Council for Protection against Discrimination strongly condemns hate speech, violence against LGBT advocates

Podgorica, Montenegro (7 November 2012) – At today’s session, chaired by Prime Minister Igor Lukšić, the Council for Protection against Discrimination strongly condemned the spread of hate speech against advocates of LGBT community and other vulnerable groups, as well as the publication of opinion pieces with hate speech elements in certain media. In that regard, the Council urged the media not to contribute to these phenomena through their editorial policies.

Also, the Council condemned the behaviour of an employee of the Ministry for Minority Rights at social networks concerning LGBT population and requested the ministry to undertake adequate measures.

The Council also strongly condemned the recent physical attacks on LGBT advocates and encouraged the Police Directorate’s endeavours to shed light on all the facts of these cases and to continue activities aimed at preventing similar incidents.

At today’s session, the Council considered the first draft strategy for the fight against homophobia prepared by a working group consisted of the representatives of relevant ministries and civil society.

The meeting also discussed the European Commission’s comments on the Law on the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, and the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination. It was concluded that these comments represent very useful and significant impetus for further implementation of adequate policies and harmonisation with the EU standards in these fields.

The Council has set up its own task force to draft the final version of Strategy for the fight against homophobia, comprising representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Education and Sports, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, Police Directorate, LGBT Forum Progress, Centre for Civic Education and an independent expert.