A spokesperson from Russian President Vladimir Putin has told journalists there is no reliable information about the reported detention and murder of gay men in The Chechen Republic.
Reports were first published in Russian media at the beginning of the month. The initial reports suggest that more than 100 men have been rounded up and held at several detention centres in The Chechen Republic. It has been alleged that at least three man have been murdered, while others have been tortured.
The Chenchen Republic in Russia’s south is an autonomous region with it’s own government but it a part of Russia. The region is predominantly Muslim.
Concern about the report has been raised by politicians around the world. Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary condemned the action describing it as “outregeous”, while Australian’s Foreign Affairs Minister said the reports were concerning.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists: “We do not have any reliable information about any problems in this area.”
When the report was first raised a spokesperson for Chechnya’s leader denied any gay people existed in the region.
President amzan Kadyrov’s spokesperson released a statement describing the report as “absolute lies and disinformation.”
“You cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic,” the spokesman, Alvi Karimov, said.
“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.”
Former US Vice President Joe Biden has commented on the situation saying the crimes are unlikely to be investigated properly.
“The human rights abuses perpetrated by Chechen authorities and the culture of impunity that surrounds them means that these hate crimes are unlikely to ever be properly investigated or that the perpetrators will see justice,” Biden said.
Biden said the current US administration should hold true to its commitment to raise human rights violations in Russia directly with the Putin government.
US Secretary of State met with President Putin earlier this week but it is not know if the Chechen situation was discussed.
OIP Staff
