Putin promised to address issue of persecution of homosexuals in Chechnya
Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Tatyana Moskalkova that he will "talk" with the Prosecutor General and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs about verifying the reports on the persecution of gays in Chechnya, as reported by Meduza web site
"Of course, I will talk with the Prosecutor General and the Minister of the Interior, so that they will provide you with assistance regarding the issue that you have raised, regarding known information or rumors, so that we can establish what is happening in the North Caucasus to people with non-traditional sexual orientations," Putin said.
The President of the Russian Federation added that he expects both a response and support from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office. This was the first time Putin publicly commented on the situation with the persecution of homosexuals in Chechnya.
Moskalkova also asked Putin to "give instructions, perhaps, to create an interdepartmental working group that could, here in the central part of Russia, and not on the territory of Chechnya, accept reports from citizens, if there are any."
In early April, Novaya Gazeta wrote about the persecution of gays in Chechnya. According to the newspaper, about a hundred people were detained in the republic on the suspicion of being homosexuals, and three were killed. The persecution of gays in Chechnya was also reported by Radio Liberty and Snob citing their own sources.
The Chechen authorities accused Novaya Gazeta of slander, stating, in particular, that there are no homosexuals in the republic. Representatives of law enforcement agencies in the republic said that they did not receive a single report about the persecution of gays.
In late April Tatyana Moskalkova, Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights, said that she sent five requests to various law enforcement agencies about the persecution of gays in Chechnya, and received negative answers to all of them. The verification of the reports, according to Moskalkova, is complicated by the absence of names of the victims.
Reports about the persecution of homosexuals in Chechnya have received wide coverage outside of Russia. At a meeting with Vladimir Putin on May 2nd, German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked the Russian President to use his influence to protect the rights of gays in Chechnya.
Earlier the Foreign Ministers of five European countries demanded the investigation of the abduction of gays in Chechnya.