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Anti-gay purges in Chechnya

Anti-gay purges in Chechnya
A public die-in 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.[1][2]
Date2017–present
Location
Chechnya
Caused byAuthoritarianism (Totalitarian), Islamism, opposition to LGBT rights
MethodsConcentration camps, Torture, Honor killings, Capital punishment
Resulted inOngoing
Parties
Lead figures
Casualties and losses
None
Unknown
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Anti-gay purges in Chechnya, 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.[3]

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.[6][7] There have been calls for reprisals against journalists who report on the situation.[8]

As news spread of Chechen authorities' actions, which have been described as part of a systematic anti-LGBTQ 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.[9]

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.[10][11] Officials in Moscow were skeptical, although in late May the Russian government reportedly agreed to send an investigative team to Chechnya.[12] 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.[13][14] 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".[15]

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.[16][17][18][19] The Russian LGBT Network believes that around 40 people were detained and two killed.[20][21]

Though some men have fled Chechnya, and in some cases have received status in the countries where they moved, Chechynan agents have pursued them out of the region.[22][23][24][25][26] In some instances, false accusations have been made to prosecute the detainees.

  1. ^ Batchelor, Tom (1 May 2017). "Russian police round up LGBT activists demonstrating against persecution of gay men in Chechnya". The Independent. Archived from the original on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  2. ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (1 May 2017). "Russians Protesting Abuse of Gay Men in Chechnya Are Detained". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  3. ^ Reynolds, Daniel (10 April 2017). "Report: Chechnya Is Torturing Gay Men in Concentration Camps". The Advocate. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  4. ^ a b Milashina, Elena (1 April 2017). "Murder of honor: the ambitions of a well-known LGBT activist awake a terrible ancient custom in Chechnya". Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. 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.
  5. ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (1 April 2017). "Chechen Authorities Arresting and Killing Gay Men, Russian Paper Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  6. ^ Taylor, Adam. "Analysis - She broke the story of Chechnya's anti-gay purge. Now, she says she has to flee Russia". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  7. ^ Murray, Daisy (13 April 2017). "Reports Of New, Terrifying 'Gay Concentration Camps' Where Men Are Getting Tortured And Murdered". ELLE UK. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  8. ^ Walker, Shaun (14 April 2017). "Journalists fear reprisals for exposing purge of gay men in Chechnya". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  9. ^ Ponniah, Kevin (19 May 2017). "Chechen gay men hopeful of finding refuge in five countries". BBC News. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Walker2April was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Peter, Laurence (11 April 2017). "Chechen police 'kidnap and torture gay men' - LGBT activists". BBC News. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  12. ^ Walker, Shaun (26 May 2017). "Russia investigates 'gay purge' in Chechnya". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  13. ^ Benedek, Wolfgang (21 December 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.
  14. ^ Gessen, Masha (21 December 2018). "A Damning New Report on L.G.B.T. Persecution in Chechnya". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 22 December 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  15. ^ ben Chikha, Foura (21 September 2021). "Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe" (PDF). Council of Europe Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination. pp. 15–16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 June 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  16. ^ Vasilyeva, Nataliya (11 January 2019). "Reports: several gay men and women detained in Chechnya". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  17. ^ Damshenas, Sam (11 January 2019). "Chechnya has reportedly launched a new 'gay purge'". Gay Times. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  18. ^ Carroll, Oliver (January 11, 2019). "Chechnya launches new gay 'purge', reports say". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  19. ^ "«Novoy gazete» stalo izvestno o novykh presledovaniyakh geyev v Chechne" «Новой газете» стало известно о новых преследованиях геев в Чечне [Novaya Gazeta learned of new persecution of gays in Chechnya]. Novaya Gazeta (in Russian). 11 January 2019. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  20. ^ "New wave of persecution against LGBT people in Chechnya: around 40 people detained, at least two killed". Российская ЛГБТ-сеть (in Russian). 14 January 2019. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  21. ^ Ingber, Sasha (14 January 2019). "Activists Say 40 Detained And 2 Dead In Gay Purge In Chechnya". NPR. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  22. ^ Shuster, Simon. "'They Tell Me a Demon Lives Inside Me': A Young Man Targeted in Chechnya for Being Gay Discovers Europe Offers No Safe Haven From His Tormentors". Time. Archived from the original on 30 November 2017.
  23. ^ "Chechnya: Escaped gay men sent back by Russian police". BBC News. 6 February 2021.
  24. ^ "No End to Chechnya's Violent Anti-Gay Campaign". Human Rights Watch. 31 August 2021. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021.
  25. ^ "Chechen Man Detained At Moscow Airport May Face Torture, Rights Group Says". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 19 June 2023.
  26. ^ Merz, Theo (8 February 2021). "Chechnya opens terror inquiry into gay men forcibly returned from Moscow". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024.

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