Chechnya’s Horrific ‘Gay Purge’: A 4-Year Timele of Abductn, Torture and Murr | Hor, the Queer Social Network

Contents:

• 'ANY DAY YOU N BE TAKEN': INSI WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY CHECHNYA
• 2 GAY CHECHENS HELD ON TERROR CHARG WHOUT PROOF – NGO
• GAY CHECHENS, ATTACKED AT HOME, FD DOORS OPENG EUROPE
• TURKEY: PORTUGUE TOURIST SAYS HE WAS JAILED FOR LOOKG GAY
• PUT UNLEASH ANTI-GAY CHECHEN MONSTERS ON UKRAE TO HUNT AND KILL TARGETS SAVAS ABADSIDIS FEBARY 26, 2022SHARE RSIA’S VLADMIR PUT IS DOUBLG DOWN ON HIS MURRO ARY TERROR ON UKRAE BY UNLEASHG SPECIAL FORC MA UP OF “HUNTERS” OM CHECHNYA WH A KILL AND PTURE ORRS.THE SAME CHECHENS THAT WERE THE SUBJECT OF WELE TO CHECHNYA, WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN TERRORIZG GAY MEN AND PUTTG THEM NCENTRATN MPS HAVE BEEN GIVEN “CKS OF RDS” WH PHOTOGRAPHS OF THEIR TARGETS.RAMZAN KADYROV, 45, THE REPUBLIC’S LEAR AND A CLOSE PUT ALLY, VISED HIS FORC UKRAE.THE LIST IS OF OFFICIALS AND SECURY OFFICERS SPECTED OF “CRIM”  BY THE RSIAN INVTIGATIVE COMMTEE, THE REPORT ADD. THE UNED STAT STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS AMONG THE TARGETS  ARE PRINT ZEKLENSKY AND LGBT ACTIVISTS.RAMZAN KADYROV GATHERED GROZNY MORE THAN 10,000 FIGHTERS OM CHECHNYA’S #RAE #RSIAN@JAYNXSHORTS RAMZAN KADYROV GATHERED GROZNY MORE THAN 10,000 FIGHTERS OM CHECHNYA’S #RAE #RSIAN ♬ ORIGAL SOUND – JAYN XKADYROV HAS “ADVISED” UKRAIAN PRINT ZELENSKY “TO LL VLADIMIR PUT AND APOLOGIZE”, RT REPORTED.IN A SPEECH HE GAVE TO THE ASSEMBLED SERVICEMEN CENTRAL GROZNY CHECHNYA, KADYROV MAND THAT UKRAIAN PRINT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY APOLOGIZE TO PUT.KADYROV WAS APPOTED PRINT OF THE RSIAN REPUBLIC 2007, THREE YEARS AFTER THE ASSASSATN OF HIS FATHER, AKHMAD, THE PREV LEAR. HE PLEDG LOYALTY TO PUT AND, TURN, THE REPUBLIC HE NS WH AN IRON FIST HAS BENEFTED OM LARGE SUBSIDI OM MOSW. KADYROV HAS BEEN EQUENTLY ACCED BY RIGHTS GROUPS OF VOLVEMENT THE KIDNAPPG, ASSASSATN AND TORTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS AND CRICS, AS WELL AS LEADG ANTI-GAY PURG.@REDHEADNIKA #WAR #RAE #SSIA #VA ♬ ORIGAL SOUND – NIKAFOREIGN POLICY:THOANDS OF CHECHENS MOBILIZG SOUTH OF UKRAE. HUNDREDS OF CHECHEN FIGHTERS PRAYG THE FORT BEFORE BATTLE. DOZENS OF CHECHEN SPECIAL FORC HAND PLAYG RDS BEARG THE NAM AND PHOTOS OF THEIR TEND TARGETS. RAMZAN KADYROV, CHECHNYA’S BTAL LEAR, MAKG A FIANT PROMISE TO SEIZE KYIV.THE ARE THE IMAG BEG BROADST BY RSIAN PROPAGANDA CHANNELS, LEVERAGG THE VERY PRENCE OF CHECHEN SOLDIERS UKRAE AS A PSYCHOLOGIL WEAPON AGAST UKRAIANS.MOSW’S WEAPONIZATN OF CHECHEN FIGHTERS, TRADG ON STEREOTYP ABOUT THE CHECHENS THEMSELV, IS PART OF S PROPAGANDA MPAIGN TO ATTEMPT TO FORCE KYIV’S SURRENR—EFFORTS THAT HAVE, TH FAR, SPECTACULARLY BACKFIRED.RSIAN STATE PROPAGANDA, AND A WORK OF PRO-KREML TELEGRAM CHANNELS THAT HAVE BEEN ED TO PUMP OUT