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The camps became an issue in the [[French presidential election, 2017|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.<ref name="tetureactions">{{cite news|last1=Lacroix|first1=Jérémie|title=Tchétchénie : Mélenchon s'indigne, Hamon et Macron condamnent, Fillon et Le Pen s'abstiennent|url=http://tetu.com/2017/04/13/tchetchenie-purge-anti-gay-reactions-politiques-francais/|accessdate=13 April 2017|work=Têtu|date=13 April 2017}}</ref>
The camps became an issue in the [[French presidential election, 2017|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.<ref name="tetureactions">{{cite news|last1=Lacroix|first1=Jérémie|title=Tchétchénie : Mélenchon s'indigne, Hamon et Macron condamnent, Fillon et Le Pen s'abstiennent|url=http://tetu.com/2017/04/13/tchetchenie-purge-anti-gay-reactions-politiques-francais/|accessdate=13 April 2017|work=Têtu|date=13 April 2017}}</ref>


In the United Kingdom, British [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]]s urged Prime Minister [[Theresa May]] and Foreign Secretary [[Boris Johnson]] to meet with the Russian Ambassador.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hundreds-protest-against-gay-concentration-camps-in-chechnya-outside-londons-russian-embassy-a3514026.html|title=Huge crowds in London protest Chechnya's 'gay concentration camps'|date=2017-04-12|work=Evening Standard|access-date=2017-04-13}}</ref> A protest attended by hundreds was held on April 12, 2017, outside the [[Embassy of Russia, London|Embassy of Russia]] in London.<ref name="eveningstandardhundredsprotest">{{cite news|last1=Grafton-Green|first1=Patrick|title=Hundreds protest against 'gay concentration camps' in Chechnya outside London's Russian Embassy|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hundreds-protest-against-gay-concentration-camps-in-chechnya-outside-londons-russian-embassy-a3514026.html|accessdate=April 13, 2017|work=London Evening Standard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechnya-gay-men-concentration-camps-russia-embassy-lgbt-protests-activists-torture-murder-kill-a7682681.html|title=Watch LGBT activists outside the Russian Embassy protest the 'prison camps' for gay men in Chechnya|date=2017-04-13|work=The Independent|access-date=2017-04-13}}</ref> Many protestors stated that they are horrified how little attention this human rights violation reached mass media.<ref name="auto"/>
In the United Kingdom, British [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]]s urged Prime Minister [[Theresa May]] and Foreign Secretary [[Boris Johnson]] to meet with the Russian Ambassador.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hundreds-protest-against-gay-concentration-camps-in-chechnya-outside-londons-russian-embassy-a3514026.html|title=Huge crowds in London protest Chechnya's 'gay concentration camps'|date=2017-04-12|work=Evening Standard|access-date=2017-04-13}}</ref> A protest attended by hundreds was held on April 12, 2017, outside the [[Embassy of Russia, London|Embassy of Russia]] in London.<ref name="eveningstandardhundredsprotest">{{cite news|last1=Grafton-Green|first1=Patrick|title=Hundreds protest against 'gay concentration camps' in Chechnya outside London's Russian Embassy|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/hundreds-protest-against-gay-concentration-camps-in-chechnya-outside-londons-russian-embassy-a3514026.html|accessdate=April 13, 2017|work=London Evening Standard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechnya-gay-men-concentration-camps-russia-embassy-lgbt-protests-activists-torture-murder-kill-a7682681.html|title=Watch LGBT activists outside the Russian Embassy protest the 'prison camps' for gay men in Chechnya|date=2017-04-13|work=The Independent|access-date=2017-04-13}}</ref>


