"LGBT Network": dozens of homosexuals killed by their relatives in Chechnya

In Chechnya, people of non-traditional sexual orientation are severely beaten and killed by their relatives with the complete connivance of the authorities and by their direct orders. This was claimed in a report prepared by the "Russian LGBT Network" in cooperation with Elena Milashina, a special reported of the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in April, the "Novaya Gazeta" published an article about mass detentions in Chechnya of men suspected of being sexually unconventional.

The report on the facts of the persecution of LGBT community members in the North-Caucasian region is based on the testimonies of 33 people from Chechnya, reports the website of the "Russian LGBT Network".

"Over four months, more than 130 people from Chechnya and the neighbouring republics of Northern Caucasus appealed to the 'Russian LGBT Network'. People reported identical threats and persecution from authorities or relatives and asked for help. Staff members of the 'Russian LGBT Network' took 64 people out of the region and accommodated them in safe shelters in the Central part of Russia," states the Report on the facts of persecution of LGBT community members in the North-Caucasian region.

A special place in the report is given to the reactions of relatives of people of non-traditional sexual orientation and the problem of LBT women in Northern Caucasus.

"All the victims of the campaign, whose homosexuality or bisexuality was revealed to their relatives, were subjected to violence by at least one member of their families," states the report. It also notes that according to the testimonies of the victims, the LGBT community can report "about dozens of people killed by their family members."

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