HRW focuses on Chechnya in report on human rights violations in Russia

In a separate chapter focused on Russia in the World Report prepared by the "Human Rights Watch" (HRW), authors mention persecution of gays and mass execution of suspected militants in Chechnya.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the first wave of detentions of Chechens suspected in homosexuality occurred in December 2016-February 2017, the second took place in the period from March to May, and the third began on the day when the month of Ramadan ended in June. This information was released in the report prepared by the "Russian LGBT Network" and Elena Milashina, a special correspondent of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta". The report is based on the testimonies of 33 people from Chechnya subjected to detentions and torture.

"In Chechnya, authorities held a large-scale operation to chase gay men, during which tens of suspected homosexual men suffered from torture in places of unlawful detention," states the introduction to the Russia's section of the World Report released today on the HRW's website.

The situation in the Chechen Republic is discussed in a separate chapter of the HRW's report, and much of it is devoted to the persecution of gays.

The rights defenders note that dozens of men fell victim to the "cleansing" in the republic. Their mobile phones were examined to identify other alleged homosexuals, and they were demanded, including under torture, to name their familiar gays.

Besides, in their report, the rights defenders point to the intensification of the campaign held by the Chechen authorities for "women's morality," aimed at forcing women to wear headscarves in public places and adhere to the traditional distribution of roles in a family. Meanwhile, the HRW's report also notes a programme of "family reunification" launched in Chechnya. "Some of those who refused to follow the persuasions, including women who left their violent husbands, claimed pressure from commissions," the HRW's report notes.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.