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# Chechen leaders facing charges of ‘crimes against humanity’
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/chechen-leaders-facing-charges-of-crimes-against-humanity/
- Published: 2021-04-23T13:30:16.000Z
- Updated: 2021-04-23T09:24:29.000Z
- Description: Five high-ranking politicians in Chechyna are being charged with crimes against humanity.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Politics, Chechnya, Germany, LGBTQ, LGBTQ+ rights, Russia, Russian LGBT Network

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/chechnya-lgbt-protest-600-400.jpg)

Five high-ranking politicians in the semi-independent Russian province of **Chechyna** are being charged with crimes against humanity, four years after the reports surfaced of a ‘gay purge’ taking place in the region. *[The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/18/german-ngo-files-legal-case-against-chechen-officials-over-anti-gay-purges?ref=scenemag.co.uk)* has reported that the German-led **European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights** (ECCHR) joined forces with the **Russian LGBT Network** to file a 97-page charge, detailing the *“persecution, unlawful arrests, torture, sexual violence and incitement to murder”* queer Chechens have faced.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/lgbt-purge-chechnya-600-400.jpg)

Although a previous complaint was filed in 2017, it was unsuccessful due to Russia’s withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the tribunal. After the charges were submitted, ECCHR founder **Wolfgang Kaleck** said: *“If no other jurisdiction investigates, Germany is able and must be willing to take over tasks, representing thereby Europe and the international community.”*

**Patrick Dörr** of the German **Lesbian and Gay Federation** added: *“In states like Chechnya, where there is a strong taboo around sexual identity, there is usually very little information about the situation of LGBTQ+ people.”* They said the complaint could *“make a crucial difference for an asylum application”* by documenting the severity of the situation in Chechnya.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/chechnya-anti-lgbtq-purge-1.jpg)