![\"Ramzan](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/kadyrov.jpeg?resize=740%2C471\")
<\/p>\nChechnya Accused of \u2018Gay Genocide\u2019 in International Criminal Court<\/b><\/p>\n
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Three gay<\/a> rights groups in France filed suit on Monday in the Internal Court to accuse the Russian republic of Chechnya of carrying out a \u201cgay genocide\u201d<\/a> on its territory.<\/p>\n Stop Homophobie, Mousse and Comite Idaho France cited the case of a teenage<\/a> boy<\/a> whose uncle\u00a0reportedly pushed him from a balcony for being gay<\/a>\u00a0as emblematic of the anti-LGBTQ \u201cwave of persecution\u201d\u00a0taking place. The move comes as Chechen authorities continue to claim that no such persecution is occurring, despite numerous journalists\u2019 and human rights NGOs\u2019 accounts<\/a>\u00a0to the contrary since April. Activists in Moscow were detained last week as they sought to deliver a petition<\/a> to investigate the reported abuses.<\/p>\n Etienne Deshoulieres, a lawyer representing the three gay<\/a> rights groups, called [Chechen president Ramzan]\u00a0Kadyrov \u201cthe architect\u201d of a \u201cgenocide.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the Chechen leader was \u201cthe organiser of torture camps with the desire to exterminate homosexuals.\u201d<\/p>\n Alexandre Marcel, chairman of Comite Idaho France, said the complaint was \u201cthe only way to pursue Nazi behaviour\u201d at an international level.<\/p>\n Although the Russian president had\u00a0appeared to agree to an investigation<\/a> following the intercession of German chancellor Angela Merkel<\/a>, the official Russian position has been and continues to be to deny or downplay reports of the deteriorating situation in Chechnya, with one of its diplomats stationed in Israel most recently writing to Israeli newspaper Haaretz<\/em> <\/a>to protest its coverage. In particular, it dismissed claims of a detention center in the city of Argun:<\/p>\n In the building \u2013 which in the past belonged to the military government and called in the articles a \u201csecret prison\u201d \u2013 is a storeroom, while a parking lot is located on the nearby space.<\/p>\n There are no victims of persecution, threats or violence. Neither law enforcement authorities or the [UN] Human Rights Council of the president of the Chechen Republic have received complaints on this matter. The Human Rights Council conducted an inquiry of its own and did not find even indirect evidence of such accusations.<\/p>\n Russia in November 2016 announced its decision to withdraw its signature of the Rome statute, which established the International Criminal Court in force in 2002. The ICC complaint notes that there is one year before this takes effect; however, Russia has never ratified its inclusion in the ICC.<\/p>\n The post Chechnya Accused of \u2018Gay Genocide\u2019 in International Criminal Court<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n