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Anti-gay purges in Chechnya

January 20, 2023

Anti-gay purges in Chechnya in the Chechen Republic, a part of the Russian Federation, have included forced disappearances—secret abductions, imprisonment, torture—and extrajudicial killing by authorities targeting persons based on their perceived sexual orientation, primarily gay men. At least 2 of the 100 people, whom authorities detained on suspicion of being gay or bisexual, have reportedly died after being held in what human rights groups and eyewitnesses have called concentration camps.[10]

LGBT rights in Chechnya
Activists enact a scene of Chechen mothers mourning their children,
draped in LGBT and Chechen flags (Nevsky Prospect, Saint Petersburg, 1 May 2017).[1][2]
StatusIllegal (de facto)
PenaltyPunishment includes corporal punishment, imprisonment, torture, execution
Discrimination protectionsNone
Family rights
Recognition of relationshipsNo recognition of same-sex relationships
LGBT rights in Russia
StatusDecriminalised in 1917; re-criminalised in 1933; legal since 1993[3] In Chechnya, death, torture, vigilante executions, vigilante attacks, and jail are penalties.[4][5]
Gender identityLegal gender change since 1997[note 1]
MilitaryNon-official policy "Don't ask, don't tell" since 2003[6][7]
Discrimination protectionsNone
Family rights
Recognition of relationshipsNo recognition of same-sex unions in Russia
AdoptionNo legal restrictions to adopt by a single person.[note 2]
A public demonstration, "Chechen mothers mourn their children", was staged on 1 May 2017 after a purge on Nevsky Prospect in Saint Petersburg, to protest the persecution of gay men in Chechnya.[8][9]

Allegations were initially reported on 1 April 2017 in Novaya Gazeta,[4] a Russian-language opposition newspaper, which reported that since February 2017 over 100 men had allegedly been detained and tortured and at least three had died in extrajudicial killings. The paper, citing its sources in the Chechen special services, called the wave of detentions a "prophylactic sweep".[4][5] The journalist who first reported on the subject went into hiding.[11][12] There have been calls for reprisals against journalists who report on the situation.[13]

As news spread of Chechen authorities' actions, which have been described as part of a systematic anti-LGBT purge, Russian and international activists scrambled to evacuate survivors of the camps and other vulnerable Chechens but were met with difficulty obtaining visas to conduct them safely beyond Russia.[14]

The reports of the persecution were met with a variety of reactions worldwide. The Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov denied not only the occurrence of any persecution but also the existence of gay men in Chechnya, adding that such people would be killed by their own families.[15][16] Officials in Moscow were skeptical, although in late May the Russian government reportedly agreed to send an investigative team to Chechnya.[17] Numerous national leaders and other public figures in the West condemned Chechnya's actions, and protests were held in Russia and elsewhere. A report released in December 2018 by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) confirmed claims that persecution of LGBT persons had taken place and was ignored by authorities.[18][19] In a 2021 Council of Europe report into anti-LGBTI hate crimes, rapporteur Foura ben Chikha described the "state-sponsored attacks carried out against LGBTI people in Chechnya in 2017" as "the single most egregious example of violence against LGBTI people in Europe that has occurred in decades".[20]

On 11 January 2019, it was reported that another 'gay purge' had begun in the country in December 2018, with several gay men and women being detained.[21][22][23][24] The Russian LGBT Network believes that around 40 people were detained and two killed.[25][26]

Background

Main article: LGBT rights in Chechnya

The status of LGBT rights in the Chechen Republic has long been a source of concern among human rights organizations (including Amnesty International) and it has also been described as being "especially bleak" within the Russian Federation as a whole.[27] It was also singled out for criticism by human rights organisations such as Amnesty International before the 2017 crackdown.[28] Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim, ultra-conservative society in which homophobia is widespread and homosexuality is taboo, and where having a gay relative is seen as a "stain on the entire extended family".[29]

The federal Russian LGBT laws apply in Chechnya, which is a part of the Russian Federation. However, in Chechnya, as in other regions of southern Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin "has empowered local leaders to enforce their interpretation of traditional values, partly in an effort to co-opt religious extremism, which has largely been driven underground".[30]

Although homosexuality was legalized in Russia in 1993,[3] in 1996 Chechnya's separatist president Aslan Maskhadov adopted sharia law in his Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, and article 148 of the Chechen penal code made all "sodomy" punishable by caning after the first two offenses and punishable by execution after the third offense.[28] Chechnya returned to direct Russian rule in 2000, formally complying with its federal laws and human right statutes.[citation needed] De facto, it retains some autonomy, and the current Head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, "has brought Islam to the fore of Chechnya's daily life, and gay people who reveal their sexuality are often discriminated against and shunned by their families".[31]

Key events

Large-scale raids and killings

The detentions began in February 2017 after a Chechen man who had allegedly committed a drug-related offense was stopped by police[32][33] and arresting officers discovered contact information for other gay men on his phone.[34]

A second wave of detentions began after the LGBT rights organization Gayrussia.ru applied for permits to hold gay pride parades in four cities within Kabardino-Balkaria in Russia's predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region, although not within Chechnya itself. The application in this district was denied by the Kabardino-Balkar authorities. An anti-gay demonstration followed, along with posts on social media calling for gay people to be murdered by various methods.[5]

Gayrussia.ru organizer Nikolay Alexeyev dismissed suggestions that attempts to organize pride parades in the region had sparked the violence against gay Chechens as speculative and unfounded.[4] The organization had not focused on the Muslim districts in particular, and it had applied for permits for gay pride parades in 90 municipal governments all across Russia in an attempt to collect the inevitable denials, which would be used in a case about freedom of assembly and gay rights before the European Court of Human Rights.[5]

Human Rights Watch reported in 2017 that "it is difficult to overstate just how vulnerable LGBT people are in Chechnya, where homophobia is intense and rampant. LGBT people are in danger not only of persecution by the authorities but also of falling victim to 'honour killings' by their own relatives for tarnishing family honor."[35] Kadyrov has encouraged extrajudicial killings by family members as an alternative to law enforcement – in some cases, gay men in prison have been released early specifically to enable their murder by relatives.[36][better source needed]

The Chechen police and military have conducted entrapment schemes, in which a victim is lured on a date, beaten and humiliated. A recording is produced, and blackmail money is solicited in return for silence. Law enforcement agencies in Chechnya already keep lists of "suspects".[37] According to a source from Radio Liberty, raids on gay people began in December 2016, subsided briefly, and resumed on a large scale in February 2017. The first gay men who were detained via entrapment were tortured in attempts to reveal the names of their acquaintances.

All of the correspondence in their phones was checked, adding to the "suspect" list. This resulted in the number of victims growing exponentially. According to Novaya Gazeta, at the end of February, the police detained and checked the phone of a person who was in a state of intoxication. The phone had "pictures and videos with explicit content" and "dozens of contacts of local homosexuals". The detainee was sent to a "secret prison".[38] Subsequently, a "wave of persecution" began in Chechnya as an attempt to purge the country of those who are homosexual or are perceived to be homosexual.[37][39][40] Chechen police are reportedly pressuring parents in the region to kill their children who they suspect of being homosexual.[41][42] To facilitate this, police have reportedly been releasing detainees into the custody of their families and outing them.[43]

Imprisonment and torture

According to independent media and human rights groups, gay men are sent to clandestine camps in Chechnya, which one eyewitness described to Novaya Gazeta as a "closed prison, the existence of which no one officially knows".[10][44] Around 100 men have been imprisoned and at least three people have already died. Some of the guards in these allegedly unofficial jails are accused of releasing the prisoners to their relatives if their relatives promise to kill them (at least one man was reported by a witness as having died after returning to his family).[44] One location of a secret prison is allegedly in the southern city of Argun.[citation needed] Another prison is located in Tsotsin-Yurt, south of the Chechen capital Grozny.[37]

According to escapees interviewed in the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the British-owned The Guardian, 30 to 40 people are detained in one room (two to three metres big), and often kept for months on end without trial. Witnesses report they are also beaten (with polypropylene pipes below the waist), and tortured with electricity. In addition to physical torture, individuals report being mocked, humiliated and insulted, as well as being forced to clean the prison and spat in the face.[29][44] In some cases the process of torture ends in the death of the person being tortured.[45][46]

In May 2017, it was reported that the building in Argun had been buried under demolition rubble and that prisoners had been moved to a new, unknown location. Investigators say that prisoners are likely to have been moved to a Special Police Force training base in Terek, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) 60 in Argun, but they have been denied entry, because 'training is taking place'.[47][48]

Maxim Lapunov

On 15 March 2017, a gay man by the name of Maxim Lapunov was detained by police in Grozny in a sting, and subsequently brought to the police station, where he was allegedly beaten, tortured and raped, and held hostage for 12 days. Lapunov became the only person to put a face to the official complaints against Chechen authorities in 2017.[49][50]

A North Caucasus court subsequently ruled against opening a criminal investigation into the case. Justice minister Alexander Konovalov said preliminary investigations found no evidence of arrests and torture.

In May 2019, Lapunov filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), saying Russia had failed to protect him as he was arrested and beaten up by police in the Chechen capital Grozny in 2017, and claiming his case was not properly investigated by Russian authorities.[51][52]

Disappearance of Zelim Bakaev

While on a visit to Grozny for his sister's wedding in August 2017, Moscow-based Chechen singer Zelim Bakaev disappeared, never to be seen again. He was reportedly arrested by security forces, according to eyewitnesses in local media reports, and his cell phone deactivated on the day of his disappearance. The singer's mother made a public appeal to Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov but Chechen authorities have refused to open an investigation into Bakaev's disappearance.

