Gay Purge in Chechnya, Russia

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So I don't think this has hit US news yet or people don't want to cover it or whatever, but there's literal concentration camps being opened in Russia with the purpose of purging gay men

(If you find a good article/video etc please lmk so I can add it below)

(http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39566136)


Gay men are fleeing brutal persecution in Chechnya, where police are holding more than 100 people and torturing some of them in an anti-gay crackdown, Russian activists say.
Natalia Poplevskaya of the Russian LGBT Network said "we are working to evacuate people".
A government spokesman called the reports "lies" and said homosexual people "simply don't exist in the republic".
Homophobia is widespread in Chechnya.
The mainly Muslim region is run by Ramzan Kadyrov, an authoritarian leader with a notorious private militia, fiercely loyal to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ms Poplevskaya told the BBC that victims - either gay or just perceived as gay - are being held at a detention centre near Argun, 20km (13 miles) from the city of Grozny.
She said the LGBT Network, based in St Petersburg, was aware of "an organised campaign to detain gay men" in Chechnya.
"Torture is going on with electric shocks, beatings with cables. All the people arrested are homosexual men or perceived as being gay," she said. Three deaths have been reported.
More than 30 people were crammed into one cell, she added.
Despite appeals to the Russian authorities to stop the abuses, no action has been taken, she complained.
Kadyrov spokesman Alvi Karimov denied the alleged persecution.
"You can't detain and repress people who simply don't exist in the republic," he said.Victims' hotline
The gay rights group has an email hotline to help victims, or potential victims, flee to other parts of Russia. Ms Poplevskaya declined to say where those victims were being sheltered.
News of the crackdown was broken by the Russian daily Novaya Gazeta, which specialises in human rights investigations. It reported that the detainees included some influential Muslim clerics close to Mr Kadyrov, and two well-known Chechen TV presenters.
"We confirm what was said in Novaya Gazeta," Ms Poplevskaya said, while declining to name her sources in Chechnya.

International concern

LGBT Network submitted reports about the crackdown to the Russian prosecutor-general's office, the Federal Investigative Committee (SK) and federal commissioner for human rights.
"We got no response, despite all the appeals. The only thing was that the Russian ombudswoman said she would initiate an investigation. That was only after Amnesty International filed their own statement," she said.
"The office of the military commandant is now the unofficial detention centre for torture, near Argun. All the victims confirmed that," she said.
But it is not a "concentration camp" for gays, she said, rejecting the description used in some media reports.
Foreign governments and human rights groups have voiced concern about the alleged abuses, urging the Russian and Chechen authorities to stop them.
The EU, the US state department, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are among those who have complained.
Reporting by the BBC's Laurence Peter

(http://www.snopes.com/2017/04/11/chechnya-concentration-camp-homosexuals/) (video included in article link)


