Gay Chechen Refuge Are Fdg a Surprisg Ally

Contents:

• 2 GAY CHECHENS HELD ON TERROR CHARG WHOUT PROOF – NGO
• CHECHNYA IS TRYG TO EXTERMATE GAY PEOPLE. OUR SILENCE ONLY EMBOLNS VLADIMIR PUT AND RAMZAN KADYROV.
• INSI CHECHNYA’S GULAG FOR GAY MEN
• JOURNALIST WHO REVEALED KILLG OF GAY MEN IN CHECHNYA BTALLY ATTACKED
• CHECHNYA’S HORRIFIC ‘GAY PURGE’: A 4-YEAR TIMELE OF ABDUCTN, TORTURE AND MURR
• JOURNALIST WHO UNVERED CHECHNYA’S ANTI-GAY PURGE ATTACKED
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH COACH KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU
• RUTHLS WARLORD WHO LED 'GAY PURG' CHECHNYA KILLED FIGHTG FOR RSIA UKRAE
• THE GAY MEN WHO FLED CHECHNYA’S PURGE
• ONLY FIVE UNTRI ARE HELPG GAY CHECHENS LEAVE RSIA
• GAY CHECHEN MEN TELL OF TORTURE, MASS ARRTS
• AMERI, DON’T ABANDON GAY CHECHENS

2 GAY CHECHENS HELD ON TERROR CHARG WHOUT PROOF – NGO

Two gay men who were forcibly returned to Chechnya this month have been charged wh terror-related offens whout proof and face up to 15 years prison, a rights group said Wednday. Authori  Rsia's rtive regn of Chechnya have e unr fire recent years om rights groups, which acce officials of jailg and torturg homosexuals secret prisons.

The LGBT Network rights group said Wednday that two gay men who fled Chechnya last year but were arrted and returned this month have been charged wh aidg an illegal armed group. The route kidnappg and btal torture of gay men and women the republic has been heavily documented by rights groups and journalists, sce a so-lled "gay purge" 2017 ma global headl, when dozens of men were round up and tortured at police bas. Brish gay rights activist Peter Tatchell stag an anti-Put prott agast the mistreatment of LGBT people Rsia ont of a monument to Soviet Marshal Gey Zhov on Manezhnaya Square Mosw on June 14, Zmeyev/AFP via Getty Imag, FILEAn ABC News Nightle documentary 2019 documented the s of several gay men who were taken by police and tortured, beaten wh rods and electrocuted.

CHECHNYA IS TRYG TO EXTERMATE GAY PEOPLE. OUR SILENCE ONLY EMBOLNS VLADIMIR PUT AND RAMZAN KADYROV.

Activists display plards ont of the Chancellery Berl on April 30, 2017, durg a monstratn llg on the Rsian print to put an end to the persecutn of gay men Chechnya. “Wele to Chechnya: Insi the Rsian Republic’s Deadly War on Gays, ” which premiered at the Sundance Ftival January and airs on HBO next week, is one of the most harrowg films I have ever seen. “Image the 21st century, a supposedly secular untry, ” says David Isteev, at the start of this acclaimed documentary, “you have s where people are killed simply bee they are homosexual — where they are maimed, where the fai of the people are urged to kill their children and siblgs.

INSI CHECHNYA’S GULAG FOR GAY MEN

“Wele to Chechnya” follows Isteev, emergency program ordator for the Rsian LGBT Network, and his fellow activists as they risk their liv tryg to protect gay Chechens om beg targeted both by the thori and their own fai. Sce 2017, there have been a seri of state-sponsored anti-gay purg across Chechnya, which hundreds of gay men have been arrted and taed secret prisons.

“We documented a large-sle, vic, anti-gay purge” marked by “torture, enforced disappearanc, and extrajudicial killgs, ” Tanya Loksha, the Rsia program director at Human Rights Watch, told me a phone terview om Mosw. For David France, the award-wng director of “Wele to Chechnya, ” mak no sense to talk of a “first” or a “send” purge, as is all part of a sgle ongog mpaign of persecutn agast gay Chechens. Like every good tyrant, Kadyrov has a list of “unsirabl” who are monized and spegoated for all of the untry’s problems — and top of his list are gay people.

JOURNALIST WHO REVEALED KILLG OF GAY MEN IN CHECHNYA BTALLY ATTACKED

” In recent years, he has also been “jtifyg and enuragg” so-lled honor killgs of gay Chechens by their fai while his admistratn, France explaed to me, ref to prosecute such crim. As Human Rights Watch has noted, the Rsian republic “is a highly nservative, tradnal Mlim society; homophobia is tense and rampant, and homosexualy is generally viewed as a sta on fay honor. ” Polls suggt a majory of Rsians believe gays are nspirg to “stroy” the untry’s valu, while 1  5 of them want to “elimate” gay and lbian people om Rsian society.

