The important background to the persecution of gay people in Chechnya The detention, torture and killing of queer men in Chechnya is not going away any time soon.  In fact, it […]

The detention, torture and killing of queer men in Chechnya is not going away any time soon.  In fact, it might be getting worse. 

The British Foreign Office has said Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov plans to eliminate all gay men in Chechnya by Ramadan, which starts on May 26. 

Journalists report that there are now six prisons for homosexual and bisexual men in the country: though some news outlets call them concentration camps, the original article by Novaya Gazeta never used these words.  The Toronto-based human-rights group Rainbow Railroad are trying to help victims escape the country. 

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“We haven’t seen anything like this before, this kind of state violence towards the queer community in Eastern Europe” Ukrainian journalist Maxim Eristavi

The original reporter of the story from Novaya Gazeta- a Russian paper that revealed the mistreatment of hundreds of men, including public figures, accused of homosexuality in the republic of Chechnya- has been forced into hiding. 

‘Given back to his parents in a bag of bones’

Reports have also emerged of what is happening to the men who the authorities in Chechnya imprison under suspicion of being gay.  One man told the Guardian that he was electrocuted and tortured, and asked to give away the identities of other gay men. 

Another man told CNN he was abducted at a police checkpoint after being asked for documentation. 

“There was a case that one person was given back to his parents in a bag of bones,” Russian human rights activist Nikita Safronov told Mic.  He added that there were reports of some of the detained men being “violated with bottles.” 

But this problem didn’t start spontaneously.  The persecution of the LGBT community in Chechnya is just the latest event in a long line of crimes against those who stand against the country’s despotic leader.  The i spoke to experts in the country, in the Northern Caucasus and in the Russian federation to find out more. 

The ‘double prejudice’ of homosexuality in Chechnya

Ukrainian journalist Maxim Eristavi explained that Chechen queers suffer from a “double prejudice.” 

There is state violence against homosexuals, but there is also no acceptance of queer people in the private sphere: families do not accept queer relatives, who are forced to flee with no support network around them. 

One man told France 24 News that authorities are asking families to ‘sort out’ their gay relatives in honour killings or the authorities will do it for them. 

“Even if [your family are] OK on a personal level with a relative being gay, your family could still be persecuted,” added Mr Eristavi.  Some Chechen men have spoken about fears of honour killings, in which family members would murder them to prevent shame coming upon the household. 

On top of this, Eristavi mentioned that even when Chechen refugees do seek sanctuary in another country, they might be denied asylum on the grounds of being Muslim. 

Is this about homophobia? 

Yes and no.  Does being gay in Chechnya put you at risk of violence atrocity?  Yes.  Is Chechnya targeting homosexuals and homosexuals only?  No. 

For Maxim Eristavi, nonresident research fellow with the Atlantic Council, it’s not so much that Chechnya has a problem with queer men so much as it has a problem with any dissidents of a very strict regime. 

There are ‘frequent and gargantuan portraits of Kadyrov all over the city’. 

“The violence that queers now experience in camps follows years of executions in the territory under leader President Kadyrov: journalists, political dissidents, they pick and choose enemies,” Eristavi said. 

It also should be said that the targeting of homosexuals, regardless of the reasoning, is unusual and shocking. 

“We haven’t seen anything like this before.  We haven’t seen any kinds of state violence towards the queer community in Eastern Europe,” added Eristavi. 

The brutal leader of a Kremlin-sanctioned Muslim republic

Ramzan Kadyrov is the Kremlin-approved leader of Chechnya, who has turned the country in a Kremlin-sanctioned Muslim republic following two wars. 

Fought between 1994 to 1996 and 1999 to 2004, the wars were between Russian federal forces and insurgent rebels following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. 

Up to 100,000 people are believed to have died and at least 5,000 Chechens just disappeared during these conflicts.  In the wake of these, Kadyrov came to power. 

Reports from Chechnya talk about the frequent and gargantuan portraits of Kadyrov all over the city, and about his use of violence to silence dissenting voices with impunity from Russian authorities.  Why do they let him do this? 

Because, the resounding answer came from everyone the i asked, he is able to keep the country in order.  One expert compared Kadyrov to Saddam Hussein when we spoke. 

Kadyrov has pushed for increasingly conservative Islamic beliefs in his fiefdom: he has discussed polygamy, built mosques, promoted Islamic education, and has pushed for women to appear in conservative Islamic dress. 

Kadyrov and Chechnya have also been linked to several political assassinations. 

One was the prominent assassination of Putin-opposing politician Boris Nemtsov, shot in central Moscow in 2015. 

