Time to rally

RIGA- Rally season is upon us again. This week has already seen crowds gather as supporters rally for rights of the disabled, the price of milk, and tomorrow, the Riga Pride parade of international acclaim.  

 About 100 people gathered today in EsplanadePark in Riga to garner support for disabled rights.

Those present held signs of reading: "17th and 18th paragraphs of the Convention," "I wish to live in the society," "I wish to be trained in craft" and "I wish and am capable of working in a paying job."

 Meanwhile, the representatives and leaders of various disabled peoples' organizations addressed the crowd from a small stage urging the government to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and stressed that the disabled are first of all humans.

Latvian Welfare Minister Iveta Purne, during her address to the participants of the rally expressed her joy in the opportunity that the disabled people have found to gather.

 "It is good that you are together and that you are united by the common idea, that you speak of your problems and make the society listen to them," Purne said.

 The minister said that 15 percent of the EU residents are people with disabilities or chronic diseases, which is a considerable figure to be taken account of.

 "It is important to create the conditions in Latvia for ensuring the same rights for the disabled people as enjoyed by the rest of the population. Latvia being the last of the EU member states to sign the convention is painful enough, as all it requires from us is a good will gesture," Purne said.

 She repeated several times during her address that the Latvian Welfare Ministry has done everything in its power to ensure the convention gets signed as soon as possible.

 Purne also underscored that financial means and several years would be necessary for implementing the convention and ensuring the sufficient environmental accessibility for the disabled people, which is why signing of the UN convention should be done as soon as possible.

"The convention is a step towards the state where there are no alienated and spare people, the state where all residents are equal," Purne said.

 

Another, larger crowd gathered in Doma square to protest the price of milk and the "unregulated appetite of retailers and the inefficiency of milk processors". Four dairy trucks were present, with people rallying top of them and dairy farmers giving out free milk.

Those present also held tombstone shaped signs that read ""Sugar 1926 - 2006", "Bacon 1924 - ?", "Grain 1924 - ?" and "Milk 1924 -?"

One of the speakers and representatives of the dairy industry said " you can call this inflation normal but something must be done to stop it."

He went on to say that there is an open dialogue between the farmers and the Greens and Farmers union/party and he hoped that they would be able to find "the light at the end of this tunnel" to allow milk production to go on as before.

 May 31 will see hundreds marching through the main streets of Riga to rally for Gay, Lesbian and transgender rights, with the right to assembly at the top of the list. Mozaika, an NGO in support of these fundamental rights, is organizing the protest and has gained much international attention, including from Amnesty International.

Mozaika founder Linda Freimane stated that she expected less anti-protest, although there will be the same amount of police as last year, and the protest will be in a street, not enclosed in a park.