LGBT Network appeals to ECtHR on behalf of assassinated Chechen resident

A complaint on behalf of Arbi Altemirov, a resident of Chechnya, who was detained on suspicion of homosexuality and died after torture, has been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

In this October, Amin Djabrailov, a Chechen living in Canada, gave an interview to the Russian Service of Radio Liberty about two weeks of torture with electric shocks and beatings in an unofficial prison in Tsotsi-Yurt, which he had suffered for his sexual orientation. He became the first ethnic Chechen who, without hiding his name, told about torture.

Altemirov was not an open homosexual; he was married and had a son. However, in February 2017, he was detained in Chechnya on suspicion of homosexuality and was brutally tortured for more than two weeks. In March, he, along with several other detainees, was given out to relatives. Families of alleged homosexuals were offered to "wash away the shame" and execute the detainees on their own. Altemirov died on March 8 at his home.

"The situation with Altemirov's complaint is unique, because a complaint in his defence was submitted by a charitable organization, not by his closest relatives," said Veronika Lapina, an activist of the Russian LGBT network. According to her story, the LGBT network is the only party ready to come forward in defence of Altemirov, since his relatives are not going to file a complaint.