GENOCIDE        WATCH

Chechnya is a Muslim-majority autonomous republic in the south of the Russian Federation. After an aggressive war with Russia and unsuccessful attempt to gain independence in the 1990s, Chechnya has built closer relations with the Kremlin under its current leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, who came to power in 2005. Kadyrov's rule has been marked by his thuggish, hypermasculine personna and his brutal, authoritarian practices. Since 2017, the Chechen authorities have led a ruthless crackdown on the LGBTQIA+ community, known globally as a "gay purge." They have rounded up and tortured victims, committed extrajudicial killings, and encouraged families to carry out “honor killings.” Kadyrov has denied both the round-ups and the existence of gay people in the Chechnya. In 2017, a French gay rights groups filed a case at the ICC, accusing Chechnya of "genocide," though the existing Genocide Convention excludes LGBTQI+ people as possible victims. In 2020, the HBO documentary "Welcome to Chechnya" showed the extraodinary efforts of activists helping LGBTQIA+ people flee the republic.