LGBT rights in Chechnya
| LGBT rights in Chechnya | |
|---|---|
| Same-sex sexual activity legal? | Illegal between men (since 1996) |
|
Penalty:
|
Corporal punishment, execution (officially suspended) |
| Discrimination protections | None |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships |
No recognition of same-sex relationships |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in Chechnya have long been a cause for concern among human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. As a part of the Russian Federation, many of Russia's LGBT laws apply. However, Chechnya is a semi-autonomous republic within Russia's borders, with its own legal code, and the state imposes the death penalty (officially suspended) for sexual relations between men. In addition, there are few protections for LGBT citizens, and the government encourages the killing of people suspected of homosexuality by their families.
Since March 2017, a violent crackdown on the LGBT community led to the abduction and detention of gay and bisexual men, who were beaten and tortured. More than one hundred men, and possibly several hundred men, were targeted. At least three, and reportedly as many as 20, were killed. The precise number of those detained and killed is unknown. A panel of expert advisors to the United Nations Human Rights Council reported in early April 2017 that: "These are acts of persecution and violence on an unprecedented scale in the region and constitute serious violations of the obligations of the Russian Federation under international human rights law."
Chechnya is a highly conservative society in which homophobia is widespread and homosexuality is taboo. Following two separatist armed conflicts in the 1990s—the First Chechen War and the Second Chechen War—Chechnya "became increasingly conservative" under the leadership of President Akhmad Kadyrov and his son Ramzan Kadyrov, who is the head of the Chechen Republic. In Chechnya, as in other southern Russia regions, Russian President Vladimir Putin "has empowered local leaders to enforce their interpretation of traditional Muslim values, partly in an effort to co-opt Islamist extremism, which has largely been driven underground."Human Rights Watch reported in 2017 that "[i]t is difficult to overstate just how vulnerable LGBT people are in Chechnya, where homophobia is intense and rampant. LGBT people are in danger not only of persecution by the authorities but also of falling victim to 'honour killings' by their own relatives for tarnishing family honor." Ramzan Kadyrov has encouraged extrajudicial killings by family members as an alternative to law enforcement – in some cases, gay men in prison have been released early specifically to enable their murder by relatives.
...
Wikipedia