How Canada has been secretly givg asylum to gay people Chechnya fleeg persecutn - The Globe and Mail

Contents:

• 'ANY DAY YOU N BE TAKEN': INSI WHAT 'S LIKE TO BE GAY CHECHNYA
• CHECHNYA’S HORRIFIC ‘GAY PURGE’: A 4-YEAR TIMELE OF ABDUCTN, TORTURE AND MURR
• HOW CANADA HAS BEEN SECRETLY GIVG ASYLUM TO GAY PEOPLE CHECHNYA FLEEG PERSECUTN
• FRANCE WEL FIRST GAY REFUGEE FROM CHECHNYA
• A REFUGEE FROM CHECHNYA SHAR HOW HE ESPED TORTURE AND MURR THE ANTI-GAY RSIAN REPUBLIC
• CHECHNYA'S GAY PURGE IS ESLATG. THE US HAS DONE ALMOST NOTHG TO HELP
• GAY CHECHEN REFUGEE ARRTED RSIA AFTER RETURNG FOR FATHER’S FUNERAL FAC ‘MORTAL DANGER’
• GAY CHECHENS, ATTACKED AT HOME, FD DOORS OPENG EUROPE
• CHECHEN COURT RUL POLICE ABDUCTN OF TWO GAY REFUGE IS LEGAL
• A VICTIM OF THE ANTI-GAY PURGE CHECHNYA SPEAKS OUT: 'THE TTH EXISTS'
• PERSECUTED CHECHNYA, GAY REFUGE FACE NEW STGGL CANADA

'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. 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.

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

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. He scribed a daily sappg fear, where every teractn wh the police uld rried potentially tastrophic durg the new wave of arrts last wter, Omar's mother advertently disvered he was gay. 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. Most lbian's romantic liv are rced to talkg on onle msenger servic, she said, or meetg some ways life Chechnya, where women are already face rtrictns, is even harr for gay women. "So when you have the Dutch immigratn service [askg] you to tell your whole story, and if there is somethg that is not good, means they n say, 'Sorry, we don't thk you are gay, '" Kortekaas says.

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.

HOW CANADA HAS BEEN SECRETLY GIVG ASYLUM TO GAY PEOPLE CHECHNYA FLEEG PERSECUTN

” 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. 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.

FRANCE WEL FIRST GAY REFUGEE FROM CHECHNYA

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. 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.

A REFUGEE FROM CHECHNYA SHAR HOW HE ESPED TORTURE AND MURR THE ANTI-GAY RSIAN REPUBLIC

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.

CHECHNYA'S GAY PURGE IS ESLATG. THE US HAS DONE ALMOST NOTHG TO HELP

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). 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.

GAY CHECHEN REFUGEE ARRTED RSIA AFTER RETURNG FOR FATHER’S FUNERAL FAC ‘MORTAL DANGER’

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.

Rankg exam everythg om anti-discrimatn legislatn, marriage equaly, adoptn and transgenr rights to negative factors like relig fluence, hostile lols, whether or not Pri events have been banned, and the really dangero stuff: prosecutn, murr and ath sentenc for beg gay. The Rsian LGBT Network nfirms to Hor that Chechnya’s gay purge has neher stopped nor let up: “We know for sure that persecutn of LGBT people Chechnya did not stop; we ntue to receive rmatn that people are still kidnapped, taed and tortured.

GAY CHECHENS, ATTACKED AT HOME, FD DOORS OPENG EUROPE

Though some women had been round up the purge’s first wav, was prevly more mon for them to be outed to their fai and then eher imprisoned, murred or subjected to “homophobic rape” at home. Most people Rsia haven’t even heard about Chechnya’s gay purge, says the Rsian LGBT Network: “Almost all feral mass media Rsia is state-ntrolled, and there isn’t that much rmatn about this persecutn.