Dzhambulat Umarov, Chechnya's minister for national policy, external relations, press, and information, was quoted in RBC as saying, "The guy is not a Wahhabi, not a terrorist, he isn't involved in any cases. No structures took him, for a hundred years no-one will need him", adding that Bakaev would "reappear soon".[53]

Media attention

The persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya beginning in early 2017 is "particularly well documented."[54] Human Rights Watch has confirmed that authorities have "rounded up dozens of men on suspicion of being gay and that they are currently torturing and humiliating the victims. Some of the men have forcibly disappeared. At least three men have died since this brutal campaign began."[55] An investigation by Radio Liberty in April 2017 reported that prisoners are being released to their families if their families promise to murder them.[56]

A lengthy analysis published on 26 May by Human Rights Watch reported the presence of leading government officials at the camps while detainees were being tortured.[57] The report, which includes graphic descriptions of the ordeals faced by several survivors of the camps, suggested that several victims of the camps were still being detained at the time of its publication.[58]

In June, a journalist with VICE News visited a now-abandoned detention center in Argun believed to be the site of one of the camps, and interviewed the local minister of internal affairs, who also acts as prison warden. The warden denied that abuse had taken place, and said, "My officers would not even want to touch such people, if they exist, let alone beating or torturing them".[59] Shown footage of the detention center, a man who described being electrocuted by his captors identified it as the site where he was held, and also identified the warden as one of his tormentors.[60]

In December 2018, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) special rapporteur found that there was "overwhelming evidence that there have been grave violations of the rights of LGBTI persons in the Chechen Republic."[54][19] The OSCE found that there were several waves of persecution or "purges" of LGBT: the first from December 2016 to February 2017; the second wave from March to May 2017, and a subsequent third, "which largely stopped because of the international outcry."[54] The OSCE report found that there were "still new cases as recent as September and October 2018."[54] The OSCE report found that the persecutions followed a consistent pattern.[54] Persons suspected of being homosexual would be arrested (at homes, workplaces, or while traveling) by police and military officers, particular black-clad SOBR members.[54] Those arrested would be taken to a police station and then later a detention facility, sometimes an "unofficial prison"; Argun was a common location.[54] Those arrested would be humiliated, tortured, and interrogated to force a confession "that they were gay and to give names of other gays"; torture methods included being beaten with various items such as sticks, tubes, and cables, and sometimes electric shocks.[54] Prisoners were often forced to work, sometimes by cleaning cars or floors.[54] Medical treatment, food, and water was withheld from the prisoners.[54] Prisoners were "mistreated and tortured on a daily basis mostly for about two weeks or until they made and signed a confession or reported others or expressed their willingness to cooperate."[54] Some were reportedly killed; others were ransomed; some were told to commit suicide; others were handed over to their relatives, who were told to kill them, and "In many cases victims have been forced to marry in order to save the family honor."[54]

Experts at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a statement in 2019, indicating the worsening situation of LGBT people in Chechnya: "Abuse inflicted on victims has allegedly become more cruel and violent compared with reports from 2017. It is no longer only gay men in Chechnya who are being targeted but women also." Reportedly, more than 40 people have been arrested since December 2018. People who tried to flee the republic were prevented from doing so by the authorities.[61]

A second wave of persecutions in 2019

After a lull, the Russian LGBT Network announced in July 2017 that it was again receiving reports of authorities persecuting gay Chechens. The group voiced doubt that the Russian government was conducting an actual investigation, despite earlier claims to the contrary from the Kremlin.[62][63]

Response from Russian authorities

Statements from Chechen and Russian authorities

Chechen and Russian authorities have denied that the purges and persecutions occurred.[64][15] Chechen government authorities denied that purges occurred. Alvi Karimov, a spokesperson for Ramzan Kadyrov, claimed that gay people "just don't exist in the republic" and that "If there were such people in Chechnya, the law-enforcement organs wouldn't need to have anything to do with them because their relatives would send them somewhere from which there is no returning,"[15] an apparent reference to so-called "honor killing."[65] Karimov later claimed that reports of persecutions of LGBT people were part of an "economic, political, psychological and informational attack directed against Russia" waged by Americans and Europeans, and asserted that "There is not a single case of arrest on these grounds in Chechnya."[66] In a July 2017 television interview, Kadyrov denied the existence of any gays in Chechnya, saying "We don't have any gays. If there are any, take them to Canada. To purify our blood, if there are any here, take them." Kadyrov called the men who stated they had been tortured "devils" and "subhuman."[67][68] In January 2019, following reports of a new wave of anti-gay purges beginning December 2018, Dzhambulat Umarov, the Chechen Minister of National Policy, claimed that gay people's "sick imagination" was to blame for purge reports.[69] Russian President Vladimir Putin, through his spokesman Dmitry Peskov, endorsed Chechen leaders' denials of anti-gay persecution,[70][71] and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov claimed the reports were not "based on fact."[72]

Sources have said that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov wanted the LGBT community to be eliminated by 26 May 2017.[73]

Arrests and targeting of activists and journalists

The Russian LGBT Network, an inter-regional LGBT rights organization based in Saint Petersburg, is attempting to assist those who are threatened and evacuate them from Chechnya.[74][75] In May 2019, the association reported that seven people broke into the apartment of one of its volunteers in Saint Petersburg, where they threatened the activist and other staff with physical violence and murder, saying "We will take you to the police office and will break all your bones." The assailants interrogated the activists about the whereabouts of a young Chechen woman who had escaped from the region and Russian LGBT Network emergency programme coordinator David Isteev, saying "to tell David Isteev that they were going to find and kill him." Three of the assailants were identified as Chechens and four implied they were police officers from Chechnya's capital Grozny, but refused to provide identification documents.[76][77][78]

In May 2017, five activists were arrested in Moscow while en route to the prosecutor general's office to deliver a petition calling for an unbiased investigation.[79] According to the Russian LGBT Network, the petition bore more than two million signatures of people in various countries.[80] The arrests followed an incident at a May Day parade in St. Petersburg in which riot police reportedly detained 17 protesters who sought to bring attention to the anti-gay violence in Chechnya.[81]

In January 2019, Igor Kochetkov, a leading Russian LGBT Network activist, filed a complaint with the Investigative Department of Russia's Interior Ministry, naming 14 people that authorities unlawfully detained and tortured in Chechnya's capital, Grozny. He also reported the name of one man who police allegedly killed in January. After the complaint, however, Ali Baskhanov, the leader of a pro-government group in Chechnya, uploaded a YouTube video threatening Kochetkov, calling him a "son of the devil," and warned that if he came to Chechnya it would be his "final stop", according to Human Rights Watch. Kochetkov says authorities did not take his complaints of the threat seriously. He is now planning to sue the Investigative Department. Human Rights Watch urged to Russia to protect the activist and said that "The threats against Igor Kochetkov are very serious and deserve a prompt reaction by the Russian authorities. Given the danger LGBT people have been facing in Chechnya, the Interior Ministry's lack of response is dangerous and unacceptable."[82]

Investigation by Kremlin ombudswoman

In late May 2017, following weeks of international pressure, the Kremlin authorized its human rights ombudswoman, Tatyana Moskalkova, to conduct an investigation,[83][84] Investigators were sent to Chechnya.[17] but Chechen officials attempted to sabotage the team's investigation.[85] In 2020, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Chechen authorities had deliberately attempted to deceive Moskalkova; in September 2017 meetings in Chechnya, Moskalkova met with two men "identified to her as being among those who had reportedly been killed in the raids, [...] in what appeared to be an effort by local authorities to undermine the reports about the raids"; the men were in fact the siblings of two men who were victims of extrajudicial killings.[86][87]

International reactions

 
Protest and fundraising during Amsterdam Pride Walk 2017

Human rights groups and foreign governments have called upon Russia and Chechnya to put an end to the torture and killings of gays.[88]

United Nations and other intergovernmental bodies

In April 2017, a panel of five experts that advises the United Nations Human Rights Council called on Chechnya to "put an end to the persecution of people perceived to be gay or bisexual in the Chechen Republic who are living in a climate of fear fueled by homophobic speeches by local authorities";[30] the same month, the director of the human rights office at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that Moscow must "urgently investigate the alleged disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment" of gay men in Chechnya.[89]

In January 2019, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed its concern with reports of additional arrests following an anti-purge in the Russian republic, and called on Russia to take action to halt the detention and abuse of gay and bisexual people in Chechnya. The UN experts are Elina Steinerte, Agnes Callamard, David Kaye, Victor Madrigal-Borloz, Nils Melzer, Dubravka Šimonovic, and Ivana Radačić.[90][91][92]

In March 2019, a number of countries, at the 40th Session of the Human Rights Council, issued a joint statement calling for "a swift, thorough and impartial investigation into the alleged persecution" and accountability for those responsible. Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Uruguay all supported the joint statement; however, the United States under the Trump administration refused to sign on to the statement.[93][94]

Human rights and LGBT organizations

In April 2017 Amnesty International called for a prompt investigation and intervention,[95] and more than 130,000 people signed a petition started by the organization in opposition to alleged human rights violations.[96] The same month, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum condemned the persecution of gay men in Chechnya and called on Chechen and Russian authorities to investigate the matter and "ensure the safety of LGBT populations within the Russian Federation".[97][98]

Three France-based human rights organizations filed a complaint in May 2017 with the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing Chechen government officials of genocide.[99] and Chechen President Kadyrov as the "logistician" of the concentration camps.[100] Putin announced in 2016 that Russia, which signed but never ratified the treaty creating the ICC, would end its relationship with the treaty in November 2017.[101]

Many celebrities and LGBT activists such as Troye Sivan, Ellen DeGeneres, Matt Bomer, Mark Ruffalo, and Billy Eichner have voiced their strong condemnation of persecution of LGBT persons in Chechnya.[102][103]

In February 2021, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and the Russian LGBT Network filed a 97-page charge sheet against five Chechen officials connected with Kadyrov, including his deputy prime minister Abuzayed Vismuradov, police chief Ayub Katayev, and the chair of the Chechen parliament, Magomed Daudov. If accepted by German authorities, the five named officials would be charged with crimes against humanity.[104][105]

Protests outside Russian diplomatic missions

Hundreds of people have attended demonstrations outside Russian diplomatic missions, protesting the anti-gay persecutions in Chechnya. Demonstrations took place in April 2017, outside the Embassy of Russia in London;[106][107] and in January 2019, outside New York City's Russian Consulate, in solidarity with gay and lesbian people facing a "second wave" of persecution in Chechnya.[108] On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a protest attended by around a hundred people was held on 27 January 2019, outside the Embassy of Russia in London.[109] In May 2019, on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, LGBT activists laid a giant rainbow flag on the steps of the Russian embassy in London, handing in a 65,000-signature petition calling on the Russian authorities to investigate the purge.[110]

