Tag: Chechnya

New French President Emmanuel Macron raised LGBT rights and Chechnya in his tense first meeting with Vladimir Putin. The French leader met with the Russian leader today for the first time since his election earlier this month. During the pair’s behind-closed-doors meeting, President Macron raised the alleged purge of gay men in Chechnya, as well as wider issues regarding LGBT people’s rights across Russia. Macron, a strong supporter of equality, vowed in a joint press conference with Putin to be “constantly vigilant...

With the United States showing no signs of doing the same, France has started taking in gay refugees from Chechnya. “The first gay Chechen refugee arrived on French land,” Joël Deumier, president of French LGBT rights organization SOS Homophobie, said on FranceInfo today. “France has started to welcome Chechen refugees. This is going to continue.” Deumier also shared that SOS Homophobie helped with the refugee’s application and provided testimony indicating he was oppressed because of his sexual orientation. Deumier said SOS Homophobie was...

The United States is denying visas to gay and bisexual men seeking asylum amid the ongoing human rights abuses in Chechnya. This according to organizers with the group Russia LGBT Network, responsible for getting 40 men out of Chechnya, who spoke with BuzzFeed News. Russia LGBT Network spokesperson Svetlana Zakharova said they are having difficulty securing visas that would allow them to flee the country and find a safe haven from the abuse, calling negotiations with various countries “difficult.” While she didn’t...

Two men were given visas to live in Lithuania and escape persecution in Chechnya Lithuania has become one of the first countries to give refuge to men fleeing Chechnya because of their sexuality. It was revealed in April that the Chechen government was detaining, torturing and even killing gay and bisexual men. Lithuania’s foreign minister, Linas Linkevičius, confirmed his government granted asylum to two men. ‘I can confirm that we have issued visas to two who came from Chechnya, who were persecuted because...

The Russian LGBT Network has helped evacuate 40 gay men from Chechnya, where at least four people have been killed in a “gay purge”. Reports last month alleged that more than 100 gay men have been detained in the purge in Chechnya with many feared dead. Gay men are reportedly being beaten, tortured with electricity, and living with no water or food. In a Skype interview with NPR, the Russian LGBT Network communications manager described how her organisation has set up a...

A new short film about the plight of gay men in Chechnya aims to raise awareness about the increasingly dire situation. Unchechen is just under four minutes, and tells the story of Khamzat, a public servant who was entrapped and interrogated. “I’m sickened by what’s happening in Chechnya,” says Alex Markham, Director of digitalSTAGE. “But, like a lot of people, I felt impotent. I wanted to do something immediate and practical to offer solidarity. I hope this film will get people donating...

The 17-year-old boy was murdered by his uncle after learning of his homosexuality. Russian magazine Snob has reported that a 17-year-old Chechen boy has been pushed from a 9th floor balcony and killed by his uncle, after families are being encouraged to “wash the shame” away from gay relatives. Snob was approached by a gay Chechen fugitive who left the Russian republic after admitting his sexuality to his local mullah (religious leader). Speaking anonymously, the fugitive revealed that his mullah told him:...

Angela Merkel is pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin to investigate and put a stop to reported abuses of the LGBTQ community in Chechnya. The German chancellor, visiting Russia for the first time in two years, said she raised the issue with Putin, along with other human rights issues, during a meeting. In a joint press conference with Putin in Sochi held afterward, she made clear that Germany is taking the reports seriously and urges Russia, of which Chechnya is a...

'The Holocaust teaches us what can happen when state-sponsored, group-targeted violence is allowed to go unchecked' The US Holocaust Memorial Museum says it is ‘deeply concerned’ over reports that gay men are being targeted for arrest, torture, and, in some cases, murder in Chechnya. ‘The Holocaust teaches us what can happen when state-sponsored, group-targeted violence is allowed to go unchecked,’ Museum Director Sara J. Bloomfield said in a statement Friday (28 April). ‘The reports about the targeting of LGBT persons in Chechnya...

'Either you do it, or we will' Chechen authorities are forcing parents to kill their own gay children, reveals shocking new testimonies from escapees. One anonymous testimony starts: ‘We’ve always been persecuted, but never like this,’ reports France 24. ‘Now they arrest everyone. They kill people, they do whatever they want,’ he continues. The testimony reveals Chechen authorities are hoping to ‘cleanse the nation’ of homosexuality. They torture people using electricity and depriving them of food. But shockingly, one survivor reveals: ‘They tell the parents...

Ten protestors were arrested and dragged into police vans Russian police rounded up LGBTI activists protesting the persecution of gay men in Chechnya. Activists staged a dramatic demonstration in St Petersburg, painting their faces with fake blood and pretending to be dead on the road. The activists also draped rainbow and Chechen flags over their bodies, reports the Independent. A group of ten protestors were arrested near the Anichkov Palace in the centre of Russia’s second biggest city. https://twitter.com/merr1k/status/858976425117921280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gaystarnews.com%2Farticle%2Frussian-police-arrest-activists-st-petersburg-protesting-gay-concentration-camps-chechnya%2F Russian police in full riot gear...

Protestors carried pink triangles Hundreds of people came together in Madrid to protest Chechnya’s concentration camps for gay men. About 300 people assembled on the Plaza de Pedro Zerolo in central Madrid to show their support and law down banners against homophobia. https://twitter.com/David_SanchezB/status/856921064319979521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gaystarnews.com%2Farticle%2Fhundreds-rally-madrid-show-support-gay-men-chechnya-concentration-camps%2F Attendees also carried pink triangles, which were used by the Nazis as a symbol to mark gay men in concentration camps, as a stark reminder of the ongoing violence against gay men. https://twitter.com/ItGetsBetter_es/status/856914441824342016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gaystarnews.com%2Farticle%2Fhundreds-rally-madrid-show-support-gay-men-chechnya-concentration-camps%2F ‘We are very proud,’ Rubén López, CEO at Spanish...

Kremlin-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov has reportedly promised to wipe out the region's gay population by the start of Ramadan. Chechnya’s president has reportedly vowed to “eliminate” the region’s gay population by the end of next month as the brutal persecution and torture of gay men in the region continues. Kremlin-backed leader Ramzan Kadyrov has promised to wipe out gay men from the region by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins on May 26 this year and...

Organizer had hoped to replicate how Nazis identified gay male prisoners during World War II (This story first appeared in The Santiago Times, in which Darius Zheng is also a freelance correspondent of. Permission has been obtained to share this story via Gay Star News.) Protesters turned up this morning outside Chile’s Foreign Affairs Ministry (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores) in the capital, Santiago, to protest against the setting up of ‘gay concentration camps’ in Chechnya. Using pink triangles to symbolize how the...