LONDON, October 26, 2007  –  Amnesty International said this afternoon that it was deeply concerned by yesterday’s attacks on the gay community in Vilnius, which saw the mayor ban a rally and an unconfirmed smoke bomb attack on an evening social event that formed part of the ILGA-Europe annual conference.

The gay rights rally, planned by Lithuanian Gay League, was banned by the local mayor, Juozas Imbrasas, because of what a press spokeswoman said were “safety concerns”, due to building works over the original route.

But the mayor failed to offer an alternative route.

Yesterday evening, a smoke bomb was reported to have gone off inside a bar, according to a BBC correspondent in Vilnius.

“Sadly these events are not a one off. Lithuania has repeatedly failed to protect and respect the rights of their gay community,” Amnesty said in a statement..

“To persecute people for their sexual orientation is to violate their fundamental human rights.

“Amnesty International calls on the Lithuanian authorities to respect the right to peaceful freedom of assembly for all, the right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation and to actively promote respect for diversity in their country.

“The Lithuanian authorities also need to offer adequate police protection to the country’s gay community,” the statement concluded.

This morning, Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, also condemned the attitude towards gays in Vilnius.

“I strongly condemn the decision by the Mayor of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, to ban a public lesbian and gay event in the city for the second time this year,” Mr. Livingstone said in a message to ILGA-Europe.

“I applaud the Lithuanian Gay League’s legal action against Vilnius City Council to overturn the ban and I hope that it is succeeds.

“In the meantime, I wish all delegates to the ILGA Europe Annual Conference a very successful event,” he wrote.

Participants at the conference had to face a group of protestors when they arrived at the conference hotel this morning.

Attending the conference are a number of European Union officials and MEPs.

And the ban of the gay rally has meant that there is increasing media interest, especially from foreign journalists.

In the past, ILGA-Europe’s annual conference has been largely unreported by the ‘mainstream’ media.
 

■ Vilnius police keep a watch as protestors gather at the ILGA-Europe conference venue this morning. photo courtesy ILGA-Europe

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Posted: 26 October 2007 at 17:00 (UK time)