Foreign governments

France

The camps became an issue in the 2017 French presidential election, with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Benoît Hamon and Emmanuel Macron condemning Chechnya for them, while François Fillon and Marine Le Pen remained silent.[111] In a meeting with Putin in 2017, French President Macron pressed the Russian leader on the plight of LGBT Chechens and promised constant vigilance on the issue. According to Macron, Putin reported having taken steps to ascertain "the complete truth on the activities of local authorities".[112]

United Kingdom

In 2017, British MEPs urged Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to meet with the Russian ambassador.[113] Johnson condemned the Chechen government's persecution of gay men as "outrageous" and "abhorrent."[114]

In 2019, Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan said: "The persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya is utterly appalling. ...The Russian authorities must protect their people from these human rights abuses, and conduct a credible investigation into these reports immediately. There should be no climate of impunity for those who commit these abuses. We and the international community have repeatedly called for the Russian Government to conduct an investigation and hold those responsible for human rights abuses in Chechnya to account, including through the 2018 OSCE Moscow Mechanism."[115]

Australia

In 2017, Julie Bishop, the Australian Foreign Minister, condemned both the arrests and the camps.[116][117]

Canada

In April 2017, the Government of Canada called the "persecution of LGBTQ2 people in Chechnya reprehensible", calling upon Russia to investigate and ensure the safety of those at risk.[118]

United States

In April 2017, the United States Department of State expressed concern about "numerous credible reports indicating the detentions and deaths of LGBTI individuals" in Chechnya.[119] The same month, fifty members of Congress signed a letter urging Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was in Russia in April, to publicly question the validity of the reports and to pressure the Russian government to investigate and put a stop to the arrests.[120] Also in April 2017, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said, "We continue to be disturbed by reports of kidnapping, torture, and murder of people in Chechnya based on their sexual orientation and those persecuted by association. If true, this violation of human rights cannot be ignored – Chechen authorities must immediately investigate these allegations, hold anyone involved accountable, and take steps to prevent future abuses."[121] Former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton condemned the developments and called on the administration of President Donald Trump to do the same.[122]

In June 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 351, which condemned the atrocities against LGBT people in Chechnya and called upon the Russian government to condemn the violence.[123][124]

According to a National Security Council spokesperson, the topic of anti-gay persecution did not arise at a May 2017 meeting between Trump and Putin's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov. A White House spokesperson said that she was "not 100 percent sure" whether Trump had been briefed on the issue.[125] Testifying before a House of Representatives committee in June 2017, Tillerson reported that he had not discussed the matter during a meeting with Lavrov and did not know if Trump had raised it with Putin.[126]

In December 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions under the Magnitsky Act on Kadyrov and another Chechen official, Ayub Katayev, citing "gross violations of internationally recognized human rights"; the sanctions freeze assets and restrict the individuals' ability to travel in the U.S.[127] A spokesman for Putin called the sanctions "illegal" and indicated that Moscow would enact similar restrictions on U.S. officials in response.[128] In May 2019, the U.S. government imposed new financial sanctions on Chechen officials linked to the roundups of gay men in Chechnya, including Abuzayed Vismuradov, the commander of the "Terek Special Rapid Response Team" unit.[129][130]

In 2018, the United States Department of State released the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices of 2017. The report on Russia detailed multiple human rights abuses against LGBTI people in Chechnya over the preceding year, including extrajudicial killings of LGBTI persons in Chechnya; the kidnapping, detention, and torture of men accused of being gay in Chechnya as part of a purge conducted by Chechen security forces; repeated threats of violence by Chechen officials against journalists reporting on human rights violations; and a failure of Chechen and Russian authorities to adequately redress human rights violations.[131]

In January 2019, the U.S. Department of State called on Russia to urgently investigate the reports of the purges, with Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino stating: "We are deeply disturbed by credible reports out of Chechnya about renewed attacks against individuals perceived to be members of the LGBTI community. Civil society groups report that at least 40 individuals have been illegally detained since December, including two who reportedly died in custody after being tortured. We call on Russia to live up to its international obligations and commitments and its own constitution, and launch an immediate investigation into these human rights abuses."[132]

Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the topic in a meeting with Putin in May 2017, urging him to exert his influence to "ensure that minorities' rights are protected".[133]

Multilateral efforts

In April 2017, Lilianne Ploumen, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, has called for a statement of condemnation from the 33 members (Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay) of the Equal Rights Coalition.[134] In May 2017, in a joint letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the foreign ministers of five European countries (Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden) declared their concern over the situation.[135]

Evacuations and asylum

The Russian LGBT Network, based in St. Petersburg,[136] has worked to evacuate from Chechnya those who are threatened.[74][75] By June 2017, the Russian LGBT Network reported that 42 men had been evacuated to other parts of Russia, where they were safe from the immediate threat of detention, but risked being tracked down.[137]

In May 2017, Russian activists reported that survivors of Chechnya's anti-gay persecution were having difficulty finding countries willing to issue them visas.[138] By mid-May 2017, nine survivors of the persecution had reportedly been granted visas—two by Lithuania, the others by countries that Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius termed "allies" but declined to identify.[14] Linkevičius urged other nations of the European Union to accept more of the refugees.[139] As of June 2017, Germany and Lithuania had granted visas for entry to the countries based on 'humanitarian' grounds.[140][141] In August 2017, the Dutch government changed policy to allow LGBT persons from Chechnya to gain almost automatic "asylum-seeker" status and entry to the Netherlands.[142][143]

By 2019, the Russian LGBT Network had assisted more than 140 Chechen gay people in emigrating to European nations and Canada; none were resettled in the United States.[136] The Toronto, Canada-based nonprofit Rainbow Railroad has worked with the Russian LGBT Network to establish safe routes out of the region and assist at-risk men in escaping.[144][145][146] In mid-2017, the Canadian government had quietly granted asylum to 22 gay men and lesbians, in coordination with Rainbow Railroad.[145][146] In December 2018, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland ordered an airlift that brought 57 LGBT Chechen refugees to Canada.[147]

The United States government offered only limited help to LGBT Chechens facing persecution.[148] The Washington Post reported in September 2017 that "only a small number of LGBT Chechens who have found refuge in the United States in recent years"—far fewer than the number who wish to emigrate.[148] In May 2017, the Russia LGBT Network reported having unproductive talks with American embassy officials, in which they were told there was "no political will" to issue U.S. visas to the refugees.[138] The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT rights group, has called upon the U.S. to accept Chechen LGBT aslyum-seekers and refugees, noting that "activists state that the U.S. has yet to accept a single Chechen refugee and some Russian advocates have been told that U.S. visas are out of reach for LGBTQ Chechens."[149] One Chechen transgender woman fled Russia in April 2016 after being harassed and assaulted; she traveled to Mexico and crossed the border into the United States, where a U.S. federal judge granted her asylum in August 2017 due to the dangerous situation for LGBT persons in Russia.[148] In May 2019, one gay Chechen man had applied for asylum in the U.S., where he had fled in November 2018 after being attacked in Moscow.[150]

Documentary

The 2020 documentary Welcome to Chechnya by investigative reporter and filmmaker David France followed the work of activists rescuing survivors of torture in the anti-gay pogroms and features footage that was shot in secret, using hidden cameras, cell phones, GoPros, and handycams. To protect the identities of asylum seekers, deepfake technology was used to replace the faces and voices of subjects with face and voice doubles in a way that allowed viewers to see real faces displaying real emotions. One of the activists briefly discussed the expansion of persecution (on a smaller scale) to neighboring Ingushetia and Dagestan. The documentary had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020, and was released on June 30, 2020, by HBO Films.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Federal Law On Acts of Civil Status (1997) provides for the possibility to rectify acts of civil status based on the document confirming sex transformation issued by a health institution (art.70). Also, transgender people can change their passport on the grounds of sex transformation. See the Administrative Legislation section of the Russian LGBT Network 2009 Report.
  2. ^ Adoption is regulated by the Civil Procedure Code of Russia (Chapter 29); Family Code of Russia (Chapter 19); Federal Law On Acts of Civil Status (Chapter V). None of these documents contain any direct restriction or ban for homosexual people to adopt, though unmarried couples are not allowed to adopt children (Article 127.2 of the Family Code of Russia), and since same-sex marriage is not officially recognized, gay couples cannot adopt children together; nevertheless, single individuals can adopt (see also the Parent Relations section of the Russian LGBT Network 2009 Report). The Court makes the decision to allow or deny adoption considering many documents and testimonies, so it is unclear whether LGBT affiliation of the candidate adopter can be in fact an issue for a judge to make a negative decision.