[[Julie Bishop]], the Australian Foreign Minister, condemned both the arrests and the camps.<ref name="smhjuliebishopreproaches">{{cite news|last1=Koziol|first1=Michael|title=Julie Bishop reproaches Russia over 'mass arrests' of gay men in Chechnya|url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/julie-bishop-reproaches-russia-over-mass-arrests-of-gay-men-in-chechnya-20170413-gvk5hv.html|accessdate=14 April 2017|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=13 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="starobserverjuliebishopcondemns">{{cite news|last1=Wade|first1=Matthew|title=JULIE BISHOP CONDEMNS GAY CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN CHECHNYA|url=http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/national-news/julie-bishop-condemns-chechnya/157459|accessdate=14 April 2017|work=Star Observer|date=14 April 2017}}</ref>
[[Julie Bishop]], the Australian Foreign Minister, condemned both the arrests and the camps.<ref name="smhjuliebishopreproaches">{{cite news|last1=Koziol|first1=Michael|title=Julie Bishop reproaches Russia over 'mass arrests' of gay men in Chechnya|url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/julie-bishop-reproaches-russia-over-mass-arrests-of-gay-men-in-chechnya-20170413-gvk5hv.html|accessdate=14 April 2017|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=13 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="starobserverjuliebishopcondemns">{{cite news|last1=Wade|first1=Matthew|title=JULIE BISHOP CONDEMNS GAY CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN CHECHNYA|url=http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/national-news/julie-bishop-condemns-chechnya/157459|accessdate=14 April 2017|work=Star Observer|date=14 April 2017}}</ref>

Revision as of 17:16, 16 April 2017

LGBT rights in Chechnya
StatusIllegal between men (since 1996)
PenaltyCorporal punishment, execution (officially suspended)
Discrimination protectionsNone
Family rights
Recognition of relationshipsNo recognition of same-sex relationships

Since April 1, 2017, there have been allegations that male residents of Chechyna (part of the Russian Federation) assumed to be gay or bisexual have been rounded up, detained and tortured by authorities in concentration camps (the first used for specifically killing gay people since the Holocaust) on account of their sexual orientation. These crackdowns have been described as part of a systemic anti-LGBT "purge" in the region.[1][2]

These allegations were initially reported in Novaya Gazeta,[3] a Russian-language opposition newspaper, which reported that over 100 men have allegedly been detained and tortured and at least three people have died in an extrajudicial killing.[4]

Due to limits imposed on freedom of expression in Chechnya, information on this subject has been difficult to obtain. The first journalist who reported on the subject (in Novaya Gazeta) has gone into hiding,[5][6] There have been calls for reprisals for journalists reporting on the situation.[7]

Background

The Chechen police and the military have conducted entrapment schemes, "setups" in which a victim is lured to a date, beaten and humiliated. A recording is produced, and blackmail money is solicited in return for silence. Law enforcement agencies of Chechnya already keep lists of "suspects". According to a source of Radio Liberty, large-scale raids on gays began in December 2016, subsided briefly, and resumed in February 2017. The first gays that were detained via entrapment were tortured for the names of their acquaintances. All the correspondence in their phone was checked, adding to the list kept.This result in the number of victims growing exponentially. According to Novaya Gazeta, at the end of February, the police detained a person who was in a state of substance intoxication and checked his phone. The phone had "pictures and videos with explicit content" and "dozens of contacts of local homosexuals." The detainee was sent to a "secret prison".[8]

Subsequently, a "wave of persecution" began in Chechnya as an attempt to purge the country of those who are or are perceived to be homosexual.[8][9][10]

Imprisonment

According to Novaya Gazeta, independent media and human rights groups, homosexuals are sent to concentration camps in Chechnya. Around 100 men have been imprisoned and at least three people have already died. Some of the the guards in these allegedly unofficial jails are accused of releasing the prisoners to their relatives if the family promises to kill them. One location of a secret prison is allegedly in the southern city of Argun.[11] Another prison is located in Tsotsin-Yurt, south of the Chechen capital Grozny.[8]

Humilation, torture and murder

Human Rights Watch has confirmed that authorities have "rounded up dozens of men on suspicion of being gay and torturing and humiliating the victims. Some of the men have forcibly disappeared. At least three men apparently have died since this brutal campaign began."[12] An investigation by Radio Svoboda (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) claimed that prisoners are being released to families if they promise to murder them.

