Anti-gay purges in Chechnya

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Anti-gay purges in Chechnya
A public die-in demonstration, "Chechen mothers mourn their children", was staged on 1 May 2017 after a purge on Nevsky Prospect in Saint Petersburg, to protest the persecution of gay men in Chechnya.[1][2]
Date	2017–present
Location	Chechnya
Caused by	Authoritarianism (Totalitarian), Islamism, opposition to LGBT rights
Methods	Concentration camps, Torture, Honor killings, Capital punishment
Resulted in	Ongoing
Parties
Chechnya Human rights activists LGBTQ people Other civilians Diplomatic support: List  United Nations  European Union  Albania  Argentina  Australia  Austria  Belgium  Canada  Chile  Costa Rica  Croatia  Czech Republic  Denmark  Ecuador  Estonia  Finland  France  Germany  Greece  Honduras  Iceland  Ireland  Italy  Latvia  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Malta  Mexico  Montenegro  Netherlands  New Zealand  Norway  Portugal  Serbia  Slovenia  South Africa  Spain  Sweden   Switzerland  Ukraine  United Kingdom  United States  Uruguay
Lead figures
Ramzan Kadyrov Magomed Daudov Mokhmad Akhmadov Russian LGBT Network
Casualties and losses
None Unknown

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Anti-gay purges in Chechnya, a part of the Russian Federation, have included forced disappearances, secret abductions, imprisonment, torture and extrajudicial killing by authorities targeting persons based on their perceived sexual orientation, primarily gay men. At least 2 of the 100 people, whom authorities detained on suspicion of being gay or bisexual, have reportedly died after being held in what human rights groups and eyewitnesses have called concentration camps.^[3]

Allegations were initially reported on 1 April 2017 in Novaya Gazeta,^[4] a Russian-language opposition newspaper, which reported that since February 2017 over 100 men had allegedly been detained and tortured and at least three had died in extrajudicial killings. The paper, citing its sources in the Chechen special services, called the wave of detentions a "prophylactic sweep".^[4][5] The journalist who first reported on the subject went into hiding.^[6][7] There have been calls for reprisals against journalists who report on the situation.^[8]

As news spread of Chechen authorities' actions, which have been described as part of a systematic anti-LGBTQ purge, Russian and international activists scrambled to evacuate survivors of the camps and other vulnerable Chechens but were met with difficulty obtaining visas to conduct them safely beyond Russia.^[9]

The reports of the persecution were met with a variety of reactions worldwide. The Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov denied not only the occurrence of any persecution but also the existence of gay men in Chechnya, adding that such people would be killed by their own families.^[10][11] Officials in Moscow were skeptical, although in late May the Russian government reportedly agreed to send an investigative team to Chechnya.^[12] Numerous national leaders and other public figures in the West condemned Chechnya's actions, and protests were held in Russia and elsewhere. A report released in December 2018 by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) confirmed claims that persecution of LGBT persons had taken place and was ignored by authorities.^[13][14] In a 2021 Council of Europe report into anti-LGBTI hate crimes, rapporteur Foura ben Chikha described the "state-sponsored attacks carried out against LGBTI people in Chechnya in 2017" as "the single most egregious example of violence against LGBTI people in Europe that has occurred in decades".^[15]

On 11 January 2019, it was reported that another 'gay purge' had begun in the country in December 2018, with several gay men and women being detained.^{[16][17][18][19]} The Russian LGBT Network believes that around 40 people were detained and two killed.^[20][21]

Though some men have fled Chechnya, and in some cases have received status in the countries where they moved, Chechynan agents have pursued them out of the region.^{[22][23][24][25][26]} In some instances, false accusations have been made to prosecute the detainees.