References

  1. ^ Tom Batchelor, Russian police round up LGBT activists demonstrating against persecution of gay men in Chechnya, The Independent (1 May 2017)
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External links

  • Salon.com: "From Russia with hate: How Putin's anti-LGBT crackdown led to the persecution of gay men in Chechnya" – 1 May 2017.
  • The New Yorker.com: "Letter from Moscow: The Gay Men Who Fled Chechnya's Purge" – 3 July 2017.
  • Hromadske.ua: "LGBT Executions In Russia's Chechnya, Explained" – 9 April 2017.
  • Hromadske.ua: "We Talked To Reporter Who Exposed LGBT Executions in Russia's Chechnya" – 11 April 2017.
  • Gaytimes.co.uk: Gay camps in Chechnya documentary video

January 20, 2023
anti, purges, chechnya, chechen, republic, part, russian, federation, have, included, forced, disappearances, secret, abductions, imprisonment, torture, extrajudicial, killing, authorities, targeting, persons, based, their, perceived, sexual, orientation, prim. Anti gay purges in Chechnya in the Chechen Republic a part of the Russian Federation have included forced disappearances secret abductions imprisonment torture and extrajudicial killing by authorities targeting persons based on their perceived sexual orientation primarily gay men At least 2 of the 100 people whom authorities detained on suspicion of being gay or bisexual have reportedly died after being held in what human rights groups and eyewitnesses have called concentration camps 10 LGBT rights in ChechnyaActivists enact a scene of Chechen mothers mourning their children draped in LGBT and Chechen flags Nevsky Prospect Saint Petersburg 1 May 2017 1 2 StatusIllegal de facto PenaltyPunishment includes corporal punishment imprisonment torture executionDiscrimination protectionsNoneFamily rightsRecognition of relationshipsNo recognition of same sex relationshipsLGBT rights in RussiaStatusDecriminalised in 1917 re criminalised in 1933 legal since 1993 3 In Chechnya death torture vigilante executions vigilante attacks and jail are penalties 4 5 Gender identityLegal gender change since 1997 note 1 MilitaryNon official policy Don t ask don t tell since 2003 6 7 Discrimination protectionsNoneFamily rightsRecognition of relationshipsNo recognition of same sex unions in RussiaAdoptionNo legal restrictions to adopt by a single person note 2 A public demonstration Chechen mothers mourn their children was staged on 1 May 2017 after a purge on Nevsky Prospect in Saint Petersburg to protest the persecution of gay men in Chechnya 8 9 Allegations were initially reported on 1 April 2017 in Novaya Gazeta 4 a Russian language opposition newspaper which reported that since February 2017 over 100 men had allegedly been detained and tortured and at least three had died in extrajudicial killings The paper citing its sources in the Chechen special services called the wave of detentions a prophylactic sweep 4 5 The journalist who first reported on the subject went into hiding 11 12 There have been calls for reprisals against journalists who report on the situation 13 As news spread of Chechen authorities actions which have been described as part of a systematic anti LGBT purge Russian and international activists scrambled to evacuate survivors of the camps and other vulnerable Chechens but were met with difficulty obtaining visas to conduct them safely beyond Russia 14 The reports of the persecution were met with a variety of reactions worldwide The Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov denied not only the occurrence of any persecution but also the existence of gay men in Chechnya adding that such people would be killed by their own families 15 16 Officials in Moscow were skeptical although in late May the Russian government reportedly agreed to send an investigative team to Chechnya 17 Numerous national leaders and other public figures in the West condemned Chechnya s actions and protests were held in Russia and elsewhere A report released in December 2018 by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE confirmed claims that persecution of LGBT persons had taken place and was ignored by authorities 18 19 In a 2021 Council of Europe report into anti LGBTI hate crimes rapporteur Foura ben Chikha described the state sponsored attacks carried out against LGBTI people in Chechnya in 2017 as the single most egregious example of violence against LGBTI people in Europe that has occurred in decades 20 On 11 January 2019 it was reported that another gay purge had begun in the country in December 2018 with several gay men and women being detained 21 22 23 24 The Russian LGBT Network believes that around 40 people were detained and two killed 25 26 Contents 1 Background 2 Key events 2 1 Large scale raids and killings 2 2 Imprisonment and torture 2 3 Maxim Lapunov 2 4 Disappearance of Zelim Bakaev 2 5 Media attention 2 6 A second wave of persecutions in 2019 3 Response from Russian authorities 3 1 Statements from Chechen and Russian authorities 3 2 Arrests and targeting of activists and journalists 3 3 Investigation by Kremlin ombudswoman 4 International reactions 4 1 United Nations and other intergovernmental bodies 4 2 Human rights and LGBT organizations 4 2 1 Protests outside Russian diplomatic missions 4 3 Foreign governments 4 3 1 France 4 3 2 United Kingdom 4 3 3 Australia 4 3 4 Canada 4 3 5 United States 4 3 6 Germany 4 4 Multilateral efforts 5 Evacuations and asylum 6 Documentary 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External linksBackground EditMain article LGBT rights in Chechnya The status of LGBT rights in the Chechen Republic has long been a source of concern among human rights organizations including Amnesty International and it has also been described as being especially bleak within the Russian Federation as a whole 27 It was also singled out for criticism by human rights organisations such as Amnesty International before the 2017 crackdown 28 Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim ultra conservative society in which homophobia is widespread and homosexuality is taboo and where having a gay relative is seen as a stain on the entire extended family 29 The federal Russian LGBT laws apply in Chechnya which is a part of the Russian Federation However in Chechnya as in other regions of southern Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin has empowered local leaders to enforce their interpretation of traditional values partly in an effort to co opt religious extremism which has largely been driven underground 30 Although homosexuality was legalized in Russia in 1993 3 in 1996 Chechnya s separatist president Aslan Maskhadov adopted sharia law in his Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and article 148 of the Chechen penal code made all sodomy punishable by caning after the first two offenses and punishable by execution after the third offense 28 Chechnya returned to direct Russian rule in 2000 formally complying with its federal laws and human right statutes citation needed De facto it retains some autonomy and the current Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov has brought Islam to the fore of Chechnya s daily life and gay people who reveal their sexuality are often discriminated against and shunned by their families 31 Key events EditLarge scale raids and killings Edit The detentions began in February 2017 after a Chechen man who had allegedly committed a drug related offense was stopped by police 32 33 and arresting officers discovered contact information for other gay men on his phone 34 A second wave of detentions began after the LGBT rights organization Gayrussia ru applied for permits to hold gay pride parades in four cities within Kabardino Balkaria in Russia s predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region although not within Chechnya itself The application in this district was denied by the Kabardino Balkar authorities An anti gay demonstration followed along with posts on social media calling for gay people to be murdered by various methods 5 Gayrussia ru organizer Nikolay Alexeyev dismissed suggestions that attempts to organize pride parades in the region had sparked the violence against gay Chechens as speculative and unfounded 4 The organization had not focused on the Muslim districts in particular and it had applied for permits for gay pride parades in 90 municipal governments all across Russia in an attempt to collect the inevitable denials which would be used in a case about freedom of assembly and gay rights before the European Court of Human Rights 5 Human Rights Watch reported in 2017 that it is difficult to overstate just how vulnerable LGBT people are in Chechnya where homophobia is intense and rampant LGBT people are in danger not only of persecution by the authorities but also of falling victim to honour killings by their own relatives for tarnishing family honor 35 Kadyrov has encouraged extrajudicial killings by family members as an alternative to law enforcement in some cases gay men in prison have been released early specifically to enable their murder by relatives 36 better source needed The Chechen police and military have conducted entrapment schemes in which a victim is lured on a date beaten and humiliated A recording is produced and blackmail money is solicited in return for silence Law enforcement agencies in Chechnya already keep lists of suspects 37 According to a source from Radio Liberty raids on gay people began in December 2016 subsided briefly and resumed on a large scale in February 2017 The first gay men who were detained via entrapment were tortured in attempts to reveal the names of their acquaintances All of the correspondence in their phones was checked adding to the suspect list This resulted in the number of victims growing exponentially According to Novaya Gazeta at the end of February the police detained and checked the phone of a person who was in a state of intoxication The phone had pictures and videos with explicit content and dozens of contacts of local homosexuals The detainee was sent to a secret prison 38 Subsequently a wave of persecution began in Chechnya as an attempt to purge the country of those who are homosexual or are perceived to be homosexual 37 39 40 Chechen police are reportedly pressuring parents in the region to kill their children who they suspect of being homosexual 41 42 To facilitate this police have reportedly been releasing detainees into the custody of their families and outing them 43 Imprisonment and torture Edit According to independent media and human rights groups gay men are sent to clandestine camps in Chechnya which one eyewitness described to Novaya Gazeta as a closed prison the existence of which no one officially knows 10 44 Around 100 men have been imprisoned and at least three people have already died Some of the guards in these allegedly unofficial jails are accused of releasing the prisoners to their relatives if their relatives promise to kill them at least one man was reported by a witness as having died after returning to his family 44 One location of a secret prison is allegedly in the southern city of Argun citation needed Another prison is located in Tsotsin Yurt south of the Chechen capital Grozny 37 According to escapees interviewed in the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and the British owned The Guardian 30 to 40 people are detained in one room two to three metres big and often kept for months on end without trial Witnesses report they are also beaten with polypropylene pipes below the waist and tortured with electricity In addition to physical torture individuals report being mocked humiliated and insulted as well as being forced to clean the prison and spat in the face 29 44 In some cases the process of torture ends in the death of the person being tortured 45 46 In May 2017 it was reported that the building in Argun had been buried under demolition rubble and that prisoners had been moved to a new unknown location Investigators say that prisoners are likely to have been moved to a Special Police Force training base in Terek about 60 kilometres 37 mi 60 in Argun but they