"There are no homosexuals in Chechnya"

In April 2017, the existence of concentration camps for detaining homosexuals in the semi-autonomous Republic of Chechnya, part of the Russian Federation, came to light. Reports from journalists and activists documented two raids in which more than one hundred people were detained and at least three died. In addition, a dozen testimonies from victims described beatings and torture with electricity. Immediately, and in a mocking tone, President Ramzan Kadyrov responded to the accusation, calling it absurd and impossible because “there are no homosexuals in Chechnya.” He explained: “If such people existed in Chechnya, the competent authorities wouldn’t need to do anything about them because their families would have sent them to a place from which they could never return.” These statements sparked protests worldwide and complaints from LGBT organizations in many countries against Russian President Vladimir Putin, since he did not condemn either the known facts—in fact, the purges continue—or the Chechen president’s statements. Meanwhile, regarding the singer’s case, Chechen authorities have so far given contradictory accounts: the first to speak was a high-ranking official who declared that the young man was “safe”; then an official statement was issued disassociating the government from any connection to the disappearance; and finally, after a video was released in which he is supposedly seen using drugs in a room, the Chechen National Police Minister, Dzhambulat Umarov, said that The disappearance may have been a publicity stunt or an attempt to escape debts, and it was rumored he was in Germany. His friends and family immediately denied this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79azfAFLCHk