RMATN WARFARE MIRRORG THE ONGOG ASSLT, HAS CLAIMED THAT ANYWHERE BETWEEN 10,000 AND 70,000 CHECHEN FIGHTERS—WHICH KADYROV HAS SCRIBED AS “VOLUNTEERS”—ARE SET TO PART FOR UKRAE TO BOLSTER MOSW’S MA FORCHE ALSO HAS RECENTLY THREATENED JOURNALISTS OM THE PENNT NOVAYA GAZETA AND DOZHD NEWS OUTLETS.KADYROV HAS BEEN BEHD A SERI OF STATE-SPONSORED ANTI-GAY PURG ACROSS CHECHNYA, WHICH HUNDREDS OF GAY MEN HAVE BEEN ARRTED AND TAED SECRET PRISONS. THE PURG WERE FIRST REVEALED BY THE PENNT RSIAN NEWSPAPER NOVAYA GAZETA  APRIL 2017 AND LATER RROBORATED BY HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, AMONG OTHERS.HEAD OF THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC RAMZAN KADYROV (R) SPEAKS WH RSIAN PRINT VLADIMIR PUT ON AUGT 31, 2019. A PETN LLG FOR KADYROV TO BE REMOVED AS CHECHNYA’S PRINT HAS BEEN GAG MOMENTUM.ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/GETTYTHE INTERCEPT:“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. IN 2017, A TAEE TOLD HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, “THEY ELECTROCUTED , BEAT WH PIP, KICKED , AND PUNCHED , THEY MA OTHER MAT BEAT , THEY LLED NAM, SPAT OUR FAC.”IN DECEMBER 2018, THERE WERE REPORTS OF A SEND WAVE OF ARRTS AND ATTACKS AGAST GAY CHECHENS. YET THERE HAS BEEN LTLE VERAGE OF THEIR PLIGHT OVER THE PAST 18 MONTHS. 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. “THEY ARE STILL BEG HUNTED,” FRANCE TOLD ME A PHONE TERVIEW OM NEW YORK.THE HUNTER--CHIEF IS RAMZAN KADYROV, A THUGGISH, TIGER-LOVG TOCRAT WHO WAS STALLED AS PRINT OF CHECHNYA BY RSIAN PRINT VLADMIR PUT 2007. KADYROV, LOKSHA SAID, “HAS BEEN ENABLED BY THE KREML TO N CHECHNYA AS HIS OWN FIEFDOM, EFFECTIVELY AS A STATE WH A STATE, WHERE TERNATNAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW, AND EVEN RSIAN LEGISLATN, IS NOT TAKEN TO ACUNT.”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. IT IS THE CHECHEN LEAR WHO ORRED THE ROUNDG UP AND TENTN OF GAY MEN, WHO HE LLS “SUBHUMAN” AND “VILS.” 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.IN AN TERVIEW  JULY 2017, HBO SPORTS REPORTER DAVID STT ASKED KADYROV ABOUT THE ANTI-GAY POGROMS HIS UNTRY. “WE DON’T HAVE THOSE KDS OF PEOPLE HERE,” KADYROV RPOND. “WE DON’T HAVE ANY GAYS. IF THERE ARE ANY, TAKE THEM TO CANADA.”
• RSIA TELLS UN THERE ARE NO GAYS CHECHNYA
• JOURNALIST WHO UNVERED CHECHNYA’S ANTI-GAY PURGE ATTACKED
• A VICTIM OF THE ANTI-GAY PURGE CHECHNYA SPEAKS OUT: 'THE TTH EXISTS'
• ONLY FIVE UNTRI ARE HELPG GAY CHECHENS LEAVE RSIA
• WARLORD WHO PERSECUTED GAY CHECHENS KILLED UKRAE FIGHTG
• CHECHNYA IS TRYG TO EXTERMATE GAY PEOPLE. OUR SILENCE ONLY EMBOLNS VLADIMIR PUT AND RAMZAN KADYROV.
• GAY CHECHENS REPORT DAYS OF BEATGS AND ELECTRO-SHOCK TORTURE AT HANDS OF RSIAN ERNMENT-BACKED THUGS
• GAY PEOPLE CHECHNYA DPERATELY NEED THE WORLD'S HELP
• CHECHNYA’S HORRIFIC ‘GAY PURGE’: A 4-YEAR TIMELE OF ABDUCTN, TORTURE AND MURR