have been denied entry because training is taking place 47 48 Maxim Lapunov Edit On 15 March 2017 a gay man by the name of Maxim Lapunov was detained by police in Grozny in a sting and subsequently brought to the police station where he was allegedly beaten tortured and raped and held hostage for 12 days Lapunov became the only person to put a face to the official complaints against Chechen authorities in 2017 49 50 A North Caucasus court subsequently ruled against opening a criminal investigation into the case Justice minister Alexander Konovalov said preliminary investigations found no evidence of arrests and torture In May 2019 Lapunov filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights ECHR saying Russia had failed to protect him as he was arrested and beaten up by police in the Chechen capital Grozny in 2017 and claiming his case was not properly investigated by Russian authorities 51 52 Disappearance of Zelim Bakaev Edit While on a visit to Grozny for his sister s wedding in August 2017 Moscow based Chechen singer Zelim Bakaev disappeared never to be seen again He was reportedly arrested by security forces according to eyewitnesses in local media reports and his cell phone deactivated on the day of his disappearance The singer s mother made a public appeal to Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov but Chechen authorities have refused to open an investigation into Bakaev s disappearance Dzhambulat Umarov Chechnya s minister for national policy external relations press and information was quoted in RBC as saying The guy is not a Wahhabi not a terrorist he isn t involved in any cases No structures took him for a hundred years no one will need him adding that Bakaev would reappear soon 53 Media attention Edit The persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya beginning in early 2017 is particularly well documented 54 Human Rights Watch has confirmed that authorities have rounded up dozens of men on suspicion of being gay and that they are currently torturing and humiliating the victims Some of the men have forcibly disappeared At least three men have died since this brutal campaign began 55 An investigation by Radio Liberty in April 2017 reported that prisoners are being released to their families if their families promise to murder them 56 A lengthy analysis published on 26 May by Human Rights Watch reported the presence of leading government officials at the camps while detainees were being tortured 57 The report which includes graphic descriptions of the ordeals faced by several survivors of the camps suggested that several victims of the camps were still being detained at the time of its publication 58 In June a journalist with VICE News visited a now abandoned detention center in Argun believed to be the site of one of the camps and interviewed the local minister of internal affairs who also acts as prison warden The warden denied that abuse had taken place and said My officers would not even want to touch such people if they exist let alone beating or torturing them 59 Shown footage of the detention center a man who described being electrocuted by his captors identified it as the site where he was held and also identified the warden as one of his tormentors 60 In December 2018 the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe OSCE special rapporteur found that there was overwhelming evidence that there have been grave violations of the rights of LGBTI persons in the Chechen Republic 54 19 The OSCE found that there were several waves of persecution or purges of LGBT the first from December 2016 to February 2017 the second wave from March to May 2017 and a subsequent third which largely stopped because of the international outcry 54 The OSCE report found that there were still new cases as recent as September and October 2018 54 The OSCE report found that the persecutions followed a consistent pattern 54 Persons suspected of being homosexual would be arrested at homes workplaces or while traveling by police and military officers particular black clad SOBR members 54 Those arrested would be taken to a police station and then later a detention facility sometimes an unofficial prison Argun was a common location 54 Those arrested would be humiliated tortured and interrogated to force a confession that they were gay and to give names of other gays torture methods included being beaten with various items such as sticks tubes and cables and sometimes electric shocks 54 Prisoners were often forced to work sometimes by cleaning cars or floors 54 Medical treatment food and water was withheld from the prisoners 54 Prisoners were mistreated and tortured on a daily basis mostly for about two weeks or until they made and signed a confession or reported others or expressed their willingness to cooperate 54 Some were reportedly killed others were ransomed some were told to commit suicide others were handed over to their relatives who were told to kill them and In many cases victims have been forced to marry in order to save the family honor 54 Experts at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights released a statement in 2019 indicating the worsening situation of LGBT people in Chechnya Abuse inflicted on victims has allegedly become more cruel and violent compared with reports from 2017 It is no longer only gay men in Chechnya who are being targeted but women also Reportedly more than 40 people have been arrested since December 2018 People who tried to flee the republic were prevented from doing so by the authorities 61 A second wave of persecutions in 2019 Edit After a lull the Russian LGBT Network announced in July 2017 that it was again receiving reports of authorities persecuting gay Chechens The group voiced doubt that the Russian government was conducting an actual investigation despite earlier claims to the contrary from the Kremlin 62 63 Response from Russian authorities EditStatements from Chechen and Russian authorities Edit Chechen and Russian authorities have denied that the purges and persecutions occurred 64 15 Chechen government authorities denied that purges occurred Alvi Karimov a spokesperson for Ramzan Kadyrov claimed that gay people just don t exist in the republic and that If there were such people in Chechnya the law enforcement organs wouldn t need to have anything to do with them because their relatives would send them somewhere from which there is no returning 15 an apparent reference to so called honor killing 65 Karimov later claimed that reports of persecutions of LGBT people were part of an economic political psychological and informational attack directed against Russia waged by Americans and Europeans and asserted that There is not a single case of arrest on these grounds in Chechnya 66 In a July 2017 television interview Kadyrov denied the existence of any gays in Chechnya saying We don t have any gays If there are any take them to Canada To purify our blood if there are any here take them Kadyrov called the men who stated they had been tortured devils and subhuman 67 68 In January 2019 following reports of a new wave of anti gay purges beginning December 2018 Dzhambulat Umarov the Chechen Minister of National Policy claimed that gay people s sick imagination was to blame for purge reports 69 Russian President Vladimir Putin through his spokesman Dmitry Peskov endorsed Chechen leaders denials of anti gay persecution 70 71 and Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov claimed the reports were not based on fact 72 Sources have said that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov wanted the LGBT community to be eliminated by 26 May 2017 73 Arrests and targeting of activists and journalists Edit The Russian LGBT Network an inter regional LGBT rights organization based in Saint Petersburg is attempting to assist those who are threatened and evacuate them from Chechnya 74 75 In May 2019 the association reported that seven people broke into the apartment of one of its volunteers in Saint Petersburg where they threatened the activist and other staff with physical violence and murder saying We will take you to the police office and will break all your bones The assailants interrogated the activists about the whereabouts of a young Chechen woman who had escaped from the region and Russian LGBT Network emergency programme coordinator David Isteev saying to tell David Isteev that they were going to find and kill him Three of the assailants were identified as Chechens and four implied they were police officers from Chechnya s capital Grozny but refused to provide identification documents 76 77 78 In May 2017 five activists were arrested in Moscow while en route to the prosecutor general s office to deliver a petition calling for an unbiased investigation 79 According to the Russian LGBT Network the petition bore more than two million signatures of people in various countries 80 The arrests followed an incident at a May Day parade in St Petersburg in which riot police reportedly detained 17 protesters who sought to bring attention to the anti gay violence in Chechnya 81 In January 2019 Igor Kochetkov a leading Russian LGBT Network activist filed a complaint with the Investigative Department of Russia s Interior Ministry naming 14 people that authorities unlawfully detained and tortured in Chechnya s capital Grozny He also reported the name of one man who police allegedly killed in January After the complaint however Ali Baskhanov the leader of a pro government group in Chechnya uploaded a YouTube video threatening Kochetkov calling him a son of the devil and warned that if he came to Chechnya it would be his final stop according to Human Rights Watch Kochetkov says authorities did not take his complaints of the threat seriously He is now planning to sue the Investigative Department Human Rights Watch urged to Russia to protect the activist and said that The threats against Igor Kochetkov are very serious and deserve a prompt reaction by the Russian authorities Given the danger LGBT people have been facing in Chechnya the Interior Ministry s lack of response is dangerous and unacceptable 82 Investigation by Kremlin ombudswoman Edit In late May 2017 following weeks of international pressure the Kremlin authorized its human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova to conduct an investigation 83 84 Investigators were sent to Chechnya 17 but Chechen officials attempted to sabotage the team s investigation 85 In 2020 the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Chechen authorities had deliberately attempted to deceive Moskalkova in September 2017 meetings in Chechnya Moskalkova met with two men identified to her as being among those who had reportedly been killed in the raids in what appeared to be an effort by local authorities to undermine the reports about the raids the men were in fact the siblings of two men who were victims of extrajudicial killings 86 87 International reactions Edit Protest and fundraising during Amsterdam Pride Walk 2017 Human rights groups and foreign governments have called upon Russia and Chechnya to put an end to the torture and killings of gays 88 United Nations and other intergovernmental bodies Edit In April 2017 a panel of five experts that advises the United Nations Human Rights Council called on Chechnya to put an end to the persecution of people perceived to be gay or bisexual in the Chechen Republic who are living in a climate of fear fueled by homophobic speeches by local authorities 30 the same month the director of the human rights office at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said that Moscow must urgently investigate the alleged disappearance torture and other ill treatment of gay men in Chechnya 89 In January 2019 the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR expressed its concern with reports of additional arrests following an anti purge in the Russian republic and called on Russia to take action to halt the detention and abuse of gay and bisexual people in Chechnya The UN experts are Elina Steinerte Agnes Callamard David Kaye Victor Madrigal Borloz Nils Melzer Dubravka