The Gay Men Who Fled Chechnya’s Purge | The New Yorker

Contents:

• ALLEGED GAY 'CONCENTRATN CAMPS' IN CHECHNYA SPARK GLOBAL OUTRAGE
• AT LEAST 100 GAY MEN HAVE BEEN ROUND UP AND THROWN NCENTRATN MPS CHECHNYA
• ‘THEY STARVE YOU. THEY SHOCK YOU’: INSI THE ANTI-GAY POGROM CHECHNYA
• RSIA'S LGBT 'CONCENTRATN CAMPS': PRISONS FOR GAY MEN IN CHECHNYA, REPORTS SAY
• CHECHNYA LGBT: DOZENS 'TAED NEW GAY PURGE'
• GAY MEN ARE BEG TAED AND TORTURED CHECHNYA, ACRDG TO HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS
• GAY MEN ARE BEG HELD IN CONCENTRATN CAMPS IN CHECHNYA
• MORE THAN 100 GAY MEN 'SENT TO PRISON MPS' CHECHNYA
• EVERYTHG WE KNOW ABOUT THE 'NCENTRATN MPS' FOR GAY MEN CHECHNYA
• THE GAY MEN WHO FLED CHECHNYA’S PURGE
• THERE ARE TERRIFYG 'GAY CONCENTRATN CAMPS' IN CHECHNYA WHERE MEN ARE REPORTEDLY GETTG TORTURED AND MURRED
• HUNDREDS PROTT OUTRAGE AGAST CHECHNYA'S GAY CONCENTRATN CAMPS
• GAY "CONCENTRATN CAMPS" CHECHNYA: WHAT’S REAL, WHAT’S FAKE AND WHAT’S EXAGGERATED

ALLEGED GAY 'CONCENTRATN CAMPS' IN CHECHNYA SPARK GLOBAL OUTRAGE

Internatnal human rights activists are cryg reports that at least 100 gay men have been arrted, and three killed, the Rsian regn of Chechnya. Much like Karimov before her, however, Saratova downplayed the existence of gay people the regn at large.

“In his nfirmatn heargs, [Tillerson] rpond to a qutn on the human rights of LGBTQ people by notg that ‘Amerin valu don’t acmodate vlence or discrimatn agast anyone, ’” advocy unsel Shawn Gaylord said a statement to The Huffgton Post. Amnty Internatnal, meanwhile, lnched a petn of s own, mandg that Chechnya to “stop abductg and killg” gay men. ”The Chechen ernment won’t adm that gay men even exist Chechnya, let alone that they orred what the police ll ‘preventive moppg up’ of people they em unsirable, ” the petn, which had over 25, 000 signatur as of Tuday afternoon, read.

“We are seeg very ltle rponse to this the mastream media, and ernment actn so far is poor, ” Steve Taylor, who is the munitns director for the European Pri Organizers Associatn (EPOA) told Gay Star News. THEY are round up the ad of night by gangs of burly and beard mercenari, taken om their beds or nabbed raids on secretive unrground gay social are searched and other spected homosexuals are hunted down, wh some of them ed entrapment-style stg operatns to fd more and more of the so-lled ‘praved’ ptured men — at least 100 of them so far, but probably more — are taken to old ary or police buildgs which have been scribed as “morn day ncentratn mps” by human rights groups. Beatgs, fe tentn, electrocutn, emotnal abe and bizarre forced quasi-sexual acts have been reported om the horrific prisons the republic of ’s the first time sce World War II and Hler’s Third Reich that homosexual men have been round up and kept of the men hunted by Chechnyan forc are blackmailed and forced to pay large ransoms for their eedom.

AT LEAST 100 GAY MEN HAVE BEEN ROUND UP AND THROWN NCENTRATN MPS CHECHNYA

Internatnal attentn has also turned to regnal lear Ramzan Kadyrov, who not only rejects the existence of the mps but ni there are any gay people the disputed terrory at there were, they would sentially be exiled anyway, Kadyrov Kreml has nied any knowledge of the purge but one Rsian newspaper scribed as part of a mpaign “ nnectn wh their non-tradnal sexual orientatn, or spicn of such” level of anisatn, number of perpetrators and accs to state-owned buildgs and rourc suggts high-level volvement, wtern media have intified ncentratn mp was a dised ary mand pound the town of Argun. ”Mobile phon were kept on while the men were taed, so any lovers or gay iends who phoned or msaged uld be round up survivg prisoner said he had seen another man beaten so horrifilly and ntually that he was almost ad. “He was sent to relativ, but after some time beme known that he was buried, ” the man the expose, Novaya Gazeta helped a Rsian LGBT work set up a hotle for gay men to share their own experienc.