'ANY DAY YOU N BE TAKEN': INSI WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY CHECHNYA

"Ricky's oral was mid-2018 and was a faiar early 2017, the world had beme aware of reports that Chechen thori were roundg up and torturg dozens of men they spected of beg gay, what me to be known as a "gay purge". The nam of most of those terviewed have been changed at their requt out of ncern the Chechen thori or their fai might harm acunts pat a picture of a place where there is now virtually no space to be gay, where datg rri potentially lethal nsequenc and the supprsn of their inty is obligatory for LGBT people.

He has done that, g allegedly savage methods, and the procs Kadyrov has remolled Chechnya around himself, erectg a police state and a cult of personaly built around an obssive machismo centered on sport, particularly martial the majory-Mlim regn, wh a eply nservative culture, beg gay was never accepted. "In 2017, that nservative hostily to homosexualy seemed to nvert to anised terror, part of a broar nservative mpaign that has also targeted dg and alhol Dzhabrailov, 27, only the send man to e forward publicly about his tentn 2017, told ABC News that armed police took him om the hair salon where he was workg. For 14 days, he said, he was held a basement wh several other gay men, taken out for torture ssns, where he was electrocuted and subjected to a mock Dzhabrailov tells ABC News'' Jam Longman the torture and terrogatn he says he endured at the hands of Chechen News"They put me on the wall, put bag on my head, " he remembered.

2 GAY CHECHENS HELD ON TERROR CHARG WHOUT PROOF – NGO

Aluadov, who was also sanctned 2013 by the Uned Stat over the same se as Ddov, claimed the gay men allegg torture were simply seekg asylum the Wt or that they themselv were likely not Chechens.

Insi, Aluadov showed the reporters the empty cells, which were clean and looked rarely ed, as though mostly sisted he uldn't nceive how a Chechen man uld be gay and said was not him but Chechen society that will not tolerate gay men. Victims have repeatedly scribed beg hand back over to their fai wh a suggtn that they kill them themselv and many of speakg anonymoly said they feared their relativ would harm them if they found such circumstanc, discsg homosexualy, let alone g out is impossible.

GAY CHECHENS, ATTACKED AT HOME, FD DOORS OPENG EUROPE

He eventually sought asylum , a bisexual man livg the neighborg republic of Dagtan, where attus are very siar to Chechnya, had a wife and a 1-year-old baby when he said his life was men lured him to an apartment where they beat him and forced him to adm he was gay on mera. 'It’s harr for women bee they n’t leave'Many LGBT Chechens lk the eptn of more systematic vlence the past few years to a worseng atmosphere of homophobia Rsia, signaled by the passg of the notor so-lled "anti-gay propaganda" law law, which effectively banned public displays of homosexualy, has been cricized by rights groups as green-lightg discrimatn and vlence agast LGBT over Rsia, gay people reported creased hostily. AdvertisementSKIP Hill for The New York TimJune 9, 2017BERLIN — Countri across Europe, cludg Germany and Lhuania, have begun openg their doors to gay Chechen refuge on the grounds that they have been persecuted bee of their sexual German Foreign Mistry nfirmed on Friday that has admted one man, who arrived the untry on Tuday, on a special visa on humanarian grounds.

