Chechnya opens concentration camps for gay men

Gay men arrested in Chechnya are being detained in concentration camps as part of an effort by authorities to "purge" them from the Russian region.

One man, interviewed by Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, reported being subject to violent interrogations over other members of the gay community and had his phone seized for potential gay contacts.

Others report beatings and electric shocks, along with extorting their families for ransom money.

Svetlana Zakharova, of the Russian LGBT Network, confirmed the story: "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."

She continues, "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."

When claims of detaining gay citizens earlier this month first arose, Chechnya President Razman Kadyrov called the allegations "absolute lies and disinformation."

Kadyrov's spokesman Alvi Karimov issued a statement saying, "You cannot arrest or repress people who just don't exist in the republic.  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."

UK Foreign Office minister Baroness Anelay found this exceptionally concerning.

"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 Gayly - 4/10/2017 @ 3:45 p.m. CST