H. Res. 351 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

June 27, 2017. 

Whereas, on April 1, 2017, the Russian newspaper Novaya 

Gazeta reported that authorities in Chechnya, a republic 

of the Russian Federation, had abducted, detained, and 

tortured over 100 men due to their actual or suspected 

sexual orientation; 

Whereas multiple independent and firsthand accounts have 

subsequently corroborated the Novaya Gazeta report, and 

describe a campaign of persecution by Chechen officials 

against men due to their actual or suspected sexual orientation; 

Whereas, as a result of this persecution, at least three deaths 

have been reported and many individuals have been 

forced to flee Chechnya; 

Whereas Chechen officials have denied the existence of such 

persecution, including through a statement by the spokesman for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov that ‘‘You cannot arrest or repress people who don’t exist in the republic.’’; 

Whereas the same spokesman for Ramzan Kadyrov has also 

stated that ‘‘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 
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never return,’’ and credible reports indicate that Chechen 

authorities have encouraged families to carry out socalled ‘‘honor killings’’ of relatives due to their actual or 

suspected sexual orientation; 

Whereas Chechnya is a constituent republic of the Russian 

Federation and subject to its laws, and Ramzan Kadyrov 

was installed as the leader of Chechnya by Russian President Vladimir Putin; 

Whereas Chechen authorities have a long history of violating 

the fundamental human rights of their citizens, including 

through extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, 

and torture of government critics; 

Whereas Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed reports of persecution in Chechnya and termed them 

‘‘phantom complaints’’; 

Whereas Russia’s Human Rights Ombudsman, Tatyana 

Moskalkova, has also claimed that such reports should 

not be believed because formal complaints have not been 

registered with the appropriate authorities; 

Whereas the Russian Federation is a participating State of 

the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 

and a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human 

Rights, and thus has agreed to guarantee the fundamental human rights of all of its citizens; 

Whereas, on April 7, 2017, the United States Department of 

State issued a statement saying ‘‘We categorically condemn the persecution of individuals based on their sexual 

orientation’’ and urging the Government of the Russian 

Federation to take steps to ensure the release of all those 

wrongfully detained in Chechnya, and to conduct a credible investigation of the reports; and 
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Whereas, on April 17, 2017, United States Ambassador to 

the United Nations Nikki Haley issued a statement saying ‘‘Chechen authorities must immediately investigate 

these allegations, hold anyone involved accountable, and 

take steps to prevent future abuses. We are against all 

forms of discrimination, including against people based 

on sexual orientation. When left unchecked, discrimination and human rights abuses can lead to destabilization 

and conflict.’’: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) condemns the violence and persecution in 

Chechnya and calls on Chechen officials to immediately 

cease the abduction, detention, and torture of individuals 

on the basis of their actual or suspected sexual orientation, and hold accountable all those involved in perpetrating such abuses; 

(2) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to protect the human rights of all its citizens, condemn the violence and persecution, investigate these 

crimes in Chechnya, and hold accountable all those involved in perpetrating such abuses; 

(3) calls on the United States Government to continue to condemn the violence and persecution in 

Chechnya, demand the release of individuals wrongfully 

detained, and identify those individuals whose involvement in this violence qualifies for the imposition of sanctions under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Account-
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ability Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–208; 22 U.S.C. 

5811 note) or the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Public Law 114–328); and 

(4) affirms that the rights to freedom of assembly, 

association, and expression and freedom from 

extrajudicial detention and violence are universal human 

rights that apply to all persons, and that countries that 

fail to respect these rights jeopardize the security and 

prosperity of all their citizens. 

Attest: 

Clerk.