Officials wh ILGA-Europe, a gay and transgenr rights group, said that recent weeks, several other European untri had also entered to discsns to adm gay refuge on grounds of persecutn. But this year, the pro-Kreml ernment Chechnya began targetg gay men more aggrsively after a Mosw-based gay rights anizatn sought perms for gay pri paras the April, the pennt Rsian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that more than 100 gay men Chechnya had been arrted, and that at least three had been killed.

TURKEY: PORTUGUE TOURIST SAYS HE WAS JAILED FOR LOOKG GAY

Rsia’s Vladmir Put is doublg down on his murro ary terror on Ukrae by unleashg special forc ma up of “hunters” om Chechnya wh a kill and pture same Chechens that were the subject of Wele to Chechnya, where they have been terrorizg gay men and puttg them ncentratn mps have been given “cks of rds” wh photographs of their Kadyrov, 45, the republic’s lear and a close Put ally, vised his forc list is of officials and secury officers spected of “crim” by the Rsian Invtigative Commtee, the report add. A petn llg for Kadyrov to be removed as Chechnya’s print has been gag NIKOLSKY/GETTYThe Intercept:“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.

PUT UNLEASH ANTI-GAY CHECHEN MONSTERS ON UKRAE TO HUNT AND KILL TARGETS SAVAS ABADSIDIS FEBARY 26, 2022SHARE RSIA’S VLADMIR PUT IS DOUBLG DOWN ON HIS MURRO ARY TERROR ON UKRAE BY UNLEASHG SPECIAL FORC MA UP OF “HUNTERS” OM CHECHNYA WH A KILL AND PTURE ORRS.THE SAME CHECHENS THAT WERE THE SUBJECT OF WELE TO CHECHNYA, WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN TERRORIZG GAY MEN AND PUTTG THEM NCENTRATN MPS HAVE BEEN GIVEN “CKS OF RDS” WH PHOTOGRAPHS OF THEIR TARGETS.RAMZAN KADYROV, 45, THE REPUBLIC’S LEAR AND A CLOSE PUT ALLY, VISED HIS FORC UKRAE.THE LIST IS OF OFFICIALS AND SECURY OFFICERS SPECTED OF “CRIM”  BY THE RSIAN INVTIGATIVE COMMTEE, THE REPORT ADD. THE UNED STAT STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS AMONG THE TARGETS  ARE PRINT ZEKLENSKY AND LGBT ACTIVISTS.RAMZAN KADYROV GATHERED GROZNY MORE THAN 10,000 FIGHTERS OM CHECHNYA’S #RAE #RSIAN@JAYNXSHORTS RAMZAN KADYROV GATHERED GROZNY MORE THAN 10,000 FIGHTERS OM CHECHNYA’S #RAE #RSIAN ♬ ORIGAL SOUND – JAYN XKADYROV HAS “ADVISED” UKRAIAN PRINT ZELENSKY “TO LL VLADIMIR PUT AND APOLOGIZE”, RT REPORTED.IN A SPEECH HE GAVE TO THE ASSEMBLED SERVICEMEN CENTRAL GROZNY CHECHNYA, KADYROV MAND THAT UKRAIAN PRINT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY APOLOGIZE TO PUT.KADYROV WAS APPOTED PRINT OF THE RSIAN REPUBLIC 2007, THREE YEARS AFTER THE ASSASSATN OF HIS FATHER, AKHMAD, THE PREV LEAR. HE PLEDG LOYALTY TO PUT AND, TURN, THE REPUBLIC HE NS WH AN IRON FIST HAS BENEFTED OM LARGE SUBSIDI OM MOSW. KADYROV HAS BEEN EQUENTLY ACCED BY RIGHTS GROUPS OF VOLVEMENT THE KIDNAPPG, ASSASSATN AND TORTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS AND CRICS, AS WELL AS LEADG ANTI-GAY PURG.