In early April 2017, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that men in the Republic of Chechnya accused of being gay had been “illegally detained, beaten, tortured with electric shocks” and held for ransom in “secret prisons” around Chechnya, including a former military facility in the town of Argun. Some of the detainees were believed to have died at the hands of security forces.
Homophobia and intolerance are not only prevalent in Chechnya, an Amnesty International Russia spokesperson told us, but are fostered by the Chechen authorities. “Honor killings” of men perceived as tarnishing their family’s reputations by being gay (or perceived as gay) often go unpunished.
News reports outside Russia have referred to the secret prisons in Chechnya as “concentration camps,” comparing them to those built by the Nazis during World War II, but it is unclear from the evidence at hand to what degree the comparison may be apt. The Novaya Gazeta report relies on testimony collected by the Russian LGBT Network, in which the detention facility in Argun is described as “an abandoned hut next to Argun city.”
When we asked Amnesty International if they could confirm the existence of the concentration camps they responded that it’s preferable, based on what we know, to refer to them as secret detention sites. “We should always be careful about using the language of ‘concentration camps,'” AI spokesperson Alexander Artemyev said.
Artemyev also noted that not all the detainees have been men suspected of being gay:
According to a Novaya Gazeta report, men believed to be gay are kept in a former police station (compound) near Argun. These premises consist of several buildings. Among those who are allegedly detained are not only men perceived to be gay, but also suspected sympathizers of the armed group calling itself “Islamic State” and suspected drug users. Amnesty International isn’t able to independently verify the allegations made by Novaya Gazeta.
There have been reports of a second secret detention site identified in Chechnya. These reports are now backed up by an increasing number of testimonies by men who have left Chechnya.
The personal accounts of some of these detentions shared by the Russian LGBT Network are harrowing:
Young man from Grozny, gay. Few month ago, he moved to N (one Russian city). He wanted to reside there, but did not manage to get a job, and was going to return to Chechnya in the middle of March. He tried to reach his friend back in Chechnya, but failed. In a week, his friend contacted him and told him, that he had been just released. He was detained by some security officials on suspicion of homosexuality. In order to get the confession, they beat him with a hose and tortured with electricity. He reported that about 30 people were locked in the same room together with him. According to him, the security officials themselves stated that the order came from the leaders of the Republic. The detained were forced to share the contacts of other gay men. The more the person informed, the longer he was detained.
Another one person who contacted the Network reported that his acquaintance was also detained on suspicion of homosexuality. Messages in the social network “VKontakte” were the cause. People in the “Terek” uniform (Special Rapid Response Team) put a young man in a car and took to an unknown location. Family was not informed about the reasons of detention. The young man was detained and tortured for several days. The relatives managed to identify the place of detention. The father was told that that his son would be publicly ashamed on TV and then released. The young man was indeed released, the conditions are unknown. His whereabouts are unknown. But there is an information, that he never left Chechnya.
Chechen officials have issued statements “flatly denying” that any such detentions took place, or even could have taken place, according to a report by Radio Free Europe:
The head of the local Interior Ministry dismissed the earlier report as a “bad April Fools’ joke,” while the spokesman for Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s strongman leader, claimed there were no homosexuals in Chechnya. If they did exist, the spokesman argued, detentions would be unnecessary as relatives themselves would “send them somewhere they wouldn’t return from.”
However, the watchdog group Human Rights Watch says they have received information corroborating the detentions and inhumane treatment and have demanded that Russian authorities “resolutely condemn attacks against LGBT people in Chechnya and ensure safety and justice for the victims.”
Similarly, the U.S. State Department issued a statement on 7 April responding to what were termed “numerous credible reports” that the Republic of Chechnya had detained at least 100 LGBTI people, some of whom had allegedly been tortured and killed. The statement by acting spokesperson Mark Toner called on Russian federal authorities to investigate and hold the perpetrators responsible:
The United States Concerned by Reports of Detentions and Deaths of LGBTI Individuals in Chechnya, Russia
We are increasingly concerned about the situation in the Republic of Chechnya, where there have been numerous credible reports indicating the detention of at least 100 men on the basis of their sexual orientation. Some reports indicate many of those arrested have been tortured, in some cases leading to death. We categorically condemn the persecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation or any other basis.
We are deeply disturbed by recent public statements by Chechen authorities that condone and incite violence against LGBTI persons. We urge Russian federal authorities to speak out against such practices, take steps to ensure the release of anyone wrongfully detained, conduct an independent and credible investigation into these, reports and hold any perpetrators responsible.