Simonovic and Ivana Radacic 90 91 92 In March 2019 a number of countries at the 40th Session of the Human Rights Council issued a joint statement calling for a swift thorough and impartial investigation into the alleged persecution and accountability for those responsible Albania Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Canada Chile Costa Rica Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Iceland Italy Ireland Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Montenegro the Netherlands New Zealand Norway Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine the United Kingdom and Uruguay all supported the joint statement however the United States under the Trump administration refused to sign on to the statement 93 94 Human rights and LGBT organizations Edit In April 2017 Amnesty International called for a prompt investigation and intervention 95 and more than 130 000 people signed a petition started by the organization in opposition to alleged human rights violations 96 The same month the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum condemned the persecution of gay men in Chechnya and called on Chechen and Russian authorities to investigate the matter and ensure the safety of LGBT populations within the Russian Federation 97 98 Three France based human rights organizations filed a complaint in May 2017 with the International Criminal Court ICC accusing Chechen government officials of genocide 99 and Chechen President Kadyrov as the logistician of the concentration camps 100 Putin announced in 2016 that Russia which signed but never ratified the treaty creating the ICC would end its relationship with the treaty in November 2017 101 Many celebrities and LGBT activists such as Troye Sivan Ellen DeGeneres Matt Bomer Mark Ruffalo and Billy Eichner have voiced their strong condemnation of persecution of LGBT persons in Chechnya 102 103 In February 2021 the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and the Russian LGBT Network filed a 97 page charge sheet against five Chechen officials connected with Kadyrov including his deputy prime minister Abuzayed Vismuradov police chief Ayub Katayev and the chair of the Chechen parliament Magomed Daudov If accepted by German authorities the five named officials would be charged with crimes against humanity 104 105 Protests outside Russian diplomatic missions Edit Hundreds of people have attended demonstrations outside Russian diplomatic missions protesting the anti gay persecutions in Chechnya Demonstrations took place in April 2017 outside the Embassy of Russia in London 106 107 and in January 2019 outside New York City s Russian Consulate in solidarity with gay and lesbian people facing a second wave of persecution in Chechnya 108 On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day a protest attended by around a hundred people was held on 27 January 2019 outside the Embassy of Russia in London 109 In May 2019 on the International Day Against Homophobia Transphobia and Biphobia LGBT activists laid a giant rainbow flag on the steps of the Russian embassy in London handing in a 65 000 signature petition calling on the Russian authorities to investigate the purge 110 Foreign governments Edit France Edit The camps became an issue in the 2017 French presidential election with Jean Luc Melenchon Benoit Hamon and Emmanuel Macron condemning Chechnya for them while Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen remained silent 111 In a meeting with Putin in 2017 French President Macron pressed the Russian leader on the plight of LGBT Chechens and promised constant vigilance on the issue According to Macron Putin reported having taken steps to ascertain the complete truth on the activities of local authorities 112 United Kingdom Edit In 2017 British MEPs urged Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to meet with the Russian ambassador 113 Johnson condemned the Chechen government s persecution of gay men as outrageous and abhorrent 114 In 2019 Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan said The persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya is utterly appalling The Russian authorities must protect their people from these human rights abuses and conduct a credible investigation into these reports immediately There should be no climate of impunity for those who commit these abuses We and the international community have repeatedly called for the Russian Government to conduct an investigation and hold those responsible for human rights abuses in Chechnya to account including through the 2018 OSCE Moscow Mechanism 115 Australia Edit In 2017 Julie Bishop the Australian Foreign Minister condemned both the arrests and the camps 116 117 Canada Edit In April 2017 the Government of Canada called the persecution of LGBTQ2 people in Chechnya reprehensible calling upon Russia to investigate and ensure the safety of those at risk 118 United States Edit In April 2017 the United States Department of State expressed concern about numerous credible reports indicating the detentions and deaths of LGBTI individuals in Chechnya 119 The same month fifty members of Congress signed a letter urging Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who was in Russia in April to publicly question the validity of the reports and to pressure the Russian government to investigate and put a stop to the arrests 120 Also in April 2017 Nikki Haley the U S ambassador to the United Nations said We continue to be disturbed by reports of kidnapping torture and murder of people in Chechnya based on their sexual orientation and those persecuted by association If true this violation of human rights cannot be ignored Chechen authorities must immediately investigate these allegations hold anyone involved accountable and take steps to prevent future abuses 121 Former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton condemned the developments and called on the administration of President Donald Trump to do the same 122 In June 2017 the U S House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 351 which condemned the atrocities against LGBT people in Chechnya and called upon the Russian government to condemn the violence 123 124 According to a National Security Council spokesperson the topic of anti gay persecution did not arise at a May 2017 meeting between Trump and Putin s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov A White House spokesperson said that she was not 100 percent sure whether Trump had been briefed on the issue 125 Testifying before a House of Representatives committee in June 2017 Tillerson reported that he had not discussed the matter during a meeting with Lavrov and did not know if Trump had raised it with Putin 126 In December 2017 the U S Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions under the Magnitsky Act on Kadyrov and another Chechen official Ayub Katayev citing gross violations of internationally recognized human rights the sanctions freeze assets and restrict the individuals ability to travel in the U S 127 A spokesman for Putin called the sanctions illegal and indicated that Moscow would enact similar restrictions on U S officials in response 128 In May 2019 the U S government imposed new financial sanctions on Chechen officials linked to the roundups of gay men in Chechnya including Abuzayed Vismuradov the commander of the Terek Special Rapid Response Team unit 129 130 In 2018 the United States Department of State released the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices of 2017 The report on Russia detailed multiple human rights abuses against LGBTI people in Chechnya over the preceding year including extrajudicial killings of LGBTI persons in Chechnya the kidnapping detention and torture of men accused of being gay in Chechnya as part of a purge conducted by Chechen security forces repeated threats of violence by Chechen officials against journalists reporting on human rights violations and a failure of Chechen and Russian authorities to adequately redress human rights violations 131 In January 2019 the U S Department of State called on Russia to urgently investigate the reports of the purges with Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino stating We are deeply disturbed by credible reports out of Chechnya about renewed attacks against individuals perceived to be members of the LGBTI community Civil society groups report that at least 40 individuals have been illegally detained since December including two who reportedly died in custody after being tortured We call on Russia to live up to its international obligations and commitments and its own constitution and launch an immediate investigation into these human rights abuses 132 Germany Edit German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the topic in a meeting with Putin in May 2017 urging him to exert his influence to ensure that minorities rights are protected 133 Multilateral efforts Edit In April 2017 Lilianne Ploumen Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation has called for a statement of condemnation from the 33 members Argentina Austria Belgium Canada Chile Costa Rica the Czech Republic Ecuador Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Honduras Italy Mexico Montenegro the Netherlands New Zealand Norway Portugal Serbia Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine the United Kingdom the United States and Uruguay of the Equal Rights Coalition 134 In May 2017 in a joint letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov the foreign ministers of five European countries Britain France Germany the Netherlands and Sweden declared their concern over the situation 135 Evacuations and asylum EditThe Russian LGBT Network based in St Petersburg 136 has worked to evacuate from Chechnya those who are threatened 74 75 By June 2017 the Russian LGBT Network reported that 42 men had been evacuated to other parts of Russia where they were safe from the immediate threat of detention but risked being tracked down 137 In May 2017 Russian activists reported that survivors of Chechnya s anti gay persecution were having difficulty finding countries willing to issue them visas 138 By mid May 2017 nine survivors of the persecution had reportedly been granted visas two by Lithuania the others by countries that Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius termed allies but declined to identify 14 Linkevicius urged other nations of the European Union to accept more of the refugees 139 As of June 2017 Germany and Lithuania had granted visas for entry to the countries based on humanitarian grounds 140 141 In August 2017 the Dutch government changed policy to allow LGBT persons from Chechnya to gain almost automatic asylum seeker status and entry to the Netherlands 142 143 By 2019 the Russian LGBT Network had assisted more than 140 Chechen gay people in emigrating to European nations and Canada none were resettled in the United States 136 The Toronto Canada based nonprofit Rainbow Railroad has worked with the Russian LGBT Network to establish safe routes out of the region and assist at risk men in escaping 144 145 146 In mid 2017 the Canadian government had quietly granted asylum to 22 gay men and lesbians in coordination with Rainbow Railroad 145 146 In December 2018 Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland ordered an airlift that brought 57 LGBT Chechen refugees to Canada 147 The United States government offered only limited help to LGBT Chechens facing persecution 148 The Washington Post reported in September 2017 that only a small number of LGBT Chechens who have found refuge in the United States in recent years far fewer than the number who wish to emigrate 148 In May 2017 the Russia LGBT Network reported having unproductive talks with American embassy officials in which they were told there was no political will to issue U S visas to the refugees 138 The Human Rights Campaign an LGBT rights group has called upon the U S to accept Chechen LGBT aslyum seekers and refugees noting that activists state that the U S has yet to accept a single Chechen refugee and some Russian advocates