@REDHEADNIKA #WAR #RAE #SSIA #VA ♬ ORIGAL SOUND – NIKAFOREIGN POLICY:THOANDS OF CHECHENS MOBILIZG SOUTH OF UKRAE. HUNDREDS OF CHECHEN FIGHTERS PRAYG THE FORT BEFORE BATTLE. DOZENS OF CHECHEN SPECIAL FORC HAND PLAYG RDS BEARG THE NAM AND PHOTOS OF THEIR TEND TARGETS. RAMZAN KADYROV, CHECHNYA’S BTAL LEAR, MAKG A FIANT PROMISE TO SEIZE KYIV.THE ARE THE IMAG BEG BROADST BY RSIAN PROPAGANDA CHANNELS, LEVERAGG THE VERY PRENCE OF CHECHEN SOLDIERS UKRAE AS A PSYCHOLOGIL WEAPON AGAST UKRAIANS.MOSW’S WEAPONIZATN OF CHECHEN FIGHTERS, TRADG ON STEREOTYP ABOUT THE CHECHENS THEMSELV, IS PART OF S PROPAGANDA MPAIGN TO ATTEMPT TO FORCE KYIV’S SURRENR—EFFORTS THAT HAVE, TH FAR, SPECTACULARLY BACKFIRED.RSIAN STATE PROPAGANDA, AND A WORK OF PRO-KREML TELEGRAM CHANNELS THAT HAVE BEEN ED TO PUMP OUT RMATN WARFARE MIRRORG THE ONGOG ASSLT, HAS CLAIMED THAT ANYWHERE BETWEEN 10,000 AND 70,000 CHECHEN FIGHTERS—WHICH KADYROV HAS SCRIBED AS “VOLUNTEERS”—ARE SET TO PART FOR UKRAE TO BOLSTER MOSW’S MA FORCHE ALSO HAS RECENTLY THREATENED JOURNALISTS OM THE PENNT NOVAYA GAZETA AND DOZHD NEWS OUTLETS.KADYROV HAS BEEN BEHD A SERI OF STATE-SPONSORED ANTI-GAY PURG ACROSS CHECHNYA, WHICH HUNDREDS OF GAY MEN HAVE BEEN ARRTED AND TAED SECRET PRISONS. THE PURG WERE FIRST REVEALED BY THE PENNT RSIAN NEWSPAPER NOVAYA GAZETA  APRIL 2017 AND LATER RROBORATED BY HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, AMONG OTHERS.HEAD OF THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC RAMZAN KADYROV (R) SPEAKS WH RSIAN PRINT VLADIMIR PUT ON AUGT 31, 2019. A PETN LLG FOR KADYROV TO BE REMOVED AS CHECHNYA’S PRINT HAS BEEN GAG MOMENTUM.ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/GETTYTHE INTERCEPT:“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. IN 2017, A TAEE TOLD HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, “THEY ELECTROCUTED , BEAT WH PIP, KICKED , AND PUNCHED , THEY MA OTHER MAT BEAT , THEY LLED NAM, SPAT OUR FAC.”IN DECEMBER 2018, THERE WERE REPORTS OF A SEND WAVE OF ARRTS AND ATTACKS AGAST GAY CHECHENS. YET THERE HAS BEEN LTLE VERAGE OF THEIR PLIGHT OVER THE PAST 18 MONTHS. 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. “THEY ARE STILL BEG HUNTED,” FRANCE TOLD ME A PHONE TERVIEW OM NEW YORK.THE HUNTER--CHIEF IS RAMZAN KADYROV, A THUGGISH, TIGER-LOVG TOCRAT WHO WAS STALLED AS PRINT OF CHECHNYA BY RSIAN PRINT VLADMIR PUT 2007. KADYROV, LOKSHA SAID, “HAS BEEN ENABLED BY THE KREML TO N CHECHNYA AS HIS OWN FIEFDOM, EFFECTIVELY AS A STATE WH A STATE, WHERE TERNATNAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW, AND EVEN RSIAN LEGISLATN, IS NOT TAKEN TO ACUNT.”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. IT IS THE CHECHEN LEAR WHO ORRED THE ROUNDG UP AND TENTN OF GAY MEN, WHO HE LLS “SUBHUMAN” AND “VILS.” 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.IN AN TERVIEW  JULY 2017, HBO SPORTS REPORTER DAVID STT ASKED KADYROV ABOUT THE ANTI-GAY POGROMS HIS UNTRY. “WE DON’T HAVE THOSE KDS OF PEOPLE HERE,” KADYROV RPOND. “WE DON’T HAVE ANY GAYS. IF THERE ARE ANY, TAKE THEM TO CANADA.”

