A demonstration, led by Peter Tatchell, All Out and Queer Tours of London were outside the Russian Embassy over the weekend to protest the “gay purge” in Chechnya.
As the “gay purge” continues in Chechnya, a protest group gathered outside the Russian Embassy in London to demand “never again ever”. The protest was timed to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day.
The protest organisers had four demands,
- We call on Theresa May to publicly condemn these atrocities;
- We ask all Governments to give shelter to those fleeing from Chechnya;
- We call for a United Nations Independent Investigation on Russia with a specific mandate on the human rights violations in the Chechen Republic
- We urge Russian authorities to bring those responsible for these atrocities to justice and, failing that, for the international community to intervene and arraign the perpetrators before the ICJ
Speaking about the protest, Peter Tatchell said,
“The heart-breaking reports of renewed state torture and murder of LGBT+ people are a damning indictment of the tyrannical Chechen regime and of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has refused to use his powers to stop the homophobic terror campaign and to bring perpetrators to justice. We deplore all human rights abuses in Chechnya – including detention without trial, torture and arbitrary killings. At this protest, we stand in solidarity with Chechen LGBTs and all persecuted Chechen people.”
Matt Beard, Executive Director of All Out, added:
“A new wave of brutal state-sponsored attacks against LGBT+ people is taking place in Chechnya right now. Silence is complicity. World leaders must condemn these atrocities and ask Russian authorities to bring those responsible to justice.”
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