US reaction to Russian thug violence

I doubt many people will take much notice, as the US is dealing with it's own human rights abuses at the moment (not to mention Australia). Although being as it has about 90% of the worlds military then maybe somebody in Russia might just get a touch worried? The US won't force it, Russia is too big, but it does indicate a growing discontent with Russia in the west. Perhaps it's because Russia is going backwards with human rights instead of forwards?

Anyway, here is the US reaction to the May 17th thuggery in Russia.

The U.S. Department of State said it “condemns” the May 17 violence against an attempted anti-homophobia rally in downtown Tbilisi, saying that “such acts of intolerance have no place in democratic societies.”

“The United States places great importance on the protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender persons around the world,” Patrick Ventrell, acting deputy spokesperson of the Department of State, said at a news briefing on May 20, when asked to comment on the May 17 violence in Tbilisi. link

Pretty weakly worded I thought, like a bit of an afterthought. Still, I'd not be liking such a pointed accusation being made at my country like that, not just from the US, but from all over.

From another sector of the US, the New Yorker was much more scathing in it's criticisms of Russia and the way the priests led the thugs, giving a rather hair raising account of what happened. There's a link to a video there as well, although not in English you can get the idea; priest goes through police line and bashes bus with chair. Something like that. In any case it shows priests being little more than mob rulers.

 

And from the New Yorker: 

It was a gathering of clergymen worthy of a religious festival: a line of dozens of bearded priests in black robes, with heavy silver crosses hanging on their chests. And yet, you couldn’t imagine a less holy march. The clergymen led a huge mob along the main street of Tbilisi, the capital of the Republic of Georgia, through a police cordon, and toward a small group of visibly nervous young men and women who had set out to mark the International Day Against Homophobia. 

“Fuck your mothers,” a priest shouted. 

Another priest came armed with a stool. Their followers carried rocks, sticks, and crucifixes. “Kill them! Don’t let them leave alive,” they screamed. 

They smashed heads, windows of shops, and a minibus in which activists tried to escape. Twelve people, including three policemen, were seriously injured. 

“Before the van arrived, about ten girls—gay rights activists—were being taunted by a growing, frothing mob. A stone was thrown and split a girl’s head open.… This mob was the creation of the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Georgian government has so far been gutless in standing up to the Church to protect the rights of its citizens. Shame on you, Georgia. Shame on you,” Paul Rimple, a Tbilisi-based journalist, posted on his Facebook page. He later wrote about it for the Moscow Times. 

“A Georgian Taliban has been born,” read status updates of other Georgians on Facebook. Some changed their location settings to Iran. But those who opposed the priests and those who cheered them agree that gay rights—an issue, until now, seen as marginal by most Georgians—has become a proxy for a larger conflict. more