Then there is the global ntext: As the director, France, remd me, homosexualy remas illegal more than 70 untri across the world and is punishable by ath eight of them.

Holot Memorial Mm, “an timated 100, 000 men were arrted for vlatg Nazi Germany’s law agast homosexualy, and of the, approximately 50, 000 were sentenced to prison. “If there’s no punishment, ” says an exhsted-lookg Isteev toward the end of the film, “if LGBT people are regard as subhuman, if you n do anythg to them, means that tomorrow, anyone n fd themselv the sho of gay Chechens. Persecutn of LGBTQ+ people -- and their fai -- is ntug unabated gay brothers have been jailed the Rsian regn for a month awag trial on terrorism charg their iends, fay, and activists say are unfound, The Mosw Tim reports.

CHECHNYA’S HORRIFIC ‘GAY PURGE’: A 4-YEAR TIMELE OF ABDUCTN, TORTURE AND MURR

Reports emerged 2017 that LGBTQ+ people, mostly gay and bisexual men, were beg jailed and tortured, and some even killed, by police and other ernment thori. Brothers Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isayev, now 20 and 18 rpectively, were jailed and tortured Chechnya last year for beg gay, and they left the regn after their release. "We are troubled by reports of two Chechen siblgs the LGBTQI+ muny who were taed Rsia and returned to Chechnya on dub 'terrorism' charg, " State Department spokman Ned Price, who is gay, tweeted Febary.

Rsian gay rights activist Nika Saonov pos ont of a police partment as he is released after beg taed central Mosw for havg llected two ln signatur on a petn llg for a probe to a reported crackdown on Chechnya’s LGBT muny. “All those who fend human rights groups and the gays we supposedly have the Chechen Republic are foreign agents, ” Kadyrov blasted an terview wh the BBC 2018.

JOURNALIST WHO UNVERED CHECHNYA’S ANTI-GAY PURGE ATTACKED

It’s no surprise then that there have been numero anti-gay pogroms, ” said Rachel Denber, puty director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch. April 1, 2021, marks four years sce the world at large was first ma aware of Chechnya’s gay purge — atroci mted agast LGBTQ people wh the Rsian republic’s borrs, a horrific, ongog stratagem of abductn, tament, torture and murr. Gradually rebed by Wtern ernments over the years as first-hand acunts began to emerge, Chechnya’s gay purge has largely been ignored — if not supported through omissn — by Rsian Print Vladimir Put and his ernment.

Abhorrent extrajudicial actns agast LGBTQ people did not first sprg up April of 2017; ed, lol thori excelled at blackmailg the republic’s gay muny for years prr. After weeks of verifitn, the Rsian-language newspaper shar heart-wrenchg news out of Rsia’s North Cs: More than 100 people have been taed Chechnya, all of whom are gay or spected to be.

Some of the taed were eventually released and able to flee Chechnya, while others were released only upon handg over about other gay iends and acquatanc. ” Lol thori tell a news agency, “You nnot arrt or reprs people who jt don’t exist the republic, ” suggtg that Chechnya has no gay cizens, and that if did, those cizens’ relativ would have executed them unr honor killg ctoms. Amnty Internatnal lnch an “urgent actn” mpaign askg dividuals to wre to Rsian thori “urgg them to rry out prompt, effective and thorough vtigatns to the reports of abductns and killgs of men believed to be gay Chechnya and to ensure that anyone found guilty or plic such crim will be brought to jtice acrdance wh the laws of the Rsian Feratn.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH COACH KEV MAXEN COM OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

One of the victims of Chechnya’s gay purge, an aforementned TV journalist, has all footage of his past reportg erased by the Chechen State TV and Rad Company he worked for — “as if he simply did not exist.

It’s now believed that up to several hundred gay men have been round up, some killed, Chechnya, and The Guardian publish this story followg terviews wh gay men who claim they were tortured secret tentn facili. The newspaper urg the Rsian ernment to rpond to lls for a jihad agast journalists reportg on Chechnya’s gay purge, cg the April 3 meetg of 15, 000 at the central mosque of Grozny. Lra Weste, print of the Colombian-based NGO Gpo Acción y Apoyo a Personas Trans tweets a satelle picture that reportedly shows one lotn where gay men are beg held Chechnya’s gay purge.

RUTHLS WARLORD WHO LED 'GAY PURG' CHECHNYA KILLED FIGHTG FOR RSIA UKRAE

OutRight Actn Internatnal urg three oil pani wh large vtments Rsian oil and gas — Brish Petrolm, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell — to publicly nmn Chechnya’s gay purge.

As part of a special vtigatn, CNN releas terviews wh multiple victims of Chechnya’s gay purge (their inti ncealed), who discs the form their torture took and the “ath sentence” that has always rulted om beg openly gay the Southern Rsian republic.

