Tag Archives: Zelimkhan Bakaev

Russia Claims It Can’t Find Any Evidence of Chechnya's ‘gay purge’

Russia Claims It Can’t Find Any Evidence of Chechnya’s ‘gay purge’

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Russia’s justice minister Alexander Konovalov told United Nations representatives on Monday that the countries investigation of the “gay purge” in Chechnya had turned up no evidence to support the claim.

Speaking before the UN’s Human Rights Council, Konovalov said officials had taken the allegations seriously and looked into them.

“The investigation showed that there were not any such incidents,” he said.

“There weren’t even representatives of LGBTI in Chechnya. We weren’t able to find anyone.”

LGBT groups claimed that at least 200 gay people were held in secret prisons where they were tortured and beaten. At least 26 were said to have been killed. Among those missing and presumed dead is Russian pop singer Zelimkhan Bakaev, who went missing in August 2017.

The news of these crimes against humanity were initially reported in of April 2017 in Novaya Gazeta, a Russian-newspaper, which reported that over 100 men had allegedly been detained and tortured and at least three had died in an extrajudicial killing. The paper, citing its sources in the Chechen special services, called the wave of detentions a “prophylactic sweep”. The journalist who first reported on the subject has gone into hiding. and there were calls for reprisals against journalists who report on the situation.

The Chechen police and military conducted entrapment schemes, in which a victim is lured on a date, beaten and humiliated. A recording is produced, and blackmail money is solicited in return for silence. Law enforcement agencies in Chechnya already keep lists of “suspects”. According to a source from Radio Liberty, raids on gays began in December 2016, subsided briefly, and resumed on a large scale in February 2017. The first gay men who were detained via entrapment were tortured in attempts to reveal the names of their acquaintances.

According to escapees interviewed in the Novaya Gazeta and the British-owned The Guardian, 30 to 40 people are detained in one room (two to three meters big), and often kept for months on end without trial. Witnesses report they are also beaten (with polypropylene pipes below the waist), and tortured with electricity. In addition to physical torture, individuals report being mocked, humiliated and insulted, as well as being forced to clean the prison and spat in the face. In some cases the process of torture ended in the death of the person being tortured.

Canada, Germany, France and Belgium are among countries to have granted asylum to gay Chechens on the basis that they would have faced persecution and possibly death if they stayed.

 

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Russia Claims It Can’t Find Any Evidence of Chechnya's ‘gay purge’

Voices4Chechnya Protests Russian Consulate in NYC Demands Answers About Missing Chechen Pop Star Zelimkhan Bakaev

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On Tuesday, November 7th, the group Voices For Chechnya protested outside the Russian Consulate in NYC, demanding  an immediate investigation into the disappearance of Chechen pop star Zelimkhan Bakaev.

As reported here last month multiple sources claim that Russian singer Zelimkhan Bakaev was arrested, tortured, and murdered by by Chechen authorities due to suspicion of homosexuality.”

Bakaev was last seen on August 8 in Grozny, where he had come from Moscow for his sister’s wedding and has not been seen since.

Via Press Release:

Voices 4 Chechnya’s action began at Central Park where they marched to the Russian Consulate on 91st Street at 1pm. Approximately 50 activists assembled outside the consulate. Voices 4 Chechnya activists held large signs with portraits of Zelimkhan Bakaev, as well as a banner which asked, “Where is Zelimkhan Bakaev?” Chants included “No Murder, No Hate, Russia Investigate, Gays In Chechnya Can Not Wait” and “When Gay Chechens Are Under Attack, What Do We Do, Stand Up Fight Back”.

Voices 4 Chechnya believes that non-violent, direct action activism is integral to the fight for human dignity and equality for all. And everyone, no matter who they are or whom they love, is entitled to live without fear. We will not stand by as the Chechen Republic orders and encourages the capture, torture, and death of its own LGBTQ+ people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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U.S. Congress FINALLY Condemns Anti-Gay Violence in Chechnya

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Finally,  four months after the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a nearly bipartisan resolution in June condemning the violence and persecution against gay men in Chechnya, last night, the U.S. Senate adopted the resolution by voice vote.

The bipartisan Senate Resolution (S. Res.) 211, which was introduced by Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Ed Markey (D-MA), is nearly identical to the U.S. House of Representatives resolution

S. Res. 211 “calls on Chechen officials to immediately cease the abduction, detention, and torture of individuals on the basis of their actual or suspected sexual orientation, and hold accountable all those involved in perpetrating such abuses.” It also calls on the U.S. government to “continue to condemn the violence and persecution in Chechnya,” something that President Trump and Secretary Tillerson have failed to do publicly

For three months, the Canadian federal government has been secretly spiriting gay Chechen men from Russia to Canada, under a clandestine program.  About a third of those who were being sheltered in Russian safe houses – are now in Toronto and other Canadian cities

Sources estimate that Chechen authorities have rounded up and detained, tortured and in some cases have murdered  more than 100 gay men in secret prisons including the recent revelation that Russian pop-singer  Zelimkhan Bakaev was arrested, tortured and then murdered for being gay.  His body at the writing of this post  has still not been found.

Other than the long awaited U.S .resolution America has done nothing to help save the persecuted gay men of Chechnya.

 

 

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Since you’re here …

We have a small favor to ask. Unlike many other LGBT blogs and news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall or installed intrusive ads– we want to keep our journalism and historical reporting as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. Back2Stonewall’s independent voice takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

f you can please help us with a small donation to cover the sites expenses and evolution it would be greatly appreciated.  Just go to our GoFundMe page by CLICKING HERE.  Any donation no matter how small will help us continue our important work.

Thank you.

Will Kohler
Back2Stonewall.com

 

Russian Pop Star Zelimkhan Bakaev, Tortured and Killed In Chechnya Anti-Gay Roundup

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Sources are reporting that Russian singer Zelimkhan Bakaev was arrested, tortured, and murdered by by Chechen authorities due to suspicion of homosexuality.”

Bakaev was last seen on August 8 in Grozny, where he had come from Moscow for his sister’s wedding

Bakaev’s Instagram account has mysteriously been deleted, but a small Twitter account in his name remains active, offering no recent updates. Earlier this week, Igor Kocketkovof the Russian LGBT Network made a statement to the media that touched on the disappearance, saying:

At the end of August, we received confirmation of our earlier presumption that [Bakaev] was detained by Chechen authorities due to suspicion of homosexuality.”

A source close to activists in the region have stated that  Bakaev, 26, was tortured to death. “He arrived in Grozny and was picked up by police within three hours,” they claimed. “Within ten hours he was murdered.”

Earlier this week, Maxim Lapunov became the first victim of Chechnya’s ‘gay purge’ to come forward publicly with claims of abuse at the hands of authorities.

Igor Kocketkov claimed in Monday’s press conference that other individuals in Chechnya’s entertainment industry were subjected to “torture” as the authorities attempted to gain information on Bakayev.

Our hearts break for the family and friends of Zelimkhan Bakaev and to the LGBT community of Russia and Chechnya.  

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 Since you’re here …

We have a small favor to ask. Unlike many other LGBT blogs and news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall or installed intrusive ads– we want to keep our journalism and historical reporting as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. Back2Stonewall’s independent voice takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If you can please help us with a small donation to cover the sites expenses and evolve it would be greatly appreciated.  Just clock on the GoFundMe picture on the right of the page or by CLICKING HERE.

Thank you.

Will Kohler
Back2Stonewall.com