EP calls on Moscow to investigate reports about gays’ persecutions in Chechnya

Today, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution calling on the Russian authorities to investigate the reports about the detentions and torture of homosexuals in Chechnya. The Russian LGBT Network has reported that within the last six weeks 40 gays were brought away from the republic. According to the Network, detentions of gays in Chechnya have stopped; however, but it is not known how stable this situation is.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 5, President Vladimir Putin promised to the Russian Ombudsperson Tatiana Moskalkova that he would ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to check the reports of the “Novaya Gazeta” about persecutions of gays in Chechnya.

The EP’s resolution states that the MEPs "condemn all statements of the Chechen authorities that justify violence against LGBTs."

Also, the EP has urged the EU countries "to facilitate considering asylum requests lodged by victims of such persecution, as well as by journalists and rights defenders," the “Interfax” reports.

Within the last 1.5 months, the Russian LGBT Network managed to evacuate 40 gays men from Chechnya, who feared persecutions; nine people have left Russia, Igor Kochetkov, the head of the Network, has reported, adding that in total, rights defenders received 80 applications.

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