(http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/04/10/chechnya-has-opened-concentration-camps-for-gay-men/)


Men arrested in a ‘purge’ in the Russian region of Chechnya are being held in concentration camp-style prisons, reports have alleged.
Early reports emerged earlier this month that gay people are being targeted in the region, which is part of Russia but has substantial autonomy.
Russian newspapers and human rights groups report that more than 100 gay men have been detained “in connection with their non-traditional sexual orientation, or suspicion of such” as part of a purge. Several people were also reportedly feared dead following violent raids.
In a chilling response, a Chechen government spokesperson denied that there are any gay people to detain, insisting that “you can’t detain and harass someone who doesn’t exist in the republic”. The Kremlin denied any knowledge of a purge.
But reports have since emerged that the men arrested are being kept in horrific concentration camp prisons, where violent abuse and torture is common.
Based on interviews with eyewitnesses and survivors, Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reports that a secret prison has been set up in the town of Argun to detain the men arrested in the purge.
One man who was released from the camp told the newspaper that he was subjected to violent “interrogations” at the camp, as Chechen officials attempted to get him to confess the names and locations of more gay men.
The officials also seized his mobile phone, targeting his network of contacts regardless of whether they were gay or not.
The camp was reportedly set up by Chechen forces in a former military headquarters in the town.
The newspaper reports allegations that the Speaker of the Parliament of Chechnya was among officials to visit the site, though the claims have not been substantiated.
The detainees face electric shock torture and violent beatings, while some of them have been held to ransom and used to extort their families.
The Russian LGBT Network, which is running a support line for men fleeing the region, has confirmed the reports.
LGBT activist Svetlana Zakharova said: “Gay people have been detained and rounded up and we are working to evacuate people from the camps and some have now left the region.
“Those who have escaped said they are detained in the same room and people are kept altogether, around 30 or 40. They are tortured with electric currents and heavily beaten, sometimes to death.”
Petition: Stop the persecution of gay men in Chechnya
Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch wrote: “For several weeks now, a brutal campaign against LGBT people has been sweeping through Chechnya.
She continued: “Law enforcement and security agency officials under control of the ruthless head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, have rounded up dozens of men on suspicion of being gay, torturing and humiliating the victims.
“Some of the men have forcibly disappeared. Others were returned to their families barely alive from beatings. At least three men apparently have died since this brutal campaign began.”
She added: “These days, very few people in Chechnya dare speak to human rights monitors or journalists even anonymously because the climate of fear is overwhelming and people have been largely intimidated into silence.
“Filing an official complaint against local security officials is extremely dangerous, as retaliation by local authorities is practically inevitable.
“It is difficult to overstate just how vulnerable LGBT people are in Chechnya, where homophobia is intense and rampant.
“LGBT people are in danger not only of persecution by the authorities but also of falling victim to ‘honour killings’ by their own relatives for tarnishing family honour.”
UK Foreign Office minister Baroness Anelay has called on Russia to investigate the mass detention of gay men in Chechnya and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.
In a statement to PinkNews, Baroness Anelay said: “The detention and ill-treatment of over 100 gay men in Chechnya is extremely concerning. Reports have also suggested that at least three of these men have been killed.
“The statement by the regional Government, implying that such treatment towards LGBT people is acceptable, is particularly abhorrent. We condemn any and all persecution, and call on the authorities to promptly investigate and ensure that perpetrators of human rights abuses are brought to justice.
“The human rights situation for LGBT people in Russia has deteriorated significantly in recent years and we continue to voice our serious concern with Russian authorities at all levels.
“Russia’s international human rights obligations require them to protect citizens who may be at risk of persecution. We expect the Russian government to fulfill its obligations to this end, and to uphold the rule of law.

 

[Flowerbomb 65,593]

I don't want to offend anyone who is from that country, but damn, Russia is so backwards.

[In your Chevrolet 394]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39566136

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39566136

i'll add it thank you

[missdelreyxo 3,786]

this is so upsetting

[TROPICUM 6,407]

It's 2017 people wtf

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This is a nice article!

 

http://www.snopes.com/2017/04/11/chechnya-concentration-camp-homosexuals/

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This is a nice article!

