VogueMusic Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Chechen Authorities Arresting and Killing Gay Men, Russian Paper Says Andrew E. Kramer MOSCOW — First, two television reporters vanished. Then a waiter went missing. Over the past week, men ranging in age from 16 to 50 have disappeared from the streets of Chechnya. On Saturday, a leading Russian opposition newspaper confirmed a story already circulating among human rights activists: The Chechen authorities were arresting and killing gay men. While abuses by security services in the region, where Russia fought a two-decade war against Islamic insurgents, have long been a stain on President Vladimir V. Putin’s human rights record, gay people had not previously been targeted on a wide scale. The men were detained “in connection with their nontraditional sexual orientation, or suspicion of such,” the newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, reported, citing Russian federal law enforcement officials, who blamed the local authorities. By Saturday, the paper reported, and an analyst of the region with her own sources confirmed, that more than 100 gay men had been detained. The newspaper had the names of three murder victims, and suspected many others had died in extrajudicial killings. A spokesman for Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, denied the report in a statement to Interfax on Saturday, calling the article “absolute lies and disinformation.” “You cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic,” the spokesman, Alvi Karimov, told the news agency. “If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return,” Mr. Karimov said. The sweep, like so much else in Russian politics today, was entangled in the country’s troubled politics of street activism. It began, Novaya Gazeta reported, after a Moscow-based gay rights group, GayRussia.ru, applied for permits to stage gay pride parades in four cities in Russia’s predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region, of which Chechnya is a part. The group had not focused on the Muslim areas. It had been applying for permits for gay parades in provincial cities around Russia, and collecting the inevitable denials, in order to build a case about gay rights and freedom of assembly with the European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg, France. It had applied to more than 90 municipal governments. Nikolai Alekseev, a gay rights activist coordinating this effort, told Novaya Gazeta he had chosen this tactic rather than staging risky, unsanctioned gay parades. The group had not applied for a permit in Chechnya, but in another Muslim region in southern Russia, Kabardino-Balkaria. The mere application there — denied, as usual — had prompted an anti-gay counterdemonstration. In the restive Muslim regions, Mr. Putin has empowered local leaders to press agendas of traditional Muslim values, to co-opt an Islamist underground. The gay pride parade applications became a galvanizing issue. “In Chechnya, the command was given for a ‘prophylactic sweep’ and it went as far as real murders,” Novaya Gazeta reported. According to the report, the authorities set to finding and arresting closeted gay men, partly by posing as men looking for dates on social networking sites. “Of course, none of these people in any way demonstrated their sexual orientation publicly — in the Caucasus, this is equal to a death sentence,” the newspaper wrote of those detained in the sweep. “I got numerous, numerous signals,” about the sweep of gay men, said Ekaterina L. Sokiryanskaya,, Russia project coordinator for the International Crisis Group, and an authority on the North Caucasus. “It came from too many sources not to be true.” Gay men have begun deleting online accounts, or fleeing the region. One user of Vkontakte, a Russian social networking site, wrote that a 16-year-old boy had been detained in a village in Chechnya. He returned days later, according to the post, “all beaten, just a sack with bones.” The newspaper published contact information to aid men wanting to leave Chechnya for relatively more tolerant parts of Russia. But reaching communities of closeted gay men in the remote mountain region poses challenges. “Even delivering the information is very difficult,” Ms. Sokiryanskaya, who is familiar with the aid effort, said. “They are just small islands, isolated.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/world/europe/chechen-authorities-arresting-and-killing-gay-men-russian-paper-says.html?_r=3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzy Jan Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Horrific and terrifying. This World is a dreadful place. How can this be happening in today's world. So horrible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karbatal Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 It's horrible, i read it this morning and felt literally sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B. Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 I am so disgusted and angry. How can such a thing still happen in 2017? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B. Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 For those of you who are disgusted by this terrible news and who would like to make a gesture so that this genocide does not fall into the forgetfulness of fakes news, I invite you to donate to this organization: https://www.hrw.org/ Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an American-founded international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. They are doing an incredible job in documenting and disseminating information about human rights abuses taking place around the world today. (But, well, given the few posts in 9 hours for this news, I presume that the gays of this forum prefer to worry about Drag Race and Lady Gaga than the decline of lgbt rights in the world) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XXL Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 9 hours ago, VogueMusic said: Chechen Authorities Arresting and Killing Gay Men, Russian Paper Says Andrew E. Kramer MOSCOW — First, two television reporters vanished. Then a waiter went missing. Over the past week, men ranging in age from 16 to 50 have disappeared from the streets of Chechnya. On Saturday, a leading Russian opposition newspaper confirmed a story already circulating among human rights