Tag Archives: Chechnya

From the Human Rights Campaign: Today, just ahead of tomorrow’s Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, HRC projected an enormous message onto the Presidential Palace in Helsinki demanding that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin immediately end the ongoing anti-LGBTQ crimes against humanity occurring in the Russian republic of Chechnya. For more than 15 months, Donald Trump and his administration have refused to …

Reuter reports: The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on five Russians and Chechens, including the head of the Russian republic of Chechnya, for alleged human rights abuses. The new sanctions blacklisted Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Treasury Department said in a statement. U.S. authorities accused Kadyrov of …

The Washington Post reports: This week, a government journal in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan announced that the country’s interior ministry had compiled a registry of “proven” gays and lesbians. The list named 319 men and 48 women, whom Tajik federal prosecutors identified in operations they called “Morality” and “Purge.” A purge — likely in the form of mass …

TMZ reports: Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov sat for an interview with David Scott from Real Sports and it’s shocking. There are reports 27 people were recently murdered by the government – killed because they were gay, something the government has denied because the party line is that there are no gays in the country. Kadyrov says, “To purify our blood, …

Buzzfeed News reports: The detention of LGBT people has resumed in the Russian republic of Chechnya, where dozens of gay men were reportedly tortured or killed by authorities earlier this year, according to the activist group Russia LGBT Network. The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta first reported that around 100 people had been kidnapped in the crackdown in April, but …

From Russia’s TASS agency: US President Donald Trump’s possible question on the LGBT rights in Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Chechnya at the upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t be left unanswered, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. “If there is such a question [on gay rights] then there will be an answer,” Peskov said, pledging: …

Via press release: The Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus commended the House of Representatives for passing H.Res.351, a bipartisan resolution condemning the detention, torture, and murders of gay and bisexual men in Chechnya. H.Res.351 was introduced by LGBT Caucus founding member and former House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-27) on May 23rd and passed in the House Foreign …

The Copenhagen Post reports: It seems that aside from producing excellent beer the Danish brewery Mikkeller is in possession of a sense of humour as well. And it’s not afraid to ruffle some feathers for a good cause. In collaboration with the Chinese microbrewery Great Leap Brewing, Mikkeller has come up with a beer that may very well irk certain …

Via press release from HBO: VICE News has obtained exclusive access to Argun Prison in Chechnya where it is alleged that gay men were rounded up and tortured as part of an unprecedented ‘anti-gay purge’ by Chechnya’s law enforcement. VICE News is the first international news organization to be allowed into the location, capturing images and footage from the now …

The Associated Press reports: Germany has begun granting gays from Chechnya special visas on humanitarian grounds following reports that gay people are being tortured and killed in the Russian republic. The Foreign Ministry told The Associated Press on Thursday the first man arrived in Germany on Tuesday and four other applications for humanitarian visas are being reviewed. Gay activists and …

One year ago today President Obama issued his final LGBT Pride Month proclamation. We’re not holding our breath for any recognition from the current White House, but the Democrats have come through. From DNC chairman Tom Perez:   “From Stonewall to the Supreme Court, our nation has made great strides in LGBTQ rights. LGBTQ Pride Month is an opportunity to …

The New York Times reports: France’s newly elected president, Emmanuel Macron, came out of his first meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Monday with a message of stark challenge, promising French military reprisals for any use of chemical weapons by Russia’s allies in Syria and saying he would closely monitor the curtailing of civil rights for gay …

Human Rights Watch today released a 26-page report detailing the gruesome torture of gay men at the hands of Chechen police. Radio Free Europe reports: “All of the victims suffered repeated beatings,” the report said. “Security officials kicked them with booted feet, beat them with polypropylene pipes and sticks, and made other inmates beat them” — mostly on the men’s …

J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed: The United States has declined visas to gay Chechens fleeing a wave of kidnappings, torture, and disappearances in the semi-autonomous Russian region, according to the organization Russia LGBT Network. A group of around 40 Chechens are now in hiding in other parts of Russia, Russia LGBT Network spokesperson Svetlana Zakharova told BuzzFeed News, and …

The BBC reports: Five gay rights activists have been detained in Moscow as they tried to deliver a petition to the office of Russia’s prosecutor general. Police said they were held because their action was unauthorised. The activists said more than two million people had signed the petition to investigate alleged torture and detentions of gay people in the Russian …

Deutsche Welle reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he supports an investigation into the reported torture and murder of gay men in Chechnya, days after German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed him on the issue. Putin said he would personally ask the chief prosecutor and the interior minister to cooperate with human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova in an investigation …

The Independent reports: Angela Merkel has publicly raised concern over the reported prosecution of gay men in Chechnya with Vladimir Putin, following wide-ranging talks. The German Chancellor raised the alleged capture and torture of more than 100 people at a joint press conference with the Russian President in Sochi. The Kremlin has backed the Chechen government’s denials over the brutal …

The Independent reports: Russian police have detained LGBT activists attempting to raise awareness about the persecution of gay men in Chechnya. The demonstration was held during a May Day march in St Petersburg, with a group of around 10 protesters arrested near the Anichkov Palace in the centre of Russia’s second city. Images shared on Twitter showed activists lying on …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) denounced on the Senate floor Monday the ongoing reports of anti-gay arrests and detention in Chechnya, blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin for allowing them to happen. Rubio, who previously denounced the alleged atrocities on Twitter, called on the U.S. government to “do more to ensure that all people are …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: Moscow is unlikely to take meaningful action against Chechnya, or to rethink its broader policy toward gay rights, in the absence of strong and sustained international pressure. In recent years several countries from the Americas and Europe have promoted equality for gay and transgender people as universal human rights. The Obama …