#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #HumanRightsWatch #News #Journal #Update - No End to Chechnya’s Violent Anti-Gay Campaign

 

. THE WEEK IN RIGHTS | September 2, 2021 No End to Chechnya’s Violent Anti-Gay Campaign Photo © 2017 Neil Hall/Reuters The Russian LGBT Network reported that ealier this year, Chechen-speaking men abducted Ibragim Selimkhanov in Moscow and forcibly returned him to Chechnya, where authorities interrogated him about gay people in the region. It's the latest chapter in Chechnya’s relentless assault on sexual and gender minorities. In 2017 and 2019, Chechen authorities orchestrated lethal purges of men perceived to be gay or bisexual. As reports of the purge surfaced, gay and bisexual men began escaping Chechnya. “Magomed” told Human Rights Watch, “My life is ruined. I cannot go back." The threats haunted people abroad as well. Just months after escaping Chechnya and arriving in Canada, a Chechen gay man was threatened by men in Toronto. In February 2021, Russian police apprehended Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev, who had escaped Chechnya, and returned them to Grozny, Chechnya's capital, where they remain in detention. As long as Moscow continues to tolerate and deny accountability for the ruthless campaign, many others will also not be safe. READ MORE »     Afghans Stuck at Poland’s Border Need Protection While Poland’s government touts its role in the airlift of at-risk Afghans from Kabul, it has trapped 32 Afghans for over 3 weeks at its border with Belarus, preventing them from entering Poland to exercise their right to seek asylum and denying them access to food and medicine. READ MORE »     Bangladeshi Officials Linked to Hundreds of ‘Disappearances’ The Bangladesh government has long denied compelling evidence of government involvement in disappearances, which is particularly damaging and painful to victims’ families. READ MORE »     Prisoners in Australia Denied Vaccine Access Australian authorities should have learned the lessons from other countries where Covid-19 has spread quickly inside prisons with devastating results. READ MORE »   Sign up for our Daily Brief The Daily Brief is breaking global human rights news delivered to your inbox each day. SIGN UP HERE » Thank you for supporting Human Rights Watch! Follow Us On: Home | Take Action | Privacy | Manage Email Preferences Human Rights Watch | 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor | New York, NY 10118-3299 USA | t 1.212.290.4700