have been told that U S visas are out of reach for LGBTQ Chechens 149 One Chechen transgender woman fled Russia in April 2016 after being harassed and assaulted she traveled to Mexico and crossed the border into the United States where a U S federal judge granted her asylum in August 2017 due to the dangerous situation for LGBT persons in Russia 148 In May 2019 one gay Chechen man had applied for asylum in the U S where he had fled in November 2018 after being attacked in Moscow 150 Documentary EditThe 2020 documentary Welcome to Chechnya by investigative reporter and filmmaker David France followed the work of activists rescuing survivors of torture in the anti gay pogroms and features footage that was shot in secret using hidden cameras cell phones GoPros and handycams To protect the identities of asylum seekers deepfake technology was used to replace the faces and voices of subjects with face and voice doubles in a way that allowed viewers to see real faces displaying real emotions One of the activists briefly discussed the expansion of persecution on a smaller scale to neighboring Ingushetia and Dagestan The documentary had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26 2020 and was released on June 30 2020 by HBO Films See also Edit Europe portal LGBT portalHistory of Chechnya LGBT in Islam LGBT rights in Russia List of concentration and internment camps Violence against LGBT people Zelim BakaevNotes Edit The Federal Law On Acts of Civil Status 1997 provides for the possibility to rectify acts of civil status based on the document confirming sex transformation issued by a health institution art 70 Also transgender people can change their passport on the grounds of sex transformation See the Administrative Legislation section of the Russian LGBT Network 2009 Report Adoption is regulated by the Civil Procedure Code of Russia Chapter 29 Family Code of Russia Chapter 19 Federal Law On Acts of Civil Status Chapter V None of these documents contain any direct restriction or ban for homosexual people to adopt though unmarried couples are not allowed to adopt children Article 127 2 of the Family Code of Russia and since same sex marriage is not officially recognized gay couples cannot adopt children together nevertheless single individuals can adopt see also the Parent Relations section of the Russian LGBT Network 2009 Report The Court makes the decision to allow or deny adoption considering many documents and testimonies so it is unclear whether LGBT affiliation of the candidate adopter can be in fact an issue for a judge to make a negative decision References Edit Tom Batchelor Russian police round up LGBT activists demonstrating against persecution of gay men in Chechnya The Independent 1 May 2017 Andrew E Kramer Russians Protesting Abuse of Gay Men in Chechnya Are Detained New York Times 1 May 2017 a b Russia Update to RUS13194 of 16 February 1993 on the treatment of homosexuals Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 29 February 2000 Retrieved 21 May 2009 a b c d Milashina Elena 1 April 2017 Murder of honor the ambitions of a well known LGBT activist awake a terrible ancient custom in Chechnya Retrieved 14 April 2017 Novaya Gazeta became aware of mass detentions of residents of Chechnya in connection with their unconventional sexual orientation or suspicion of such At the moment more than a hundred men have been informed of the detention Novaya Gazeta knows the names of the three dead but our sources say that there are many more victims a b c d Kramer Andrew E 1 April 2017 Chechen Authorities Arresting and Killing Gay Men Russian Paper Says The New York Times Retrieved 15 April 2017 Gays are not Willingly Accepted in the Russian Army english pravda ru 1 December 2003 Retrieved 26 January 2014 New Soldiers Face Gay Tattoo Check The Moscow Times Retrieved 26 January 2014 Batchelor Tom 1 May 2017 Russian police round up LGBT activists demonstrating against persecution of gay men in Chechnya The Independent Retrieved 31 May 2017 Kramer Andrew E 1 May 2017 Russians Protesting Abuse of Gay Men in Chechnya Are Detained The New York Times Retrieved 31 May 2017 a b Reynolds Daniel 10 April 2017 Report Chechnya Is Torturing Gay Men in Concentration Camps The Advocate Retrieved 16 April 2017 Analysis She broke the story of Chechnya s anti gay purge Now she says she has to flee Russia The Washington Post Retrieved 16 April 2017 Reports Of New Terrifying Gay Concentration Camps Where Men Are Getting Tortured And Murdered ELLE UK 2017 04 13 Retrieved 2017 04 13 Walker Shaun 14 April 2017 Journalists fear reprisals for exposing purge of gay men in Chechnya The Guardian Retrieved 15 April 2017 a b Ponniah Kevin 19 May 2017 Chechen gay men hopeful of finding refuge in five countries BBC News Retrieved 22 May 2017 a b c Walker Shaun 2 April 2017 Chechen police have rounded up more than 100 suspected gay men The Guardian Retrieved 16 April 2017 Peter Laurence 11 April 2017 Chechen police kidnap and torture gay men LGBT activists BBC News Retrieved 31 May 2017 a b Walker Shaun 26 May 2017 Russia investigates gay purge in Chechnya The Guardian Retrieved 27 May 2017 Benedek Wolfgang December 21 2018 OSCE Rapporteur s Report under the Moscow Mechanism on alleged Human Rights Violations and Impunity in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation by Professor Dr Wolfgang Benedek Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Retrieved 13 January 2018 a b Gessen Masha December 21 2018 A Damning New Report on L G B T Persecution in Chechnya The New Yorker Retrieved 13 January 2018 ben Chikha Foura September 21 2021 Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe PDF Council of Europe Committee on Equality and Non Discrimination pp 15 16 Retrieved September 26 2021 Vasilyeva Nataliya January 11 2019 Reports several gay men and women detained in Chechnya Associated Press Retrieved January 14 2019 Damshenas Sam January 11 2019 Chechnya has reportedly launched a new gay purge Gay Times Retrieved 13 January 2019 Carroll Oliver January 11 2019 Chechnya launches new gay purge reports say The Independent Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved January 14 2019 Novoj gazete stalo izvestno o novyh presledovaniyah geev v Chechne Novaya Gazeta learned of new persecution of gays in Chechnya Novaya Gazeta in Russian January 11 2019 Retrieved 14 January 2019 New wave of persecution against LGBT people in Chechnya around 40 people detained at least two killed Rossijskaya LGBT set in Russian January 14 2019 Archived from the original on June 30 2019 Retrieved August 27 2019 Ingber Sasha January 14 2019 Activists Say 40 Detained And 2 Dead In Gay Purge In Chechnya NPR Retrieved August 27 2019 Savelau Dmitry 12 April 2017 Gay men in Chechnya are some of the most disempowered people in the world today The Independent Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved 16 April 2017 a b Breaking the Silence Human Rights Violations Based on Sexual Orientation Amnesty International 1997 p 34 ISBN 1873328125 a b Walker Shaun 13 April 2017 Chechens tell of prison beatings and electric shocks in anti gay purge They called us animals The Guardian Retrieved 16 April 2017 a b Chan Sewell 13 April 2017 U N Experts Condemn Killing and Torture of Gay Men in Chechnya The New York Times Retrieved 16 April 2017 Osborne Samuel April 7 2017 Gay men being tortured and murdered in Chechen prisons claim detainees The Independent Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved April 10 2017 He has brought Islam to the fore of Chechnya s daily life and gay people who reveal their sexuality are often discriminated against and shunned by their families Knight Amy 19 May 2017 Putin s Monster The New York Review of Books Retrieved 31 May 2017 Andreevskikh Olga 30 May 2017 Report reveals the full brutality of anti gay purges in Chechnya The Conversation Retrieved 31 May 2017 Armitage Susie 26 May 2017 This New Report Shows How Bad Chechnya s Gay Crackdown Really Is BuzzFeed News Retrieved 31 May 2017 Tanya Lokshina Anti LGBT Violence in Chechnya Human Rights Watch April 4 2017 Smith Lydia 11 April 2017 People are being tortured and killed Chechnya s deadly anti LGBT crisis International Business News Retrieved 12 April 2017 a b c Information uncovered about a second prison for homosexuals in the Russian republic of Chechnya Retrieved 16 April 2017 Raspravy nad chechenskimi geyami 18 Novaya gazeta in Russian Retrieved 18 December 2017 Gay men sent to concentration style camps during purge in Chechnya The Evening Standard 11 April 2017 Retrieved 16 April 2017 Authorities rounding up killing gay men in prophylactic purge Russian paper says ABC News 4 April 2017 Retrieved 16 April 2017 Pasha Robinson Lucy Chechen authorities tell parents Kill your gay sons or we will survivor claims The Independent Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved 3 May 2017 Stroude Will May 3 2017 CHECHEN AUTHORITIES SUMMON PARENTS TO PRISON CAMPS TO KILL THEIR GAY SONS Attitude Archived from the original on May 6 2017 Retrieved May 3 2017 Burrows Emma 29 May 2017 French president calls on Putin to protect gay Chechens CNN Retrieved 1 June 2017 a b c Raspravy nad chechenskimi geyami 18 Novaya gazeta Novayagazeta ru 4 April 2017 Retrieved 14 January 2019 People are being beaten and forced to sit on bottles in anti gay camps in Chechnya The Independent 2017 04 11 Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved 2017 04 13 Chechnya has opened concentration camps for gay men PinkNews Retrieved 2017 04 13 Morgan Joe May 23 2017 Chechnya gay concentration camp destroyed prisoners moved to unknown location Gay Start News Retrieved 31 May 2017 Butterworth Benjamin May 25 2017 Chechnya s gay concentration camp has been destroyed and moved to new location Pink News Retrieved 31 May 2017 Gay man takes Russia to Europe s rights court over Chechnya LGBT attacks The Independent 2019 05 24 Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved 2020 12 13 Timeline of Maxim Lapunov s case PDF crd org Gay man takes Russia to Europe s rights court over Chechnya LGBT Reuters 2019 05 24 Retrieved 2019 06 28 Russian Files Chechnya Gay Purge Complaint With European Rights Court RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty Retrieved 2019 06 28 O Toole Sean discourse ContributorWeb editor Development media 2017 10 21 New Reports of Gay Singer Abducted and Murdered in Chechnya HuffPost Retrieved 2020 12 13 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a first2 has generic name help a b c d e f g h i j k l Benedek Wolfgang December 21 2018 OSCE Rapporteur s Report under the Moscow Mechanism on alleged Human Rights Violations and Impunity in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation by Professor Dr Wolfgang Benedek Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Lokshina Tanya 4 April 2017 Anti LGBT Violence in Chechnya Human Rights Watch Retrieved 14 April 2017 Information uncovered about a second prison for homosexuals in the Russian republic of Chechnya They Have Long Arms and They Can Find Me Anti Gay Purge by Local Authorities in Russia s Chechen Republic Human Rights Watch 26 May 2017 Retrieved 27 May 2017 Batchelor Tom 26 May 2017 Chechnya gay purge Victims tell of being stripped naked beaten with pipes and electrocuted The Independent Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved 27 May 2017 Ring Trudy 21 June 2017 Vice Explores Chechen Prison But Officials Still Deny Antigay Persecution The Advocate Retrieved 27 June 2017 Hassan Hind 20 June 2017 Inside the Chechen prison where gay men say they were tortured VICE News Retrieved 27 June 2017 LGBT community in Chechnya faces new wave of persecution UN human rights experts 13 February 2019 Retrieved 13 February 2019 Feder J Lester Lytvynenko Jane 2017 07 06 Activists Say Chechnya Has Restarted Its Crackdown Against LGBT People BuzzFeed News Retrieved 2017 07 12 Lavers Michael K 2017 07 11 State Department Chechnya extrajudicial killings are troubling The Washington Blade Retrieved 2017 07 12 Delaney Max May 30 2017 Russia s Lavrov says no facts on Chechnya gay persecution Yahoo