Escapees have told stories of 30 to 40 people detained in one room, being beaten and tortured with electricity.[13] In some cases the process of torture ends in the death of the person being tortured.[14][15]

Reactions

Domestic

Due to the date of the initial Novaya Gazeta allegations, a spokesman for the region's interior ministry described the report as "an April fool's joke".[16] Alvi Karimov, spokesperson for Ramzan Kadyrov, also rejected the allegations, saying: "you cannot arrest or repress people who just don't exist in the republic", while also adding 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".[16]

International

On April 4, 2017 Amnesty International called for a prompt investigation and intervention,[17] and more than 130,000 people have signed a petition started by the organization in opposition to alleged human rights violations.[18]

Human rights experts at the United Nations called that Chechyna "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".[19] On April 13, 2017 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.[19]

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.[20]

In the United Kingdom, British MEPs urged Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to meet with the Russian Ambassador.[21] A protest attended by hundreds was held on April 12, 2017, outside the Embassy of Russia in London.[22][23]

Julie Bishop, the Australian Foreign Minister, condemned both the arrests and the camps.[24][25]

Fifty members of the United States Congress this 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 stop to the arrests.[26]

Many celebrities and LGBT activists such as Troye Sivan, Ellen DeGeneres, Matt Bomer, Mark Ruffalo, and Billy Eichner have voiced their strong condemnation against these camps.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ Smith, Lydia (10 April 2017). "Chechnya detains 100 gay men in first concentration camps since the Holocaust". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  2. ^ Reynolds, Daniel (10 April 2017). "Report: Chechnya Is Torturing Gay Men in Concentration Camps". The Advocate. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (1 April 2017). "Chechen Authorities Arresting and Killing Gay Men, Russian Paper Says". Retrieved 15 April 2017 – via NYTimes.com.
  5. ^ "Analysis - She broke the story of Chechnya's anti-gay purge. Now, she says she has to flee Russia". Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Reports Of New, Terrifying 'Gay Concentration Camps' Where Men Are Getting Tortured And Murdered". ELLE UK. 2017-04-13. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  7. ^ Walker, Shaun (14 April 2017). "Journalists fear reprisals for exposing purge of gay men in Chechnya". Retrieved 15 April 2017 – via The Guardian.
  8. ^ a b c "Information uncovered about a second prison for homosexuals in the Russian republic of Chechnya". Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  9. ^ "Gay men 'sent to concentration-style camps during purge in Chechnya'". The Evening Standard. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  10. ^ "Authorities rounding up, killing gay men in 'prophylactic purge,' Russian paper says". ABC News. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  11. ^ "Chechen families encouraged to MURDER gay relatives". Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  12. ^ Lokshina, Tanya (4 April 2017). "Anti-LGBT Violence in Chechnya". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Chechens tell of prison beatings and electric shocks in anti-gay purge: 'They called us animals,'" The Guardian, April 13, 2017.
  14. ^ "People are being beaten and forced to 'sit on bottles' in anti-gay 'camps' in Chechnya". The Independent. 2017-04-11. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  15. ^ "Chechnya has opened concentration camps for gay men". PinkNews. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  16. ^ a b Walker, Shaun (2 April 2017). "Chechen police 'have rounded up more than 100 suspected gay men'". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  17. ^ "Document". Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  18. ^ "Stop abducting and killing gay men in Chechnya". Amnesty International. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  19. ^ a b Nordwall, Smita (13 April 2017). "Russia Urged to End Torture, Killing of Gays in Chechnya". VOA. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  20. ^ Lacroix, Jérémie (13 April 2017). "Tchétchénie : Mélenchon s'indigne, Hamon et Macron condamnent, Fillon et Le Pen s'abstiennent". Têtu. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  21. ^ "Huge crowds in London protest Chechnya's 'gay concentration camps'". Evening Standard. 2017-04-12. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  22. ^ Grafton-Green, Patrick. "Hundreds protest against 'gay concentration camps' in Chechnya outside London's Russian Embassy". London Evening Standard. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  23. ^ "Watch LGBT activists outside the Russian Embassy protest the 'prison camps' for gay men in Chechnya". The Independent. 2017-04-13. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  24. ^ Koziol, Michael (13 April 2017). "Julie Bishop reproaches Russia over 'mass arrests' of gay men in Chechnya". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  25. ^ Wade, Matthew (14 April 2017). "JULIE BISHOP CONDEMNS GAY CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN CHECHNYA". Star Observer. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  26. ^ Duffy, Nick (13 April 2017). "50 Members of Congress sign letter condemning anti-gay purge in Chechnya". PinkNews. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  27. ^ Wong, Curtis (13 April 2017). "Ellen DeGeneres And Others Call For End To Gay 'Concentration Camps'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 April 2017.

External links

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