THE GAY MEN WHO FLED CHECHNYA’S PURGE

Speakg to Gay Star News, a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokperson the UK nfirms that Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic, has threatened to rid the area of homosexualy “by Ramadan, ” which falls on May 26. Other ci see anized protts agast Chechnya’s gay purge as well, cludg London (April 12), Amsterdam (April 19), Toronto (April 22) and Manchter (April 23). Novaya Gazeta reports there are six known secret prisons for gays Chechnya, one of which is loted the town of Argun and another is the village of Tsotsi-Yurt.

Durg a public prs nference wh Vladimir Put, German Chancellor Angela Merkel be the only world lear th far to speak out amid the ongog reports of Chechnya’s gay purge. She lls on Put to “e his fluence to guarantee the rights of mori” after hearg “negative reports on the treatment of homosexuals, particularly Chechnya.

ONLY FIVE UNTRI ARE HELPG GAY CHECHENS LEAVE RSIA

Followg reports of a 17-year-old man thrown off a nth floor balny by his own uncle for beg gay, Hor announc the lnch of s “Know Your Rights” mpaign, an tnal effort to help make gay men and travelers aware of their rights different untri around the world. One week after Rsia promised to nduct an vtigatn to Chechnya’s gay purge, the Rsian Embassy to Israel wr to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, “There are no victims of persecutn, threats or vlence” the republic. One of many artists and activists spreadg rmatn and brgg awarens to Chechnya’s gay purge, Brooklyn-based illtrator Pl Tuller sells a new T-shirt, wh 100% of the profs gog to the Rsian LGBTQ Network.

Three French LGBTQ groups — Stop Homophobia, Mose and Come Idaho France — file a plat agast Chechnya wh the Internatnal Crimal Court, accg the Rsian republic of “a policy of genoci” towards gay people and blamg Chechen print Ramzan Kadyrov and his officials for a “wave of persecutn.

The Baltic News Service reports that the eastern European natn of Lhuania has granted visas to at least two men who fled Chechnya’s gay purge, timed wh the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). The prott ends peacefully wh no arrts or major disturbanc, even though such non-permted monstratns are illegal Rsia and n afoul of the natn’s so-lled “gay propaganda” law.

GAY CHECHEN MEN TELL OF TORTURE, MASS ARRTS

Novaya Gazeta publish a report sayg 26 people have now been murred “extrajudicial killgs” as part of Chechnya’s gay purge, and go on to acce Chechen thori of a systematic sabotage of Rsia’s vtigatn efforts.

The ostensible purpose of the torture is to get the nam of other gay men, but one refugee tells Human Rights Watch that if a victim giv up rmatn, actually prolongs the torture hop of more rmatn. Officials also rerd the torture ssns on cellphone meras to show fai later as proof of what will happen to them if they do not “remove the sta of homosexual shame om their fai. On the eve of the first G20 summ meetg between Tmp and Put, The Rsian LGBT Network — which has at this pot helped approximately 40 gay Chechens pe the regn — says has “received more lls om Chechnya the last 72 hours” and has “credible evince that arrts are happeng aga.

The special ss down wh both Kadyrov (his first terview wh a Wtern reporter years) and Novaya Gazeta journalist Elena Milasha, who ially broke the story of Chechnya’s gay purge. While beg terviewed, Kadyrov refers to Chechnya as “a pletely mocratic republic, ” touts the republic’s eedom of speech and happy cizens, and dismiss all claims of Chechnya’s gay purge as “nonsense. ” He also nonsensilly claims “We don’t have such people here, ” referrg to gay men Chechnya, while also claimg any gay men should be purged om the regn “to purify our blood.

AMERI, DON’T ABANDON GAY CHECHENS

The report has three other ma takeaways: (1) the cultural ndns that set the stage for Chechnya’s anti-gay purge; (2) how Chechen thori are fdg spected homosexuals, cludg roadsi stops, home raids and workplace viss; and (3) the torture methods ed Chechnya’s gay purge, cludg electrocutn, beatgs, starvatn, hydratn, isolatn, forced nudy and verbal abe.

Khudoberdi Nurmatov, a 30-year-old openly gay journalist who helped unver Chechnya’s gay purge while workg for Novaya Gazeta, has his portatn to Uzbekistan temporarily halted by a Rsian urt. On Canada’s secret work to assist gay Chechen refuge, Rabow Railroad’s Executive Director Kimahli Powell says, “We need to be discreet about the program for as long as possible to mata their safety.

Maxim Lapunov, a 30-year-old who origally me to Chechnya om Siberia, puts a public face on Chechnya’s gay purge, tellg his story to Noyaya Gazeta and participatg a public prs nference.