Retrieved 30 May 2017 Tanya Lokshina 4 April 2017 Anti LGBT Violence in Chechnya When Filing Official Complaints Isn t an Option Open Democracy Human Rights Watch Kadyrov s spokesman complained about gay attack on Chechnya en crimerussia com Archived from the original on 2019 02 17 Retrieved 2019 06 28 Lavers Michael K 14 July 2017 Chechnya president We don t have any gays The Washington Blade Retrieved 16 July 2017 Miller Ryan W 15 July 2017 We don t have any gays Chechen leader denies gay purge USA Today Retrieved 16 July 2017 Chechnya officials blame gay people s sick imagination for purge reports Pinknews co uk 20 January 2019 Retrieved 28 January 2019 Dearden Lizzie 20 April 2017 Russia backs Chechnya government s denials over killing and torture of gay me The Independent Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved 21 April 2017 Kremlin no confirmed info on claimed Chechen gay killings Fox News April 14 2017 Retrieved 16 April 2016 Chechnya gay purge Russian foreign minister says claims of abuse are not based on fact The Independent May 30 2017 Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Eleftheriou Smith Loulla Mae 25 April 2017 Chechnya wants to eliminate gay community by end of May reports suggest The Independent Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved 3 May 2017 a b Russian LGBT Network evacuating at risk people from Chechnya Archived from the original on 5 July 2018 Retrieved 16 April 2017 a b Pleas for help from gay men in Chechnya on rise Russian group says NBC News Retrieved 16 April 2017 Chechnya gay purge responders receive death threats after home invasion PinkNews 2019 05 31 Retrieved 2019 06 28 Russia Chechnya Gay Purge Responders Threatened Human Rights Watch 2019 05 28 Retrieved 2019 06 28 Activists Helping Gays Escape Chechnya Face Threats Home Invasions www advocate com 2019 05 29 Retrieved 2019 06 28 Reevell Patrick 2017 05 11 LGBT activists arrested in Moscow after demanding investigation of alleged torture of gay men in Chechnya ABC News Retrieved 2017 05 11 Chechnya gay rights Activists with petition held in Moscow BBC News 2017 05 11 Retrieved 2017 05 11 Koreneva Marina 1 May 2017 Russia detains protesters against Chechnya anti gay violence Agence France Presse France 24 Archived from the original on 8 May 2017 Retrieved 22 May 2017 Russia New Wave of Anti LGBT Persecution Human Rights Watch 2019 02 15 Retrieved 2019 06 28 Vladimir Putin backs investigation into reports of violent anti gay crackdown in Chechnya NBC News Associated Press 5 May 2017 Retrieved 6 May 2017 Weir Fred 26 May 2017 Chechnya s anti gay pogrom Too much even for the Kremlin The Christian Science Monitor Retrieved 27 May 2017 Rights group says Chechen officials humiliated gay detainees ABC News Associated Press 26 May 2017 Retrieved 27 May 2017 Report Kremlin Rights Official Was Deceived While Probing Deadly Chechen Police Raids Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty January 27 2020 Chechnya duped Russian human rights watchdog by presenting siblings of murdered activists as the victims themselves The Telegraph January 27 2020 Russia Urged to End Torture Killing of Gays in Chechnya Voice of America April 13 2017 Nordwall Smita 13 April 2017 Russia Urged to End Torture Killing of Gays in Chechnya VOA Retrieved 16 April 2017 LGBT community in Chechnya faces new wave of persecution UN human rights experts UN News 2019 02 13 Retrieved 2019 06 28 Chechnya UN experts urge action after reports of renewed persecution of lesbian gay and bisexual people Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Retrieved 2019 06 28 Lang Nico 2019 02 14 U N demands answers from Russia following more reports of anti LGBTQ torture in Chechnya www lgbtqnation com Retrieved 2019 06 28 Campaign Human Rights Trump Pence Admin Refuses to Join Call for Chechnya Investigation Human Rights Campaign Retrieved 2019 06 28 Human Rights Council 40 Joint Statement Item 8 General Debate on LGBTI persons in Chechnya GOV UK Retrieved 2019 06 28 Document Retrieved 16 April 2017 Stop abducting and killing gay men in Chechnya Amnesty International Retrieved 2017 04 13 Museum Condemns Persecution of Gays in Chechnya United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Retrieved 2017 04 27 Lavers Michael K 27 April 2017 U S Holocaust Museum deeply concerned by gay Chechnya arrests The Washington Blade Retrieved 27 April 2017 Chechnya accused of gay genocide in ICC complaint BBC News 16 May 2017 Retrieved 16 May 2017 Des associations LGBT accusent la Tchetchenie de genocide devant la CPI Le Monde in French 16 May 2017 Retrieved 16 May 2017 Russia quits International Criminal Court Philippines may follow CNN 17 November 2016 Retrieved 16 May 2017 Wong Curtis 13 April 2017 Ellen DeGeneres And Others Call For End To Gay Concentration Camps Huffington Post Retrieved 15 April 2017 Chechnya concentration camps a sickening reminder of LGBTI persecution Sydney Morning Herald April 21 2017 German NGO files legal case against Chechen officials over anti gay purges the Guardian 2021 04 18 Retrieved 2021 04 20 Germany to charge leaders of Chechen gay purge with crimes against humanity PinkNews Gay news reviews and comment from the world s most read lesbian gay bisexual and trans news service 2021 04 19 Retrieved 2021 04 20 Grafton Green Patrick Hundreds protest against gay concentration camps in Chechnya outside London s Russian Embassy London Evening Standard Retrieved April 13 2017 Watch LGBT activists outside the Russian Embassy protest the prison camps for gay men in Chechnya The Independent 2017 04 13 Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved 2017 04 13 Activists Storm the Russian Consulate to Protest Chechnya s Gay Purge NewNowNext www newnownext com Retrieved 2019 06 28 Londoners rally at Russian embassy demanding end to torture in Chechnya Gay Star News 27 January 2019 Retrieved 28 January 2019 The whole world s been shocked by the purge in Chechnya www amnesty org uk Retrieved 2019 06 28 Lacroix Jeremie 13 April 2017 Tchetchenie Melenchon s indigne Hamon et Macron condamnent Fillon et Le Pen s abstiennent Tetu Retrieved 13 April 2017 Rubin Alissa J Breeden Aurelien 29 May 2017 French president calls on Putin to protect gay Chechens The New York Times Retrieved 1 June 2017 Huge crowds in London protest Chechnya s gay concentration camps Evening Standard 2017 04 12 Retrieved 2017 04 13 Cowburn Ashley 13 April 2017 Boris Johnson is calling for Russia to investigate the detention of 100 gay men in Chechnya The Independent Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 Retrieved 8 June 2017 US State Department condemns Chechnya gay purge reports Pinknews co uk 19 January 2019 Retrieved 28 January 2019 Koziol Michael 13 April 2017 Julie Bishop reproaches Russia over mass arrests of gay men in Chechnya Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 14 April 2017 Wade Matthew 14 April 2017 JULIE BISHOP CONDEMNS GAY CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN CHECHNYA Star Observer Retrieved 14 April 2017 Canada calls persecution of LGBTQ2 people in Chechnya reprehensible Press release Government of Canada April 15 2017 Retrieved 19 April 2017 The United States Concerned by Reports of Detentions and Deaths of LGBTI Individuals in Chechnya Russia Press release The United States Department of State April 7 2017 Retrieved 16 April 2016 Duffy Nick 13 April 2017 50 Members of Congress sign letter condemning anti gay purge in Chechnya PinkNews Retrieved 16 April 2017 Haley Nikki April 17 2017 Statement from U S Ambassador Nikki Haley on Reports of Detentions and Killings in Chechnya United States Mission to the United Nations Press release United States Department of State Retrieved April 18 2017 Johnson Chris 21 April 2017 Clinton blasts Trump for actions against LGBT rights The Washington Blade Retrieved 21 April 2017 Bipartisan resolution condemns anti LGBTQ violence in Chechnya NBC News Retrieved 2017 05 26 House Passes Resolution Condemning Atrocities in Chechnya Human Rights Campaign Retrieved 2017 06 29 Johnson Chris 10 May 2017 White House not aware if Trump briefed on Chechnya anti gay abuses The Washington Blade Retrieved 11 May 2017 Johnson Chris 15 June 2017 Tillerson I haven t raised Chechnya anti gay abuses with Russia The Washington Blade Retrieved 27 June 2017 Ring Trudy 20 December 2017 U S Sanctions Chechen Leader Over Antigay Persecution The Advocate Retrieved 21 December 2017 Ring Trudy 21 December 2017 Kremlin Says Sanctions Against Kadyrov Illegal Vows Response Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty Retrieved 21 December 2017 U S Sanctions Chechen Officials Allegedly Linked To Gay Purge Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty Retrieved 2019 06 28 Treasury Targets Additional Individuals Involved in the Sergei Magnitsky Case and Gross Violations of Human Rights in Russia U S Department of the Treasury Retrieved 2019 06 28 RUSSIA 2017 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT PDF Archived from the original PDF on 20 April 2018 Retrieved 28 January 2019 Attacks on LGBTI Community in Chechnya U S Department of State Retrieved 28 January 2019 Reynolds Daniel 2 May 2017 Angela Merkel Urges Putin to Protect Gay Chechens The Advocate Retrieved 6 May 2017 Dutch aid minister calls for action over Chechnya anti gay violence DutchNews nl April 18 2017 Retrieved 20 April 2017 Oliphant Roland 5 May 2017 Vladimir Putin backs investigation into reports of violent anti gay crackdown in Chechnya The Telegraph Retrieved 6 May 2017 a b Kramer Andrew E 2019 01 14 Chechnya Renews Crackdown on Gay People Rights Group Says The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2019 06 28 Mackinnon Amy June 4 2017 America don t abandon gay Chechens CNN Retrieved 5 June 2017 a b Feder J Lester 17 May 2017 Russian Activists Say They ve Been Told US Visas Are Out Of Reach For Gay Chechens BuzzFeed News Retrieved 22 May 2017 Gramer Robbie 18 May 2017 Lithuania Opens Door to Gay Chechens Fleeing Persecution While U S Slams It Shut Foreign Policy Retrieved 22 May 2017 Shimer David 9 June 2017 Gay Chechens Attacked at Home Find Doors Opening in Europe New York Times Retrieved 18 November 2017 Lithuania helps gay Chechens flee Russia EUobserver 2017 05 19 Gay Chechens face easier asylum claims in the Netherlands DutchNews nl Dutchnews nl 31 August 2017 Retrieved 18 November 2017 Sneller verblijfsvergunning Tsjetsjeense homo s Nederlandse Omroep Stichting 30 August 2017 Retrieved 18 November 2017 Villarreal Yezmin 2017 04 18 Human Rights Group Hopes to Evacuate Gay Men From Chechnya The Advocate Retrieved 2017 04 18 a b Porter Catherine 3 September 2017 Chechnya s Persecuted Gays Find Refuge in Canada New York Times Retrieved 18 November 2017 a b Fiona Keating 2017 09 03 Canada quietly gives asylum to gay people fleeing persecution in Russia Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrovhas previously suggested deporting gay men to Canada The Independent United Kingdom Archived from the original on 2022 05 07 LGBTQ Chechens struggle to find their footing after fleeing to Canada The Globe and Mail Retrieved 28 January 2019 a b c How a transgender Chechen escaped Russia and found asylum in the United States Washington Post September 1 2017 Katalina Hadfield LGBTQ Asylum Seekers and Refugees Must Be Welcome Here Human Rights Campaign January 28 2019 Gay Chechen man with HIV seeks asylum in US Washington Blade 2019 05 01 Retrieved 2019 06 28 External links EditSalon com From Russia with hate How Putin s anti LGBT crackdown led to the persecution of gay men in Chechnya 1 May 2017 The New Yorker com Letter from Moscow The Gay Men Who Fled Chechnya s Purge 3 July 2017 Hromadske ua LGBT Executions In Russia s Chechnya Explained 9 April 2017 Hromadske ua We Talked To Reporter Who Exposed LGBT Executions in Russia s Chechnya 11 April 2017 Gaytimes co uk Gay camps in Chechnya documentary video Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Anti gay purges in Chechnya amp oldid 1123165558, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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