POLAND
Poznan Update: Dramatic Video Footage Shows Extent of Police Violence During Gay Demo
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London Protest Set for Thursday ILGA-Europe Protests to Barroso
Dramatic – and unedited – video
footage of the problems in Poznań has been released by Indymedia.pl. |
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The video shows the full extent of the brutality used by the police in what was a peaceful demonstration to promote tolerance and equality, especially towards the gay community. [This video is no longer available online] Actor Ewa Wojciak who was in Poznań and saw the events as thse unfolded, told the press: “I want to cry. I saw police pull a man with his head on the ground, women were pulled by their hair. None of these young people insulted anyone, no one was aggressive, they demonstrated peacefully in order to defend tolerance. We fought so many years for democracy, and I thought that we already had it, but I see that there is never enough reminding people about the basics of democratic law.” In London, Michael Cashman, the openly gay British Member of the European Parliament and president of the Intergroup on gay and lesbian issues, has pledged to raise the matter with both the President of Parliament and the President of the European Commission “in order to assure that Fundamental Rights are respected and defended”. Last week, Mr. Cashman wrote to the Mayor of Poznań and the regional authorities. He emphasised the importance of the Equality March, Poland’s commitment as member state of the EU to promote tolerance, anti-discrimination and human rights, and urged them to reconsider the case. Meanwhile, in Warsaw the Polish President Lech Kaczynski has expressed surprise at the level of support for those organising violent counter-demonstrations and expressing profoundly anti-democratic views. Polish radio reported him saying that he was outraged by what he described as unequal police treatment of an LGBT parade and the counter-demonstration, implying that the police were too hard on aggressive anti-gay protesters and not hard enough on peaceful gay protesters LONDON DEMONSTRATION In London, the gay Human Rights group Outrage! is organising a demonstration to coincide with the visit of Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz who is visiting the British capital for talks with Tony Blair and to give a lecture at Chatham House. “The Polish LGBT movement has urged British LGBTs to protest against his visit, especially in the light of last Saturday’s police violence and arrests of LGBT marchers in the Polish city of Poznań,” said David Allison of OutRage!. “Please show your solidarity with our Polish brothers and sisters, who are under attack,” he urged. “This is the Polish Prime Minister's first official visit abroad since his election. Make it memorable for him. Join us in showing Prime Minister Marcinkiewicz that homophobes are not welcome in the UK,” said Mr Allison. The demonstration is outside Chatham House,10 St James’s Square, London SW1Y 4LE (nearest tube stations are Green Park and Piccadilly Circus). See link below for location map. ILGA-EUROPE LETTER In Brussels, Patricia Prendiville, the executive director of IGLA-Europe, has written to the President of the European Commission Jose Barroso, who is scheduled to meet the Polish Prime Minister tomorrow (November 23). She urges the EC President “to raise the issue of homophobia and discrimination against LGBT people in Poland during your meeting with the Polish Prime Minister and to send a firm message to the Polish authorities that such behaviour is not tolerable and contradicts European agreements and values”. Mr. Barroso is also urged to remind Poland’s Prime Minister and the Polish authorities that as a member of the European Union and according to the Article 6 of the Treaty of Nice, Poland is under obligation to respect and protect minority rights. FULL TEXT OF ILGA-EUROPE LETTER “We are witting to you to express our deep disappointment and serious concerns regarding the continuing and blatant homophobia and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Poland.. “We understand that you are to meet the Prime Minister of Poland this week and urge you to immediately denounce such intolerable actions and take concrete actions against the discriminatory acts and homophobic attitudes by the Polish authorities. “For the last few months LGBT people in Poland have been subjected to unacceptable expressions of hate by the leading Polish politicians, including Poland’s Prime Minister. “On 19 November 2005, another peaceful demonstration in support of equality and tolerance was banned in the Polish city of Poznań. The march was organised by a number of Polish women’s and LGBT organisations. Despite the ban the march went ahead but was blocked by the police, many of participants were arrested and interrogated. “By joining the European Union Poland agreed to the principles of non-discrimination, equality and freedom of peaceful assembly. “Eliminating various forms of discrimination, including on the grounds of sexual orientation, is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union. Article 21 of the Charter on the Fundamental Rights of the European Union provides that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation will be prohibited in the EU. The 2000 EU Employment Equality Directive 2000/78/EC specifically requires EU member states to ban sexual orientation discrimination in employment. Moreover, Article 12 of the Charter on the Fundamental Rights of the European Union guarantees everyone the freedom of peaceful assembly. “Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees everyone the right to peaceful assembly and the European Court of Human Rights on many occasions declared that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is in breach of the Convention’s provisions. Moreover, the Court confirmed that there is a positive duty and obligation on a state to protect those exercising their right of freedom of peaceful assembly from violent disturbance by counter-demonstrators. “We urge you to raise the issue of homophobia and discrimination against LGBT people in Poland during your meeting with the Polish Prime Minister and to send a firm message to the Polish authorities that such behaviour is not tolerable and contradicts European agreements and values. We urge you to remind Poland’s Prime Minister and the Polish authorities that as a member of the European Union and according to the Article 6 of the Treaty of Nice, Poland is under obligation to respect and protect minority rights. “Paradoxically, just a few days ago the Polish Prime Minister announced the closure of the country’s equality body which dealt with the issues of discrimination on the grounds of gender, disability, race and sexual orientation. Given the extremely high level of discrimination and hateful comments against LGBT people, we find this decision unhelpful, to say the least. From our experience, national equality bodies dealing with protection of minority rights are an extremely useful tool to eliminating various forms of discrimination and increasing respect towards and understanding of minority groups. Therefore we urge you to raise the issue of re-instalment of the equality body to ensure the country effectively deals with various forms of discrimination, including on the grounds of sexual orientation. We would be very happy to meet to discuss this matter in greater details or provide more background information. PREVIOUS REPORTS Poland: The Battle of Poznan: A Gay Suspect’s View of the Poznan Events. By Tomasz Szypula. I am 25. I was born four months before the Solidarity began its revolution in August 1980. The only Poland I can remember is time after 1989. The time of democracy – at least until last Saturday. (UK Gay News, November 21, 2005) Poland: Riot Police Detain, Interrogate 65 at Gay Demo in Poznań. “They were dragging us around on the street” - Demonstrator. The police in Poznań today briefly detained and interrogated 65 demonstrators during the March of Equality organized by organizations of leftist and gay activists in Poznań, western Poland. (UK Gay News, November 21, 2005) Poland: Riot Police Detain, Interrogate 65 at Gay Demo in Poznań. “They were dragging us around on the street” - Demonstrator. The police in Poznań today briefly detained and interrogated 65 demonstrators during the March of Equality organized by organizations of leftist and gay activists in Poznań, western Poland. (UK Gay News, November 19, 2005)
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Posted: 22 November 2005 at 22:30 (UK time)