Russian newspaper says it has evidence that at least three men have been killed in ‘prophylactic sweep’ in Chechnya

Authorities in the Russian republic of Chechnya have launched an anti-gay campaign that has led to authorities rounding up dozens of men suspected of being homosexual, according to the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and human rights activists. Ali Karimov said, according to the state news agency RIA Novosti, “it’s impossible to persecute those who are not in the republic.”

“If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return,” Karimov was quoted in the New York Times as saying. The shocking anti-LGBTQ claim, first made on Saturday by the Novaya Gazeta, a local newspaper in the European territory, before being transcribed by American outlets, including the New York Times and Towerload one day later, notes the sudden snatching of several dozen men between the ages of 16 and 50 from the Chechen Republic as being part of a large-scale manhunt against those who are suspected of having a “non-traditional sexual orientation.”

Additionally, “an analyst of the region with her own sources confirmed that more than 100 gay men had been detained,” the Times further detailed, “[with] the [Russian] newspaper [offering the] names of three [supposed] murder victims, and many others who had [reportedly] died in extrajudicial killings.”

According to writers of the Gazeta, the police push was initially promoted by law enforcement officials in the country as being a “prophylactic sweep” of certain undesirables, with cops additionally being given the go-ahead to permanently silence any individual who was brave enough to fight back. “No one will ever call this, because they will identify who is calling and where he is calling from.”

Alexeyev nevertheless feels there is an attitude of “don’t provoke, be silent.”

The founder of Moscow Pride told the Blade “society will never be ready if you don’t do anything.” Alexeyev said he has applied to 78 of Russia’s 85 regions to host public LGBT gatherings. The Times reported that the group was not focused on the predominantly Muslim area, but rather was collecting the inevitable denials from provincial cities around Russia to build a case about gay rights and freedom of assembly with the European Court of Human Rights.
Russian authorities arrest more than 100 gay men in Chechnya, including television personalities and religious figures, for "nontraditional sexual orientation." The Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported that three of the arrested men have been killed, while others reportedly were released for family honor killing. Chechen Republic leader Ramzan Kadyrov's spokesperson said this report contains “absolute lies and disinformation” since there are no homosexuals in Chechnya.