” 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 an terview  July 2017, HBO sports reporter David Stt asked Kadyrov about the anti-gay pogroms his untry. ”@allahblsssischa #gay #lgbtq #homosexual #genr #trans #bible #christiany #islam #judaism #bible #verse #ai #turkey #tiktokdia #terview #chechnya #pakistan ♬ origal sound – AllahBlsRsiaCha“Praise be to god, ” the Chechen print add.

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 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 themIs any wonr, then, that activists talk of a “gay genoci?

RSIA TELLS UN THERE ARE NO GAYS CHECHNYA

An official at Rsia’s Jtice Mistry has said at the Uned Natns that the rights of the LGBT muny were not vlated Chechnya bee there were no gays sentiment was first exprsed by Chechen strongman lear Ramzan Kadyrov who, faced wh media reports that gay Chechens were allegedly taed and tortured, mataed that “we don’t have any gays. Milasha also faced tense backlash and threats 2017 after first breakg the news of the Chechen ernment’s crackdown on men and women who were eher gay or genr-nonnformg the Mlim-majory regn of the Cc. Milasha ially reported on more than 100 Chechens — primarily gay men — who were arrted and taed makhift prisons and ncentratn mps, where they were often subjected to torture and asked to name other people whom they knew to be gay.

JOURNALIST WHO UNVERED CHECHNYA’S ANTI-GAY PURGE ATTACKED

Upon beg released, survivors of the makhift tentn centers reported that thori enuraged their fai to take matters to their own hands and perform “honor killgs” of relativ spected to be gay. Th and ail om the strs of his travels, Eskarkhanov had e to Germany and applied for asylum, first the summer of 2013 and aga the fall of last year, to pe the persecutn he faced back home for beg gay.

The tails were gome; lol police had allegedly round up dozens of men and tortured them secret prisons until they divulged the nam of other homosexuals, who were then subjected to the same cycle of vlence, acrdg to an April report pennt newspaper Novaya Gazeta. “It’s been a big ncern of ours, ” says Kimahli Powell, the executive director of Rabow Railroad, a Canadian advocy group that helps rettle gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr people who face persecutn around the world. His mpaign agast homosexual men has reflected his missn to turn Chechnya to an obedient and fiercely patriarchal society, one fed by a of nduct that Kadyrov enforc acrdg to his whim.

Freas, who has shied away om Bolsonaro's favore hot-button issu such as gun rights and gay marriage, joed the Republins last year ahead of his n for ernor stead of the former print's more right-wg Liberal Bolsonaro mired crimal vtigatns and barred by the urts om nng for office due to his attacks on the electoral system, Brazil's nservative kgmakers are placg their bets on Freas.

A VICTIM OF THE ANTI-GAY PURGE CHECHNYA SPEAKS OUT: 'THE TTH EXISTS'

Though the three men didn’t expla why they had e, soon beme clear, as they took Dzhabrailov’s phone, mand his password and started surg the vice for msag and photos that would prove he was guilty of somethg nsired eply shameful the nservative, predomantly Mlim republic: beg gay. ” Dzhabrailov is one of at least dozens of men who were taed and tortured an anti-gay “purge” that took place Chechnya 2017, acrdg to news reports, human rights anizatns and European agenci.

