Representatives of civil society and human rights activists called on the authorities to withdraw the candidacy of Liberal-Democratic MP Valeriu Giletski for the post of Moldova’s Ambassador to the United States. In a news conference at IPN, the activists said Valeriu Giletski promotes a homophobe policy and supported initiatives that violated the women’s right to choose whether to give birth to a child or to have an abortion.
Arcadie Barbarosie, director of the Institute for Public Policy, said it’s not clear how some of the candidates for ambassador are chosen and they do not want Valeriu Giletski to be named ambassador to the U.S. as this post means also promotion of the human rights. Civic society considers that Valeriu Giletski will not promote the values to which Moldova adhered and will rather damage the country’s image by his stances. Civil society called on the U.S. authorities no to accept Valeriu Giletski as ambassador.
The appeal to the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Moldova says that Valeriu Giletski vehemently opposed the adoption of the anti-discrimination law and abstained from voting it. Afterward, he tried to promote the adoption of amendments to the resolution on the stopping of forced sterilization and castration, which would have affected the rights of transgender people to physical integrity, at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In 2015, he rejected the resolution on the discrimination against transgender people at the PACE, saying homosexuality was classed as a disease. Earlier, Valeriu Giletski promoted a bill on abortion that infringed on the women’s reproductive rights.
Angela Frolov, program coordinator at the NGO “GenderDoc M”, said Valeriu Giletski has the right to his own opinion, but an ambassador is a functionary who represents the country and can no longer promote his own views. The fact that a politician with homophobe views will represent Moldova in a state that promotes tolerance such as the U.S. is worrisome.
Human rights activist Dionis Cenusa said the human rights must be promoted, including by diplomatic ways, while diplomacy is equal to the human rights. A number of events will be staged to promote the idea that diplomacy is equal to the human rights.
Activist Oleg Brega said that when following Valeriu Giletski’s activity through social networking sites, it is evident that he defends the rights of the religious minorities and is radically against the rights of the other minorities, including the LGBT community. He noted that Valeriu Ghiletski could promote his views in the United States and they would thus prefer an inactive ambassador rather than an ambassador who would act against the human rights.
