Russie : les enseignants qui résistent à la propagande nationale sont renvoyés.

A Russian teacher said Monday that he was fired from his post at a prestigious Moscow school after protesting against a draft anti-gay bill being discussed in parliament.

"I have been fired from the school where I worked for seven years," said Ilya Kolmanovsky, an award-winning biology teacher at Moscow's "School No. 2", a top public school with an emphasis on maths and science.

Kolmanovsky wrote on his Facebook page that the sudden dismissal in the middle of the school year came after he participated in Friday's protest against the proposed bill to ban "gay propaganda" to minors. He said he had argued with militant anti-gay activists who "sang religious hymns."

The activists apparently pulled some strings after the protest to get him fired, Kolmanovsky claimed.

"My opponents found out about me and my school and sent complaints to the administration, and on Monday the principal told me he is firing me to save the school," he said.

"I don't blame the principal," wrote Kolmanovsky, who in 2011 received a prestigious teaching award from one of Russia's largest foundations, "he knows better who he is dealing with."

Despite the protests, the Russian Duma lower house of parliament on Friday passed in initial reading a bill introducing fines for "gay propaganda" -- a loosely worded term that critics said will essentially make any self-expression by homosexuals, such as holding hands, illegal.

Public school teachers in Russia often face pressure from local and regional authorities to avoid voicing any opposition views.

Last year a teacher in the Moscow region was fired after complaining of being forced to attend pro-Vladimir Putin rallies during his election campaign.

Another teacher in Saint Petersburg who worked at a polling station during the election was forced to resign after accusing her superiors of coercing the polling station staff into fraud.

UN rights experts advise Russian Duma to scrap bill on ‘homosexuality propaganda’

GENEVA (1 February 2013) – A group of United Nations independent human rights experts today called on the lower house of the Russian parliament to discard a draft bill to establish administrative penalties for “propaganda of homosexuality among minors,” which has already been approved by the State Duma.

The experts on freedom of expression, human rights defenders, cultural rights and the right to health warned the bill may undermine the enjoyment and promotion of human rights in Russia, unjustifiably singling out lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, who have increasingly become the target of sanctions and violence in the country.

“Any restriction on freedom of opinion and expression should be based on reasonable and objective criteria, which is not fulfilled by the draft bill approved during the first reading by the Duma,” said the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue. “The law could potentially be interpreted very broadly and thereby violate not only the right to freedom of expression but also the prohibition of discrimination.”

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya, warned that this legislation could be used to unduly restrict the activities of those advocating for the rights of LGBT individuals. “The draft legislation could further contribute to the already difficult environment in which these defenders operate, stigmatizing their work and making them the target of acts of intimidation and violence, as has recently happened in Moscow,” she stressed.

“We fear that such laws, in practice, will exacerbate an already difficult situation for LGBT individuals wishing to express their identity, and will hamper the organization of cultural events or dissemination of artistic creations addressing LGBT issues,” highlighted the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed. She further underlined that LGBT youth would be particularly affected.

Stressing the bill’s ambiguous wording, the Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Anand Grover, warned that “banning ‘propaganda of homosexuality’ may not only penalize those who promote sexual and reproductive health among LGBT people, but will also undermine the right of children to access health-related information in order to safeguard their physical and mental health.” Far from protecting children, the proposed law would potentially harm them by re-enforcing stigma and contributing to a discriminatory environment, which would put them at increased risk.

Pointing out that the “window of opportunity is still open” to reverse the decision during the next two readings at the Duma, the UN experts urged parliamentarians to “exercise leadership by scrapping the bill to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Russia.”

ENDS

UN Human Rights, country page – Russian Federation: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/RUIndex.aspx

UN Human Rights, thematic issue page- Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Discrimination/Pages/LGBT.aspx

For more information log on to:
Freedom of expression:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/FreedomOpinion/Pages/OpinionIndex.aspx
Human rights defenders:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/SRHRDefenders/Pages/SRHRDefendersIndex.aspx
Cultural rights:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/CulturalRights/Pages/SRCulturalRightsIndex.aspx
Right to health: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Health/Pages/SRRightHealthIndex.aspx

For media inquiries related to UN independent experts:
Cécile Pouilly, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 93 10 / cpouilly@ohchr.org)

UN Human Rights, follow us on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unitednationshumanrights
Twitter: http://twitter.com/UNrightswire
Google+ gplus.to/unitednationshumanrights
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/UNOHCHR
Storify: http://storify.com/UNrightswire

Check the Universal Human Rights Index: http://uhri.ohchr.org/en