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<\/p>\nU.S. House Reps Introduce Resolution Condemning Anti-Gay Violence in Chechnya<\/b><\/p>\n
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On Tuesday, United States lawmakers\u00a0took their first real step toward\u00a0addressing the anti-gay<\/a> torture and persecution in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya when members of the House of Representatives introduced a resolution condemning the violence.<\/p>\n H.Res.351<\/a> was introduced by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (D-Fla.) and co-sponored by 52 others, both Democrats and Republicans, and was referred to the\u00a0House Committee on Foreign Affairs the same day it was filed. The text of the resolution is not yet available on Congress\u2019 website.<\/p>\n The resolution comes after news broke last week\u00a0that the U.S. denied<\/a> visas to people fleeing Chechnya who were trying to avoid the concentration camps where gay<\/a> men<\/a> have been tortured and in some cases murdered.<\/p>\n Also last week, the southern Russian republic\u00a0was also slapped with a suit<\/a> by three French gay<\/a> rights groups in the Internal Court, accusing the Russian republic of Chechnya of carrying out a \u201cgay genocide.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The suit and the fleeing Chechens are a response to reports that gay<\/a> and bisexual<\/a> men<\/a> in the country are being rounded up<\/a> and tortured in concentration camps. Some men<\/a>, accord to reports, have even been killed.<\/p>\n In response to the allegations, the State Department<\/a>, former Vice President Joe Biden<\/a> and current United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley<\/a>\u00a0all called for an investigation into the claims.<\/p>\n \u201cI am disgusted and appalled by reports from both the Russian media and non-governmental organizations that authorities in the Russian republic of Chechnya have rounded up, tortured, and even murdered individuals who are believed to be gay<\/a>,\u201d Biden said in a statement in April. \u201cWhen faced with such crimes of hate and inhumanity, it is the responsibility of every person of conscience to speak out\u2014to oppose this campaign of violence before it continues further.\u201d<\/p>\n International figures, including German chancellor Angela Merkel<\/a> and a panel of UN experts<\/a>, have spoken out against the allegations, despite Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov\u2019s denial<\/a> of\u00a0reports that gay<\/a> men<\/a> are being detained and tortured in the southern republic.<\/p>\n The post U.S. House Reps Introduce Resolution Condemning Anti-Gay Violence in Chechnya<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n