Russian authorities charged at least five suspects, but the two named to the media where both from the Northern Caucasus.  One, Zaur Dadaev, had served in a battalion under Kadyrov.  Dadaev also mentioned a manager who was under the protection of the Chechen republic.  Kadyrov said that the assailants of Nemtsov were probably “Western intelligence services” looking to throw Russia into disarray. 

Another murder mentioned by academics was that of Natalia Estemirova, who worked for the Russian human-rights organisation Memorial in Chechnya, which focused on documenting and publicising human rights abuses carried out by Chechen law enforcement.  She was kidnapped and killed in 2009, and it followed the deaths of friends Stanislav Markelov, Anna Politkovskaya, and Anastasia Baburova (the last two wrote for the Novaya Gazeta.)  Estemirova received threats from senior aides of Kadyrov before her death, and was even summoned to a meeting by the leader in 2008. 

Where does Russia fit into all this? 

Beyond Kadyrov being supported by the Kremlin, one expert mentioned that Putin has long relied on support from the Federation’s hinterlands, especially during his rise to power in 2011.  Kadyrov, they said, is part of keeping support for Putin going in areas on the fringes of the federation. 

Russia also has a chequered history with gay rights.  The country has passed anti-gay propaganda laws and broken up gay pride parades.  Though one Russian academic mentioned that Moscow has a booming gay scene, and that Russia is not as bad as the press has previously portrayed when it came to gay rights. 

Is Islam the problem? 

Islam, in isolation, is not the problem.  But it also cannot be divorced from the situation.  Is it possible to have an inclusive Islamic nation?  Yes.  Is Chechnya that state?  Not at all. 

Chechnya is not the only Muslim area of the North Caucasus.  It is the one that is rounding up gay men.  Its neighbour Dagestan, for example, has not had reports of this problem, although Dagestan is far from a utopia. 

But one expert in Russia and the North Caucasus told the i that a country with a conservative Muslim leader like Kadyrov is going to have problems with homosexuality, and will not have helped. 

What are officials doing? 

The Russian Embassy in Israel published a letter in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz to say that an investigation has taken place and no gay men at all have been found to be tortured in Chechnya, and that the site of the supposed torture base is just a “storeroom.” 

There are no victims of persecution, threats or violence.  Neither law enforcement authorities or the Human Rights Council of the president of the Chechen Republic have received complaints on this matter.  The Human Rights Council conducted an inquiry of its own and did not find even indirect evidence of such accusations. 

Before this statement, officials in the Russian Federation have been tight-lipped on what is happening.  There have, however, been reports of arrests at a May Day parade in St Petersburg at protests against events in Chechnya.  It has been dismissed by Chechnya, who say they cannot persecute a group who do not exist in their country.  The Kremlin remains silent.  The Russian ambassador to the UK refused to comment on this story. 

The governments of countries that often stand in opposition to Russia- countries like Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania- have also stayed silent on Chechnya.  Although, as Eristavi pointed out in a recent piece for the Washington Post, this might be because these countries are far from supportive of LGBT rights. 

Angela Merkel urged Putin to take action during a joint news conference. “ I asked President Putin to use his influence to guarantee the rights of minorities,” she said. 

Some American political leaders and public figures- including Joe Biden- have called for leaders to put an end to the abuse of LGBT people in Chechnya.  Hillary Clinton has also spoken out about Chechnya during a fundraiser at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York, saying: “This government should demand an end to the persecution of innocent people across the world.” 

When Rex Tillerson met Putin in April, Chechnya was not on the agenda. 

Labour MP Stephen Doughty asked what action was being taken by the British government during PMQs.  and Boris Johnson’s deputy in the Foreign Office, Sir Alan Duncan, has labelled the abuses “utterly barbaric.”  He says he has spoken to his Russian counterpart to curb this action. 

“I hope this House will be fully united in giving the strongest message to Russia and to Chechnya – in particular, that this kind of behaviour is beyond contempt and not acceptable in the world in which we live,” added Duncan. 

What can we do? 

There’s nothing much that can be done for Chechnya itself, Eristavi said. “ When such horrible things happen, it’s already too late.  Because it’s been entangled for years.” 

But, he added, there are things we can do elsewhere.  One is to provide help to LGBT refugee centres, whether that be resources or offering pro-bono help. 

“Make sure queer people running for their lives have a chance to find a new home.  If you can save one life, that’s enough,” he said. 

Eristavi also mentioned other countries connected to Russia where pivotal battles are taking place, and where international pressure might have more effect.  We can, he said, help improve the situation in Ukraine, Georgia or Moldova by showing Russia the international community is against them. “ Russia cares about it’s international image,” Eristavi said, and rallies and visible outrage can help prevent another Chechnya.