The LGTBIQ+ purge in Chechnya

In countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Brunei, Yemen and territories of Nigeria homosexuality is punished with the death penalty. In the report State-Sponsored Homophobia 2020 drawn up by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, the map of the world shows 69 countries which continue to criminalise same-sex sexual acts between consenting adults.

The Chechen Republic held particular protagonism in earlier reports given that, in 2017, Amnesty International denounced a gay purge under which dozens of men were kidnapped, tortured and murdered because of their sexual orientation. The Chechen Government, led by Ramzan Kadyrov, denied the facts. He even went as far as to claim that the country has no homosexual people. He also legitimised the so-called "honour crimes", in which some families became accessories to the repression. Violence against the LGTBIQ+ community has been continuous: in 2019 a second campaign of persecution and harassment was recorded.

AI has denounced that the purge has gone unpunished with the complicity of the Russian authorities, country where homophobia has been put in evidence on several occasions. Even more so since the green light was given in 2013 to a law to punish the "propaganda on non-traditional sexual relations among minors". This implies the prohibition of any information or event related to homosexuality.

Film:Welcome to Chechnya