 

http://www.snopes.com/2017/04/11/chechnya-concentration-camp-homosexuals/

added! thank you

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i just added another article to the post, this one isn't dehumanizing like the others (x)

[reputation 6,320]

I do hope Trump speaks on the issue. This really needs some more international attention

[Sugar Venom 9,657]

I do hope Trump speaks on the issue. This really needs some more international attention

i'm a little scared about that tbh, aren't him and putin like bffs

[C0neyIslandKing 2,206]

https://www.amnesty.fi/vetoomukset/satoja-homoiksi-epailtyja-siepattu-kidutettu-tai-tapettu-tsetseniassa/

 

^^ here's a link to an Amnesty petition about the issue I found on Twitter! Hopefully this can achieve something, even if it just gives more attention and a bigger platform to this issue because I've barely seen anything about it in the media??

 

This is absolutely horrifying!! 

 

 

EDIT: sorry, the link is in Finnish, here's a link to the petition on the Amnesty UK website: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/stop-abducting-and-killing-gay-men-chechnya 

signing either should be fine no matter what country you're from! I just really hope this can get signatures because this is such an awful thing to be happening

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https://www.amnesty.fi/vetoomukset/satoja-homoiksi-epailtyja-siepattu-kidutettu-tai-tapettu-tsetseniassa/

 

^^ here's a link to an Amnesty petition about the issue I found on Twitter! Hopefully this can achieve something, even if it just gives more attention and a bigger platform to this issue because I've barely seen anything about it in the media??

 

This is absolutely horrifying!! 

 

 

EDIT: sorry, the link is in Finnish, here's a link to the petition on the Amnesty UK website: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/stop-abducting-and-killing-gay-men-chechnya 

signing either should be fine no matter what country you're from! I just really hope this can get signatures because this is such an awful thing to be happening

thank you, i'll add them when i'm on my computer later. i honestly can't believe this is happening

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i found a good site if anyone wants to donate: https://www.lgbtnet.org/en/endonate

here is a little blurb from them:

 

also i'll try to find something later that better explains it & gives some examples of places that would be safe for talking, but if you have friends or family there that you're worried about DO NOT! contact them over social media!!! they are taking people's phones and going through their contacts and messages as well as tracking (/hacking? i don't know how to explain it. they're able to see messages and locations etc to find more people) social medias. just because your account is on private doesnt mean they can't see it or the people you've contacted, they're really being very vigilant about this so if you do need to contact someone remember that encryption is a two way street. if you're encrypted but the person you are trying to contact is not, your encryption is basically useless and it does not protect the other person at all

 

EDIT: apparently the website isn't able to accept cards from other countries. I haven't tried it myself yet so I can't confirm but I don't know if they have paypal or something similar set up. if anyone tried to donate lmk how it works out. also for those worried, this isn't a scam. it's russia's largest and most popular LGBT organization and u can totally trust them.

 

also, if you plan on spreading the donation link, please be sure to include this information with it:

they already have the necessary resources to evacuate people, but they are not able to communicate directly with people who need to know about this for tracking reasons mentioned above. directly messaging people is super risky & i wouldn't recommend it, you have no idea if you could be putting someone in danger or not. but the more this link & info spread, it makes it more likely (and safer than sending it directly) that the people who need to see it will see it without it being linked directly to them & making them trackable/a possible target

 

(also would someone be able to log in for me and add this to the main post please? i won't have my computer for a few days & idk how to add it on mobile there's no editing options like there is on desktop & i don't have the html memoriezed to do it without a toolbar)

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http://june18th1967.tumblr.com/post/159557487594/concentration-camps-are-opening-in-russia ik this is tumblr but it's a pretty comprehensive post & it explains things better than i did lol

[bounce 1,420]

this is horrifying

[VintageBitch 82]

Tragic these people think their holes should only be used for defecation, Mr. Put-in.

[cheaptrailertrashglm 3,504]

wtf

this is awful!

[salp 1,696]

what the f! I'm disgusted 

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i'll add these to the main post when i get home but

 

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/04/25/four-more-prisons-for-gay-men-have-been-found-in-chechnya/

 

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/05/03/chechnya-police-kill-your-gay-children-before-we-kill-them-in-torture-camps/