It sounds like something from a bad dream or, more aptly, a recurring nightmare: gay people rounded up, tortured, and incarcerated in secret detention sites that have been described as concentration camps.In the Russian republic of Chechnya, gay men are being targeted by the government in a widespread purge. Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta was the first to report that at least 100 men have been arrested on suspicion of homosexuality, and three have been killed. Their findings have been confirmed by Human Rights Watch.
Advertisement
One Chechen man told the New York Times that he had arranged to meet an old friend on a secret chatroom for gay people. Instead, he was met by security officials at the meetup, and was immediately detained for 11 days. The officers tortured him with electric shocks and interrogated him for the names of other gay men. He refused to give up any information, and was subsequently released. He has since fled the region with the help of an LGBTQ rights organization.Other Chechens have described similar treatment at secret government sites, involving electrocutions, interrogations, and beatings with wooden sticks and metal rods.Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has denied reports of the anti-gay purge, dismissing the accounts as "provocative articles about the Chechen Republic, the supposed events … the supposed detentions."
Outrage is growing across the world, with protests in New York, London, Toronto, and Amsterdam. On Sunday, at Sackville Gardens in Manchester, UK, over 200 people gathered in solidarity with LGBTQ people in Chechnya to demand an end to the persecution and call for the British government to grant asylum to LGBTQ refugees from the country. (A petition calling on the Home Office to issue a statement to this effect has already received over 12,000 signatures.)Photographer Christopher Bethell went down to document the scene and speak to the protesters assembled.**Read more: 'A True Queer Life': Photos from an *LGBTQ* Dance Party to Remember George Michael**
Advertisement
Charlotte, 24
Jared, 44
Advertisement
Ailsa, 48
Aderonke
Advertisement
Danny, 25 and Dominic, 29
Dominic: It made me quite sad, and a little bit scared as well. Russia, of course, borders Europe so it does feel quite close to home. It's almost like it's only a matter of time before it starts spreading, like everything else in the world right now.
Danny: I also feel disappointed because we've already been here once before. We learned a lesson so why are we regressing?
Dominic: It's an attack on being gay, but it's not just that—it's that everyone should be treated equally. Where is the line going to be drawn? He's done this with the gays, will he do this with non-white people? It's an attack on the self. It's 2017, this shouldn't be happening.All photos and interviews by Christopher Bethell.