Dpe ternatnal attentn and outcry that followed the 2017 purge — cludg lls for Rsian officials to vtigate reported lawlsns and misbehavr among Chechen law enforcement — human rights anizatns say another anti-gay sweep took place late 2018 and early 2019. One ernment spokperson said wasn’t possible bee gay people “don’t exist” that part of Rsia and if they did, their own relativ would be so ashamed that they “would have sent them to where they uld never return. Given the strength of the taboo Chechnya, beg openly gay “is simply not an optn” and “g out of the closet would be suicidal, ” says Tanya Loksha, associate director for Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia.

ONLY FIVE UNTRI ARE HELPG GAY CHECHENS LEAVE RSIA

The iend was Viskhan, a 28-year-old who prefers to only e his first name and tells TIME through a translator that he had left the republic years earlier bee he was also persecuted for beg gay. ” Experts on LGBT rights say that lawlsns — along wh relign or nservative beliefs about genr norms — tends to be the mon thread when to intifyg plac where gay or transgenr people are most at-risk. The thors appeal to foreign ernments to offer asylum to the victims of the anti-gay purge and vow to assist those who step forward and seek jtice before the European Court of Human Rights and the Internatnal Crimal Court.

WARLORD WHO PERSECUTED GAY CHECHENS KILLED UKRAE FIGHTG

Also, Chechnya is now higher on the ternatnal agenda than a very long time, " Loksha said, highlightg that the unlawful tentn facili were not created for the gay men, but rather have been ed for years to hold and torture different Chechen people and to stil fear. Sourc wh Rsian-based human rights anizatns nfirmed that Thayev played an unspecified role as recently as May 2021 when human rights activist and a gay man, Ibragim Selimkhanov, was abducted om a subway statn the Novogireyevo District of the Rsian pal of Mosw by four Chechen operativ and flown agast his will to the Chechen pal of Grozny. Sce 2017, human and LGBTQ+ activists noted that Chechen secury operativ and other officials the Kadyrov regime, cludg nfirmed Thayev sourc, have round up dozens of men on spicn of beg gay, held them unofficial tentn facili for days, huiated, starved and tortured them, what has been dubbed Chechnya’s “anti-gay purge.

“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.

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

“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. “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.

GAY CHECHENS REPORT DAYS OF BEATGS AND ELECTRO-SHOCK TORTURE AT HANDS OF RSIAN ERNMENT-BACKED THUGS

“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. 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.

“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. “It's a feelg like they are breakg every bone of every jot your body at the same time, ” he is a gay man om Chechnya, the predomantly Mlim regn southern Rsia where some 100 men spected of beg gay were taed and tortured, and at least three of them were his oral, Anzor fled Chechnya and is now hidg Mosw, fearg not only for his own life but for the safety of his relativ.

Small tails that Anzor didn't want to make public led the police to believe that he and one of his iends were gay, he were btally beaten ont of the police statn chief and taken to a shed. “I thought if I would go there, they would be people like that there, too, ” he said, lghg other gay man who spoke to the AP said that his oral began when police arrted him a crowd place, bee his number was found the phone of another gay man arrted said that he believed his ptors, drsed mouflage, were abg them one by one a bid to fd more gays. Two of the men have already left Rsia for another untry which is visa-ee for Rsians, and two more have jt received visas and should be leavg for Europe activists have been meetg wh foreign diplomats, pleadg that grantg a visa to gay survivors of torture uld be a matter of savg their liv.

GAY PEOPLE CHECHNYA DPERATELY NEED THE WORLD'S HELP

It is two months sce reports surfaced the pennt Rsian newspaper Novaya Gazeta that the Chechen thori have been tag, torturg and even killg gay men, as part of a plorable mpaign to purge the republic of people of “non-tradnal orientatn”. Amnty Internatnal spoke to wns who scribed how men spected of beg gay are publicly huiated when the thori e for them – dragged away ont of their fai and lleagu, puttg them at risk of reprisals even if they are eventually released. Former tae have scribed beg forced by prison guards to dance the untry’s natnal women’s dance, and to assume female nam, to ridicule them for not nformg to homophobic and misogynistic ‘ials’ of masculy.

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. 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.

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

” 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.