Tag: Chechnya

The phone call that would change M.’s life came one spring evening in 2018. “You’re on the list,” the baritone voice on the other end of the line said.The caller identified himself as a member of the military and accused M. of indecent behavior. “We need to cleanse our republic of these people,” the voice said. The man didn’t say the word — he didn’t have to. M. knew the voice on the phone was implying he...

Kimahli Powell, 43 Fundraiser, activist, lifesaver Raised in Canada by Jamaican-born parents, Kimahli Powell knows how he lives in a forward-thinking country that prioritizes equal rights for all its citizens. Not content to simply enjoy his own good fortune, Powell has spent his career helping others, through his work at the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Dignitas International, and other non-profits. In 2016, he became Executive Director of Rainbow Railroad, leading efforts to usher LGBTQ people out of dangerous home countries to...

Lesbian and trans women are commonly murdered in honor killings A lesbian who escaped the ‘gay purge’ in Chechnya has bravely shared her story, even though it could get her killed. The woman – who remains anonymous for her safety – shared the horrors of growing up LGBTI in Chechnya and how she wasn’t even safe from her own family. In early 2017 the world started learning how Chechnya – a region in the north Caucasus of Russia – had started rounding...

The victim couldn’t believe there were so many onlookers to his attack that didn’t bother to call the police An outspoken Russian LGBTI and HIV activist has woken up in hospital with a broken jaw but has no recollection of the attack. Boris Konakov woke up in St Petersburg’s Alexandra Hospital on Monday 30 April. The provocative activist has a severely broken jaw that will require surgery and potentially titanium screws. Extensive tests revealed Konakov has comminuted fracture. Fractures of that degree usually...

One year ago this week, news broke of a wave of terrifying, state-sponsored violence in Chechnya against men perceived to be gay or bisexual. In scenes that would not have been out of place in Nazi Germany, innocent men were rounded up by state militia and removed to illegal detention centres. Men like Maxim Lapunov who spent 12 days in a blood-soaked cell just because he is gay, but who today is bravely speaking out for justice. Men like the pop...

Zelimkhan Bakayev was last seen on August 8 in Chechnya. A Russian singer who has been missing since August is now feared to have been detained by authorities and sent to an anti-gay concentration camp in Chechnya. Zelimkhan Bakayev was last seen on August 8 in the Chechen capital Grozny, and his family has been unable to get answers from authorities about happened to him. At a press conference on Monday, which featured a victim of the anti-gay purge in Chechnya giving...

A man who miraculously survived Chechnya's relentless anti-gay campaign has stepped forward to share his horrific, distressing story. For 12 days, Maxim Lapunov said he was held captive in a blood-soaked cell, beaten, threatened, and humiliated by authorities. The 30-year-old man, originally from Siberia, had been living and working in Chechnya for two years. Then, one night in March, he says he was kidnapped by two men in a car. By his account, he had been taken to a police facility, where...

On Saturday, a protest march was held in New York City in solidarity with the LGBT people of Chechnya. It was organised by the grassroots group Voices 4 Chechnya, standing up in peaceful protest against the abduction, torture and killing of Chechen LGBT+ people and demanding humanitarian visas for those that have escaped to Russian safe houses. The group was founded by LGBT+ activist Adam Eli who fronted the protest, marching alongside hundreds of Voices 4 Chechnya supporters, including RuPaul’s Drag...

'If not the government, then our families are expected to kill us. This happened to some of our friends' A human rights advocate has shared the heartbreaking reality of Chechen refugees who still don’t feel safe, even though they’ve escaped certain persecution. It was revealed earlier this year the gay and bisexual men were being detained, tortured and in some cases killed in Chechnya. A number of countries agreed to take in refugees including, Lithuania, France, Germany and Canada. But for two Chechen...

A victim of Azerbaijan’s reported anti-gay crackdown has come forward to describe the horrendous actions that were used against him. The man – who has only been identified as Xeyal for his own security – was caught up as one of dozens of LGBT+ people detained by authorities in Azerbaijan’s capital city, Baku, last month. The victim claimed that he was detained for nine days and enduring beatings, electrics shocks and other forms of torture before he was finally released. “We were...

Canada has opened its doors to the gay and bi men tortured in Chechnya while Trump remains silent. It’s been several months since reports began surfacing that gay and bisexual men were being rounded up and tortured in Chechnya, and now, the Toronto-based group Rainbow Railroad has released a video statement announcing that the group has helped 31 of the persecuted men escape to Canada. The group’s Executive Director Kimahli Powell detailed the group’s work to provide emergency visas and...

Naked men and a good cause? Sign us up Fashion Photographer Balthier Corfi and stylist Todd Hanshaw have teamed up to create a stunning charity calendar. The 2018 calendar, which celebrates the male form in all its glory, is being released to raise money for LGBT+ Rainbow Railroad, a non-governmental organization currently leading the campaign to rescue gay men trapped in Chechnya. “Rainbow Railroad receives hundreds of requests for help each year from countries where LGBT individuals are targets of violence. Because...

Donald Trump’s administration has finally spoken out against Chechnya’s persecution of gay men. In an interview which aired on HBO yesterday, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov called gay people the “devil” and once again denied reports of the gay purge in the region. The leader added that if there were any gay people – who he emphasised were “not people” – living in the region, they should move to Canada. US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that her department found these comments...

The names of 27 people slaughtered in a single night by Chechen authorities have been published. The secret mass execution is thought to have seen up to 56 people killed – all without trial. Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper based in the region, has published the list of names it claims President Ramzan Kadyrov’s government killed. The executions were all carried out in Chechnya’s capital, Grozny, on the night of 25 January, the newspaper claims. According to the strongly anti-Putin publication, mass arrests and...