The Russian LGBT Network activated evacuation of the survivors of a new wave of LGBT persecution in Chechnya. The victims of the new wave confirm the wide-scale character of persecution. They also witness that persecution started already in the beginning of December 2018, and that people are detained in the police offices of not only Argun, but also Grozny.

On January 14, the Russian LGBT Network confirmed that there is a new wave of LGBT persecution in the Chechen Republic. There was already information about mass detentions, tortures and even about murders. The Russian LGBT Network activated evacuation process, and continue to collect data.

The Executive director of the Russian LGBT Network’s programs Igor Kochetkov tells that earlier “the information sources reported that the new wave of detentions started in the end of December 2018. Now we know that they started to detain already in the beginning of the month. Moreover, now we know that there are a few places where people suspected of being homosexual are detained. One of them is the police office of Zavodskoy district of Grozny. Once again, it proves that all the detentions, tortures and murders are committed by the law enforcement officers.”

The victims also confirm that tortures became more cruel and violent. Not only men, but also women are tortured. The detained are raped with the electric shock stick. All men are closely cropped, they are forced to use women’s wear and called women’s names. “They did not feed us. Sometimes they gave us some water, dirty water that was left after mopping. They gave us clean water only for prayer,” – one of the survivors says.

The Russian LGBT Network works to support victims of LGBT persecution in Chechnya since April 2017. Since that time, the Network evacuated around 150 people out of region, around 130 people found sanctuary out of Russia.