11:15, 8 May 2017

Residents of Chechnya trust information about harassment of gays

In Chechnya, the law enforcement agencies do not have any information on the facts of harassment of members of communities of sexual minorities in the territory of the republic. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by an official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for Chechnya.

The "Caucasian Knot" has informed that on April 1, the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" reported about mass detentions in Chechnya of men suspected of unconventional sexual orientation. Later, the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" reported with reference to gays persecuted in Chechnya that in Argun, a "secret prison" had been arranged for people with unconventional sexual orientation. According to the "Radio Liberty", another similar prison, where members of sexual minorities are beaten and humiliated, is located in the Chechen village of Tsotsi-Yurt.

On April 25, PACE deputies adopted a resolution in which they criticized the human rights situation in Northern Caucasus. In their resolution, the PACE deputies insist on conduction of investigations into cases of harassment of members of the LGBT community in Chechnya.

"We have never received any complaints or statements from members of the so-called LGBT community or anyone else about harassment, detention, use of physical violence, or, even more so, killings of gays," said the Chechen MIA's official.

According to him, after the publications about the presence of secret prisons for gays in Chechnya, the public resonance is being artificially injected.

Meanwhile, local residents have confirmed the information about cases of pressure on gays in the republic. This, in particular, was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by one of the local public activists who preferred to remain anonymous.

According to the source, some time ago, his acquaintance, a staff member of the law enforcement agencies of Chechnya, showed him a video taken on a mobile phone of an interrogation of two young people detained on suspicion of having a homosexual affair.

"There were two absolutely naked guys on the video who ... were verbally abused, struck and bullied. One of them was asked about his native village, and when the guy answered, one of the interrogators, who appeared to be a native of the same village, attacked the detainee and began to beat him with his fists and legs, and the guy did not resist and only shouted and begged for mercy. I do not know where exactly and when the video was shot," said the Chechen resident.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Source: CK correspondents