PACE urges Russian authorities to protect LGBT people in Chechnya

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on the protection of the rights of LGBT people in Europe, with the focus on persecution based on sexual orientation in Chechnya. The PACE requested the authorities of Russia to protect the victims and punish the perpetrators.

The PACE resolution pays particular attention to the problem of “large-scale and often violent attacks on the rights of LGBTI people” in Russia and other countries, Deutsche Welle reports.

According to the PACE resolution, over the past decades, “nowhere in Europe has more horrific violence been used against LGBT people than in the state-sponsored attacks in Chechnya in 2017.”

The PACE urged the authorities of Russia to “double their efforts to punish those who commit crimes based on sexual orientation of victims.”

Furthermore, the PACE also requested the countries of the Council of Europe to “renew pressure” on the Russian authorities so that they ensure justice in cases on violations of LGBT rights and also provide asylum to those who were forced to leave Russia because of persecution based on sexual orientation of victims.