Lena Klimova as initiator of the Children-404 page was lodged by Mr. Vitaly Milonov, a member of St. Petersburg City Parliament who sponsored the adoption of the 'propaganda law' at the municipal level in 2012. Lena Klimova was informed about the opening of the administrative case against her on 31 January 2014. She was previously summoned by police and interrogated in relation to Milonov's complaint on 17 January 2014. The date of the trial is yet to be set. In March 2013, Lena Klimova published a series of articles on the situation of teenagers who are aware of their homosexuality. She began to receive a large number of responses from adolescents and teenagers with stories of their experiences and the discrimination they faced. She set up the project Children-404 as a result of this response, to provide a forum where these letters could be shared.
In June 2013, the Russian Parliament adopted a federal law banning ‘propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations’ among minors. The text does not provide a definition of ‘non-traditional relations’, which are only described in opposition to ‘traditional family values’, but the bill was passed in its first reading under the headline ‘propaganda of homosexuality among minors’. Propaganda is broadly defined as spreading information in order to form non-traditional sexual desires in children, describing such relations as attractive, promoting a distorted understanding of the social equality of traditional and non-traditional relations and through unwanted exposure to information that could provoke interest in such relations.
Front Line Defenders is concerned that the prosecution against Lena Klimova under the law on 'propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations' is in violation of her right to promote and protect human rights, and is directly linked to her peaceful and legitimate work in defence of children's rights.
http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24858#.UvLV5saRSsU.facebook
