Over 100 gay men allegedly sent to concentration camps in Chechnya
Image: Chechen leader Razman Kadyrov [centre]. Image: Twitter.
MORE than 100 people have been sent to concentration camps for gay men in Chechnya and three have been killed, according to recent reports.
Human rights activists and Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta have alleged that authorities have set up several camps where gay men are killed or forced to promise to leave the republic.
Svetlana Zakharova from the Russian LGBT Network told MailOnline that gay people have been detained and rounded up.
“We are working to evacuate people from the camps and some have now left the region,” she said.
“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.”
Chechen leader Razman Kadyrov, who is a key ally of Vladimir Putin, allegedly ordered the clampdown, although officially his regime denied the arrests claiming ‘it is impossible to persecute those who are not in the republic’.
The UK Foreign Office has condemned the alleged treatment of gay men in Chechnya, with Baroness Anelay calling on Russia to investigate the mass detention of gay men and ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.
“The detention and ill-treatment of over 100 gay men in Chechnya is extremely concerning,” she said.
“Reports have also suggested that at least three of these men have been killed.
“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.”
Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop is yet to comment on the reports.