activists: The Chechen authorities were arresting and killing gay men. While abuses by security services in the region, where Russia fought a two-decade war against Islamic insurgents, have long been a stain on President Vladimir V. Putin’s human rights record, gay people had not previously been targeted on a wide scale. The men were detained “in connection with their nontraditional sexual orientation, or suspicion of such,” the newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, reported, citing Russian federal law enforcement officials, who blamed the local authorities. By Saturday, the paper reported, and an analyst of the region with her own sources confirmed, that more than 100 gay men had been detained. The newspaper had the names of three murder victims, and suspected many others had died in extrajudicial killings. A spokesman for Chechnya’s leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, denied the report in a statement to Interfax on Saturday, calling the article “absolute lies and disinformation.” “You cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic,” the spokesman, Alvi Karimov, told the news agency. “If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return,” Mr. Karimov said. The sweep, like so much else in Russian politics today, was entangled in the country’s troubled politics of street activism. It began, Novaya Gazeta reported, after a Moscow-based gay rights group, GayRussia.ru, applied for permits to stage gay pride parades in four cities in Russia’s predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region, of which Chechnya is a part. The group had not focused on the Muslim areas. It had been applying for permits for gay parades in provincial cities around Russia, and collecting the inevitable denials, in order to build a case about gay rights and freedom of assembly with the European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg, France. It had applied to more than 90 municipal governments. Nikolai Alekseev, a gay rights activist coordinating this effort, told Novaya Gazeta he had chosen this tactic rather than staging risky, unsanctioned gay parades. The group had not applied for a permit in Chechnya, but in another Muslim region in southern Russia, Kabardino-Balkaria. The mere application there — denied, as usual — had prompted an anti-gay counterdemonstration. In the restive Muslim regions, Mr. Putin has empowered local leaders to press agendas of traditional Muslim values, to co-opt an Islamist underground. The gay pride parade applications became a galvanizing issue. “In Chechnya, the command was given for a ‘prophylactic sweep’ and it went as far as real murders,” Novaya Gazeta reported. According to the report, the authorities set to finding and arresting closeted gay men, partly by posing as men looking for dates on social networking sites. “Of course, none of these people in any way demonstrated their sexual orientation publicly — in the Caucasus, this is equal to a death sentence,” the newspaper wrote of those detained in the sweep. “I got numerous, numerous signals,” about the sweep of gay men, said Ekaterina L. Sokiryanskaya,, Russia project coordinator for the International Crisis Group, and an authority on the North Caucasus. “It came from too many sources not to be true.” Gay men have begun deleting online accounts, or fleeing the region. One user of Vkontakte, a Russian social networking site, wrote that a 16-year-old boy had been detained in a village in Chechnya. He returned days later, according to the post, “all beaten, just a sack with bones.” The newspaper published contact information to aid men wanting to leave Chechnya for relatively more tolerant parts of Russia. But reaching communities of closeted gay men in the remote mountain region poses challenges. “Even delivering the information is very difficult,” Ms. Sokiryanskaya, who is familiar with the aid effort, said. “They are just small islands, isolated.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/world/europe/chechen-authorities-arresting-and-killing-gay-men-russian-paper-says.html?_r=3 Truly awful and scary. This just goes to show how many freedoms we take for granted these days while there are parts of the world where utter disrespect for human life and the right to life reign supreme and violence or just plain absurdity such as this goes on unchecked and unpunished Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Je5u5 Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Sickening and crazy. How can this sort of thing still happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Saviour Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Revolting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aime Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 I wonder what @spazz thinks about that. I really do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSD Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijah Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 35 minutes ago, LSD said: Just read about this. Chechnya must be one of the worst places on earth. Satanic ppl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaudet Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 Chechnya has opened concentration camps for gay men Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images) Gay 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. http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/04/10/chechnya-has-opened-concentration-camps-for-gay-men/ What a horrible tragic reality, this is beyond fucked up and utterly evil and backward fucking bastards... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runa Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 😕😕😕 There's no words. 😕 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erotica blu Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 On 4/7/2017 at 1:35 PM, Aime said: I wonder what @spazz thinks about that. I really do. Your safety matters more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B. Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 http://petitions.pinknews.co.uk/russian-authorities-stop-the-persecution-of-gay-men-in-chechnya http://www.thepetitionsite.com/fr-ca/285/275/688/un-stop-the-kidnapping-and-torture-of-gay-men-in-chechnya/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runa Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 8 minutes ago, Martin B. said: http://petitions.pinknews.co.uk/russian-authorities-stop-the-persecution-of-gay-men-in-chechnya http://www.thepetitionsite.com/fr-ca/285/275/688/un-stop-the-kidnapping-and-torture-of-gay-men-in-chechnya/ I'd like to do more than this. I'll think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B. Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 25 minutes ago, runa said: I'd like to do more than this. I'll think about it. It is important to write an e-mail to the Canadian Prime Minister in order to put pressure and visibility on this situation in order to force the Canadian government to position itself publicly on the issue. https://pm.gc.ca/fra/nous-joindre I invite the other members of the forum to do the same with your head of state so that the international community exerts a common pressure on Russia. Do it quickly because in the case of a genocide, every day that passes brings tragic consequences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
le smoking Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 20 hours ago, Martin B. said: It is important to write an e-mail to the Canadian Prime Minister in order to put pressure and visibility on this situation in order to force the Canadian government to position itself publicly on the issue. https://pm.gc.ca/fra/nous-joindre I invite the other members of the forum to do the same with your head of state so that the international community exerts a common pressure on Russia. Do it quickly because in the case of a genocide, every day that passes brings tragic consequences. lol he'll make a statement then not do anything I'm disgusted and horrified by this but I'm also disgusted and horrified at how little attention this seems to be getting. A lot of the media haven't reported on this and a lot of people on social media seem to be questioning its validity as most of the info is coming from secondary sources Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VogueMusic Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 I'm disgusted too that this isn't getting proper media attention. So much for that "post-gay" world so many think we live in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ULIZOS Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 This literally reads like fake news. Absolutely 0 concrete facts, sources, nothing. That area of the world is homophobic as fuck but "concentration camps"??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B. Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 38 minutes ago, ULIZOS said: This literally reads like fake news. Absolutely 0 concrete facts, sources, nothing. That area of the world is homophobic as fuck but "concentration camps"??? the situation is poorly documented at the moment, but remember that most genocides start on the same bases: difficulty to obtain information and evidence on the spot, initial indifference and credulity on the international scene... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B. Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 1 hour ago, le smoking said: lol he'll make a statement then not do anything I'm disgusted and horrified by this but I'm also disgusted and horrified at how little attention this seems to be getting. A lot of the media haven't reported on this and a lot of people on social media seem to be questioning its validity as most of the info is coming from secondary sources Of course he would do nothing more than a statement, but it would already be a lot. If several leaders mention the situation, you already have a greater visibility of it. For now, with the exception of HRW, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Guardian, few credible media mentioned the news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VogueMusic Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 I understand the need to feel highly skeptical in this climate right now...but these are pretty reputable sources reporting it (while most others ignore it). Also, a lot of the info is coming from gay rights or human rights groups over there...as the government (and much of the culture) doesn't even think such people even exist. So, I can't see a reason why those groups would make up a crack down, let alone a (possible) genocide... 31 minutes ago, Martin B. said: the situation is poorly documented at the moment, but remember that most genocides start on the same bases: difficulty to obtain information and evidence on the spot, initial indifference and credulity on the international scene... Well noted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nessie Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 58 minutes ago, ULIZOS said: This literally reads like fake news. Absolutely 0 concrete facts, sources, nothing. That area of the world is homophobic as fuck but "concentration camps"??? It sounds unbelievable, but looking at the current loss of human rights and the rise of the far-right all over the world, that really doesn't seem far-fetched. We need more credible sources about this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaudet Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 What the hell do some of you have against Pink News, huh? And you call yourself... gay? Bollocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aime Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 On 4/11/2017 at 1:19 AM, erotica blu said: Your safety matters more. I'd never go there, babe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erotica blu Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 22 minutes ago, Aime said: I'd never go there, babe. I don't want you in Russia. Anywhere seems better than there at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aime Posted April 12, 2017 Share Posted April 12, 2017 What about Syria? Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin B. Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/13/they-called-us-animals-chechens-prison-beatings-electric-shocks-anti-gay-purge?CMP=fb_gu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runa Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/13/they-called-us-animals-chechens-prison-beatings-electric-shocks-anti-gay-purge?CMP=fb_gu Stop with that. We all know it's fake news. Russia and Chechnya are PARADISE for gay guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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