Russian lgbtq concentration camps
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has published a report on the unlawful rounding up of more than 100 Chechen men suspected of homosexuality. The case gained global media attention and considerable public support. Hundreds of people in Europe, America and Australia protested against “gay concentration camps” and “gay genocide” in Chechnya, while thousands signed the petitions of Russian LGBTQ activists and Amnesty International. Three French LGBTQ organisations filed an official complaint to the International Criminal Court against Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.
After Chechen spokesmen threatened journalists covering the purge and foreign governments began condemning it, the Russian government opened an official analysis. Western countries, meanwhle, contain started accepting Chechen refugees.
In this context, the HRW report is of utmost importance. It begins with a detailed account of how, with the Kremlin’s support and permission, Kadyrov has built a tyrannical, autocratic regime that violates dissenters’ human rights in various ways. Abduction-style detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial executions and collective punishment practices are used against all
Demonstration against concentration camps in Chechnya
The Rainbow Project, the largest support and activism organisation for queer woman , gay, bisexual and/or transgender people and their families in Northern Ireland, has organised a demonstration against the Chechen government’s creation of concentration camps for gay men.
Reports from Human Rights Observe and the independent Novoya Gazeta possess confirmed that the Chechen government has commenced a programme of hunting down gay men, interning them in concentration camps and subjecting them to torture including sexual degradation. It has been reported that three of the victims have been murdered.
To protest against this extreme violation of human rights and to highlight the failure of the UK government to intervene, The Rainbow Project has organised a demonstration to be held at Belfast City Hall on Friday 14th April at 5.30pm.
Speaking ahead of the demonstration, John O’Doherty, Director of The Rainbow Project, said: ‘There has been widespread state-sponsored intimidation, discrimination and violence against LGBT within the Russian Federation for many years but this action by the Russian republic of Chechn
Chechnya LGBT: Dozens 'detained in new same-sex attracted purge'
Activists in Russia say there has been a new crackdown against LGBT people in Chechnya.
The Russian LGBT Network believes about 40 people hold been imprisoned since December - two of whom they say have died under torture.
The organization has been following alleged abuses in the mainly Muslim Russian republic since 2017 when dozens of gay people were reportedly detained.
A government spokesman has dismissed their latest report as "complete lies".
Chechnya, and its authoritarian leader Ramzan Kadyrov, has consistently denied allegations of illegal detentions and human rights abuses.
In an interview with the BBC last year, Mr Kadyrov said the allegations were "an invention by foreign agents" or created by activists looking for money.
Homophobia is widespread in the highly conservative and predominantly Muslim Russian republic.
Mr Kadyrov and other government figures have repeatedly claimed Chechnya has no gay population at all.
Despite official denials, dozens acquire come forward and alleged they were detained and tortured by authorities because of their sexual orientation.
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Russia: One year after ‘gay purge’ in Chechnya, still no justice for victims
The Russian authorities have abjectly failed to take successful action in response to the violent persecution of gay men in Chechnya, Amnesty International said one year after a series of homophobic crimes in the southern republic were exposed.
A report by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper revealed a horrifying “gay purge” in Chechnya in which dozens of men were abducted, tortured and killed. However, to date, not one person has to be held to account for these crimes.
“A year ago, this shocking news from Chechnya was ridiculed and dismissed by the Russian government. Since then we have witnessed a shocking display of denial, evasion and inaction by the authorities, who possess repeatedly refused to launch an official investigation into the reported heinous crimes and ignored credible evidence provided by Novaya Gazeta and others,” said Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Core Asia at Amnesty International.
We have witnessed a shocking display of denial, evasion and inaction by the authorities, who have repeatedly refused to launch an official investigation into the reported heinous cr
Do not look away. Reflect: The Queer Genocide in Chechnya
Chechnya, a tiny republic in southern Russia, has become the epitome of fear, hatred, xenophobia, and new era of genocide; namely, a queer genocide. The reports presented by the Human Rights organizations1 contain jaw-dropping details— ones that bear chilling similarities to the Nazis concentration camps.
We gradually learn more about the humiliation, electrocution, starvation, rape, and grave beatings that LGBTQI individuals endure at the hands of Chechen officials, and of the diabolic intend of Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, to eliminate the “sin” from the Republic by encouraging “honor killings”.
Since April 2017, over 200 victims of the LGBTQI purge in Chechnya possess been rescued by the Russian LGBT Network2 and safely transferred to some European countries and Canada. Currently, the Russian LGBT Network is conducting another evacuation due the fresh crisis in Chechnya that broke in December 2018.
Sadly, the U.S. has not taken any LGBTQI refugees from Chechnya, despite the multiple rounds of negotiations between government agencies, which simply faded away without any outcome. Thi