Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Latvia’s capital on Thursday night to protest the country’s possible withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.
The Council of Europe Convention, signed by 45 countries and the European Union as of 2019, aims to standardize support for women who are victims of violence, including domestic violence.
“The time has come to send a clear signal to both current Saima (parliament) members and those who will follow. We will not tolerate political gamesmanship at the expense of human rights,” organizers of the rally said in a statement.
Latvian police estimate that at least 10,000 people took part in the “Save Mother Latvia” protest in Riga, organized by local NGO Malta Center.
The rally was held days after President Edgars Rinkevich said he would send the withdrawal bill back to parliament for further consideration, public broadcaster LSM reported on Monday.
On October 31, the Parliament of Saeima voted to withdraw from the Human Rights Convention against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.
Thirty-two MPs voted to remain in the treaty, while 56 voted to leave, arguing that it promotes “radical feminism based on gender ideology.” Two people abstained.
Rinkevich said withdrawing from the treaty would send “contradictory messages.”
βRatification and condemnation of the treaty during Saima’s term would send contradictory messages to both Latvian society and Latvia’s international allies that Latvia is ready to faithfully fulfill its international obligations,β LinkeviΔis said in the letter.
βConsideration should also be given to Latvia becoming the first European Union member state to withdraw from international human rights treaties. Whether such action is compatible with the principle of loyal cooperation enshrined in the Treaty on European Union should be seriously evaluated.β
RinkeviΔis also said that since Latvians will go to the polls by October 3 next year at the latest, it might be better to decide the issue in the next parliament, suggesting that Saeima Park will be contested at the most important time of the year.
The president has the constitutional right to ask Saeima to reconsider his decision, but cannot unilaterally overturn it.
Ultra-conservative groups and political parties across Europe have criticized the treaty, claiming it promotes “gender ideology”, encourages sexual experimentation and harms children.
In September, Latvia’s opposition politicians began the process of withdrawing from the treaty. They were joined by the Green Farmers’ Union, a member of the agricultural alliance of the three-party ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Evica Sirisha’s centre-right United Party.
Sirija, who formed a coalition government in 2023 promising to ratify the treaty, has criticized efforts to withdraw from the treaty.
“People who have had the courage to ask for help are now seeing their experiences used in political battles,” Sirisha wrote on social platform X in October. “That’s cruel.”
On the day of the vote, the European Commission said Latvia remains obliged to respect international rules for the protection of women.
The move to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention was seen by civil society groups as a setback in fundamental rights.
The Istanbul Convention is a treaty aimed at preventing and combating violence against women and is signed by all European Union member states and some countries outside the EU, such as the United Kingdom and Norway.
The EU as a whole acceded to the Istanbul Convention in 2023, making it a legally binding agreement for the 27 member states in the region under EU jurisdiction.
These include EU institutions and public administration, judicial cooperation in the fight against crime, and the right to asylum.
However, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania have not ratified the treaty.
Additional sources of information β’ AP