"Russian LGBT-Network": 125 gays leave Chechnya because of persecution

Since early 2017, 125 people, who fell victim to persecution, left Chechnya, the "Kommersant" reports today in the article "In the Chechen Republic, there are no sex minorities or their number drops" with reference to a member of the movement "Russian LGBT-Network".

"Their number includes 49 people who were detained in Chechnya by law enforcers and interrogated. They were demanded to confess to their non-traditional sexual orientation and to reveal data about their acquaintances. Of those who were detained, 37 people reported being tortured and kept imprisoned for periods from three days up to three weeks. The rest people who left the republic were partners and family members of victims who also received threats," said a member of the "Russian LGBT-Network", who preferred remain anonymous, as quoted by the "Kommersant".

Most of the citizens have already been transported abroad, but some still stay in Russia, noted a member of the "Russian LGBT-Network". He has mentioned an attempted kidnapping in Saint Petersburg of a native of Chechnya, who left the republic after being persecuted on suspicion of homosexuality, the article notes.

Activists of the movement "Russian LGBT-Network" have called on the UN Committee against Torture to investigate the disappearance of gay men in Chechnya and the involvement of the local authorities in the above disappearances.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in early April 2017, the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" reported mass persecution, torture, and a number of cases when gays were killed in Chechnya.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 30, 2018 at 01:53 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.