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Rainbow NewsBarack Obama Inspired After Meeting Russian Human Rights & LGBT Activists
12 Sep. 2013
President Barack Obama was so inspired by the talks with Russian human rights & LGBT activists that the meeting last more than it was scheduled to be held and the American leader continued to talk about it even after it, said Michael McFaul, the US Ambassador to Russia, who escorted Obama during the meeting. It took place last week on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Saint-Petersburg.
McFaul told that during the talks with human rights watch-dogs President Obama was making notes, replied questions and "later tasked me to follow up on some practical ideas proposed by our roundtable participants".
GayStarNews reports that during the G20 Summit the leaders were focused mainly on Syria issue but the problems with LGBT rights weren't put aside - the gay issue was raised by David Cameron, the UK Prime Minister.
"The President, National Security Advisor Susan Rice, and I met with a fascinating group of activists <...> The group represented a broad cross-section of Russian NGOs and activists who work on issues such as human rights, the environment, media freedom, rights of business entrepreneurs, LGBT rights, and fighting corruption, racism, and discrimination", said the Ambassador. "Our colleagues gave President Obama a strong sense of the challenges facing civil society leaders in Russia today, especially new laws that place restrictions on foreign-funded NGOs and discriminate against the LGBT community."
The Russian activists called on Obama not to weaken pressure on Russia, to continue to persuade the Russian side to fulfill its international commitments as well as to stand up for defense of freedom of expression and assembly.
The US President was so involved in the talks that they lasted an hour and a half instead of the planned 40 minutes.
"In the car ride to the Air Force One after the event, the President commented on the articulate, passionate, and practical presentations these leaders had made, and we had a very wide-ranging discussion about civil society in Russia, civil society and human rights around the world, and democracy more generally", added McFaul.
Igor Kochetkov, the Chairman of the Russian LGBT Network, who participated it the round-table, said about the results of his meeting with the American leader that he had only pleasant memories of it. "We also noted that problems with human rights exist not only in Russia but in the US as well. Barack Obama stressed that he did not have an option to prioritize the human rights issue above all other in the Russian-American relations." Igor Kochetkov said he did not agree with Obama on that point but in general he was very satisfied with the meeting.
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