“People ught Chechnya unr persecutn bee of their sexual orientatn, took to the ntact through var channels, ” the Gazeta reports of Chechnya’s gay purge have attracted ternatnal attentn and nmnatn, wh Ameri’s Ambassador to the Uned Natns Nikki Haley llg for an vtigatn.

‘THEY STARVE YOU. THEY SHOCK YOU’: INSI THE ANTI-GAY POGROM CHECHNYA

“Law enforcement and secury agency officials unr ntrol of the thls head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, have round up dozens of men on spicn of beg gay, torturg and huiatg the victims. But for the young man who lls himself Maksim, as for sr of other gay men arrted a pogrom this month Rsia’s Chechnya regn, pivoted to nearly two weeks of beatgs and said had started wh a chat room nversatn wh “a very good old iend who is also gay, ” and who suggted that they meet at an apartment.

But the targeted, llective punishment of gays that began last month unr s pro-Kreml lear, Ramzan A. Kadyrov, is a new turn the regn’s long history of rights Gazeta, an opposn newspaper, first reported the pogrom, sayg that at least 100 gay men had been arrted and three killed the roundup. The victims e assumed nam their everyday followg acunt is based on terviews wh Maksim, who is his 20s, and two other gay men who were taed by Chechen secury agents.

RSIA'S LGBT 'CONCENTRATN CAMPS': PRISONS FOR GAY MEN IN CHECHNYA, REPORTS SAY

Homosexualy is taboo Chechnya and the mostly Mlim surroundg areas of the Cs regn southern Rsia. ”Neverthels, before the crackdown, gay men Chechnya uld at least lead social liv, if heavily closeted on, Maksim said.

” Hill for The New York TimThe crackdown began after GayRsia, a rights group based Mosw, applied for perms for gay pri paras the Cs regn, promptg unterprotts by relig groups, the men said.

In Chechnya, beme somethg even worse — a mass “prophylactic” cleansg of homosexuals, the secury service agents told the gay men as they round them men were held for as ltle as a day or as long as several weeks, acrdg to Human Rights Watch and to terviews wh gay men who later ped the regn.

CHECHNYA LGBT: DOZENS 'TAED NEW GAY PURGE'

Kadyrov’s spokman, Alvi Karimov, said the reports of an anti-gay pogrom had to be false bee such men did not exist Chechnya. Kadyrov characterized as “libelo” news reports that the secury servic Chechnya had been persecutg gay on Thursday, Mr. Pkov, told journalists that the Rsian thori had found no evince that the Chechen police had arrted gay quickly beme clear to Maksim and the other men that the Chechen thori were applyg the same tactics ed by Rsia and by Mr.

Secury service agents took to posg as gay men lookg for dat on the Village and other chat rooms, or persuad those they had already ptured to lure acquatanc, those arrted said spread among gay Chechens. ”That, seems, is sentially what happened to Maksim, who had been rrpondg wh his gay acquatance for some time. His acunt of the ceptn ed to ta him was nsistent wh others documented by Human Rights Watch and wh the acunts of the two other gay men terviewed separately for this six of the men the apartment were transferred to a makhift cell an abandoned buildg, where they were tortured wh electricy one by one, Maksim 11 days, he was released to a male relative, who was told that Maksim was gay.

GAY MEN ARE BEG TAED AND TORTURED CHECHNYA, ACRDG TO HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

Petersburg, which has tablished an emergency, round-the-clock volunteer group to help gay men pe the reassure the victims they are tryg to help, the activists have taken extraordary preutns, operatg virtually as a partisan cell behd enemy l, though they have done nothg illegal unr Rsian law.

“The people don’t tst anybody, ” said Olga Baranova, director of the Mosw Communy Center, a support group for gays that is part of the volunteer work helpg gay men flee arrivg at the safe lotn outsi Chechnya, several young men said they had spected that the volunteer group was also a trap but had no other optn but to accept the help, Ms. ’”The work bought airplane tickets for Chechen gay men, found safe ho and arranged for doctors to treat those who had been badly beaten. “Gays Chechnya and the North Cs are lethal danger, ” Igor Kochetkov, director of the Rsian LGBT Network, said a telephone terview.

”A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 13 of the New York edn wh the headle: Chechnya’s Anti-Gay Pogrom: ‘They Starve You. The allegatns me after a few eyewns and survivors said terviews wh the Rsian publitn that they were arrted and taed at one of the secret prisons Argun, a town the Chechen Republic, 100 gay men have been reportedly taed and at least three killed the past week Chechnya by the police.

GAY MEN ARE BEG HELD IN CONCENTRATN CAMPS IN CHECHNYA

The "ncentratn mps" are beg ed to force homosexuals to m that they would leave the republic, acrdg to Novaya Is Vlence Agast LGBT Communy Increasg Unr Tmp Admistratn? The officials Chechnya started torturg the homosexuals after a Rsia-based NGO for LGBT rights — — applied for a gay rights march the pal of Grozny, reports said.

