How Gay People Are Being Killed And Imprisoned In Chechnya And What Is Done About It

Throughout April, we have heard about gay men being rounded up and killed in Chechnya — the notoriously dangerous part of Russia in the Northern Caucasus. For years, Chechen dictator Kadyrov was getting away with human rights violations. Ethnic purges, threats and murders of journalists and activists, child marriages, and abductions of women — we heard it all.

So when Novaya Gazeta broke the story about mass incarcerations of gay men, many readers weren't that surprised. However, this time, the story had a much greater effect. And even though Russian authorities have largely remained silent and refused to act on the reports, civil society organizations have started evacuating Chechen gay people to other parts of Russia, and journalists did not stop reporting.

To this day, the information about what is actually going on in Chechnya is scarce (not least because journalists and NGO workers are often attacked there). The journalist who wrote the original report had to go into exile due to death threats she received — but she hopes to return one day.

It is unclear why this particular instance of human rights violation in Chechnya shook our society. Was it because it came so close to the tabooed topic of sexuality? Or because it resembles the Nazi atrocities so much? We may never know. But we should, at least, listen to what those people have to say.