For three months, the feral ernment has been secretly spirg gay Chechen men om Rsia to Canada, unr a clanste program unique the evacuatns, spearhead by Foreign Affairs Mister Chrystia Freeland, fall outsi the nventns of ternatnal law and uld further impair already tense relatns between Rsia and Canada. Homosexuals many parts of the world are harassed, imprisoned, even – as happened recently Indonia – publicly the ernment is stgglg to acmodate thoands of mostly Haian asylum-seekers floodg to Canada om the Uned Stat, even as opposn policians mand that Ottawa fd a way to plug the loophole that lets them the Liberals cid the suatn was unique: Chechen secury forc were roundg up gay men a program, placg them need of immediate program has been a closely held secret wh the ernment for months.

CHECHEN COURT RUL POLICE ABDUCTN OF TWO GAY REFUGE IS LEGAL

Background: the purgeChechnya, a republic (roughly equivalent to a provce) wh the Rsian Feratn, is n by a strongman, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has been given virtually untrammelled powers by Mosw exchange for supprsg surgency the rtive is a eply nservative Mlim society which homosexualy is reviled. Put, meanwhile, the rights of LGBT people Rsia have steadily erod, particularly sce 2012, when the ernment passed a law banng gay "propaganda, " a move that recently drew nmnatn om the European urt of human April, the Rsian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that Chechen thori had lnched a pogrom agast gay men.

The reports were penntly nfirmed by the Rsian LGBT Network, an NGO that advot for sexual mori Rsia, and by Human Rights on terviews wh tae and journalists, the NGOs nclud that, Febary and March, Chechen thori had begun roundg up spected homosexuals, who were taken to tentn centr, terrogated and tortured. "People targeted by the anti-gay purge Chechnya are not safe Rsia" - An excerpt om a Human Rights Watch reportHamzat, a man his mid-twenti, is a recent arrival to Canada. "When news of the tentns and torture beme public, a spokman for the Chechen ernment sisted there was no pogrom unr way bee there were no homosexuals Chechnya, and if there were, "their relativ would send them somewhere om which there is no returng.

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

By April, word arrived om the regn that the purge had been lifted, though Human Rights Watch reported that homosexuals Chechnya were still beg harassed and persecuted, and thori were prsurg fay members to lote and turn over those who had fled. However, although NGOs plead wh other ernments to take persecuted gay Chechens, homosexual acts are not illegal Rsia; therefore, refugee claims based on fear of persecutn due to sexualy were problematic.

PERSECUTED CHECHNYA, GAY REFUGE FACE NEW STGGL CANADA

Most, but not all, are men, and most are om Chechnya, wh the rt om other parts of the North is not the only untry to accept gay refuge om Chechnya and other untri the regn. An untermed number of dividuals have travelled to European Unn untri on tourist visas, and then applied for refugee Canada is the only untry to have adopted an anized, methodil program for takg as many gay Chechens fleeg persecutn as were qualified and willg to T ernment has ma LGBT rights a prry, appotg Edmonton MP Randy Boissonnlt as special adviser on LGBT issu. A new, and unexpected, lifeNow that the prence of gay Chechen refuge Canada is no longer a secret, they will be able to accs more easily the support servic they need to tegrate succsfully to Canadian first prry, says Mr.

Most survivors of this vlence by Chechen secury forc are gay or bisexual men; transgenr and genrqueer dividuals, as well as lbian and bisexual women, have also been targeted. On Monday, France weled a gay refugee om Chechnya, believed to be the first sce reports emerged that the Rsian terrory was persecutg gay news was announced by Joel Dmier, print of SOS Homophobie, a gay rights group.

SOS Homophobie helped wh the refugee’s applitn and that the man, whose inty is beg protected, claimed to be opprsed for his sexualy, Duemier Actn: Tell World Lears to End the Refugee CrisisTwo months ago, reports me out that hundreds of gay and bisexual men were beg imprisoned, tortured wh electric shocks, and huiated.