MORE THAN 100 GAY MEN 'SENT TO PRISON MPS' CHECHNYA

Meanwhile, Chechen’s Print Ramzan Kadyrov, who is a key ally of Rsian Print Vladimir Put, has been acced of settg up the mps to torture gay people. Gay men Chechnya have begun letg their onle acunts or have started fleeg the regn, acrdg to the New York Tim. This law lerally banned every sgle possibily to anise a Gay Pri or even publish a personal g-out on YouTube.

Only 16% of the Rsian populatn thks that homosexuals should be accepted by society (Pew Rearch Center).

EVERYTHG WE KNOW ABOUT THE 'NCENTRATN MPS' FOR GAY MEN CHECHNYA

I argue that this stance of the Rsian ernment is the biggt e why the Kadyrov regime started wh the ncentratn mps agast gay cizens.

Put’s ignorance of LGBT-rights Rsia led to the legimisg of the ncentratn mps agast Chechen gay cizens by the Chechen polil lear. The fact that Chechens follow Sufism, very much argu why relign is not the ma factor for the prosecutn of homosexuals Chechnya.

The tradns of Sufism “is based on a homo-erotic relatnship between 13th century men, Mevlana Rumi and Shams of Tabriz. Many Wtern media simplified the prosecutn of homosexuals ncentratn mps the first half of 2017.

THE GAY MEN WHO FLED CHECHNYA’S PURGE

By prosecutg homosexuals, the Kadyrov regime want to show force and make a statement towards the mostly anti-LGBT populatn wh the Rsian Feratn.

Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, Chechen lear Ramzan Kadyrov has prevly claimed the reports were "ma up"Activists Rsia say there has been a new crackdown agast LGBT people Rsian LGBT Network believ about 40 people have been imprisoned sce December - two of whom they say have died unr group has been monorg alleged ab the maly Mlim Rsian republic sce 2017 when dozens of gay people were reportedly taed. Homophobia is wispread the highly nservative and predomantly Mlim Rsian Kadyrov and other ernment figur have repeatedly claimed Chechnya has no gay populatn at all.

THERE ARE TERRIFYG 'GAY CONCENTRATN CAMPS' IN CHECHNYA WHERE MEN ARE REPORTEDLY GETTG TORTURED AND MURRED

Media ptn, 'Rlan', a gay man who says he fled: "It's the extermatn of gay men""They have a special black box and they attach wir to your hands or ears.

A Rsian newspaper reported that Chechens spected of beg gay have been round up and taed secret prisons. In early April 2017, the Rsian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that men the Republic of Chechnya acced of beg gay had been "illegally taed, beaten, tortured wh electric shocks" and held for ransom "secret prisons" around Chechnya, cludg a former ary facily the town of Argun.

HUNDREDS PROTT OUTRAGE AGAST CHECHNYA'S GAY CONCENTRATN CAMPS

Homophobia and tolerance are not only prevalent Chechnya, an Amnty Internatnal Rsia spokperson told , but are fostered by the Chechen thori.

"Honor killgs" of men perceived as tarnishg their fay's reputatns by beg gay (or perceived as gay) often go unpunished. Acrdg to a Novaya Gazeta report, men believed to be gay are kept a former police statn (pound) near Argun.

Among those who are allegedly taed are not only men perceived to be gay, but also spected sympathizers of the armed group llg self “Islamic State” and spected dg ers. Another one person who ntacted the Network reported that his acquatance was also taed on spicn of homosexualy. The head of the lol Interr Mistry dismissed the earlier report as a "bad April Fools' joke, " while the spokman for Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's strongman lear, claimed there were no homosexuals Chechnya.

GAY "CONCENTRATN CAMPS" CHECHNYA: WHAT’S REAL, WHAT’S FAKE AND WHAT’S EXAGGERATED

Last week, Rsian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that gay men were beg taed Chechnya, wh at least three killed and others sent to their fai to their aths. Now, human rights anizatns and survivors report that so-lled ncentratn mps have been set up Chechnya, torturg gay men and forcg them to leave the untry. “Gay people have been taed and round up, and we are workg to evacuate people om the mps and some have now left the regn, ” the Rsian LGBT Network’s Svetlana Zakharova told the MailOnle.

Men who may be seen as havg ‘tarnished’ the fay’s ‘honor, ’ by beg gay or are believed to be gay, face a very real risk of beg killed by members of their own fai. “The ttimoni are nsistent reportg that the men are beg taken to abandoned buildgs Argun where they are tortured and forced to give out the nam of other gay men.