The Gulags Are Back

In Chechnya and Kyrgyzstan persecution of anyone accused of being LGBTQ is back, in 2017 I wrote about how LGBTQ people were being held in concentration camp-style prisons well the torture continues.

Several gay men and women detained in Chechnya, activists say
The reports come a year and a half after more than 100 gay men in the Russian region were arrested and subjected to torture, according to activists.
NBC Out
By Associated Press
January 11, 2019

MOSCOW — Several people have been recently detained in Russia's Chechnya region on suspicion of being gay, in a throwback to an earlier crackdown, activists said on Friday.

The reports come a year and a half after more than 100 gay men in Chechnya were arrested and subjected to torture, and some of them were killed, according to activists. Chechen authorities never admitted their role in the well-documented abuse, and federal authorities conducted a probe that did not produce any findings to back up the reports.

Prominent activist Igor Kochetkov told The Associated Press on Friday that gay rights supporters have seen a spike in detentions of men and women suspected of being gay since late December. Kochetkov would not say how many people have been detained or where they are now. He said the activists are preparing a short report to be released on Monday

In another NBC article they report,

The Russian republic of Chechnya has launched a new crackdown on gays in which at least two people have died and about 40 people have been detained, LGBTQ activists in Russia charged Monday.

The new allegations come after reports in 2017 of more than 100 gay men arrested and subjected to torture, and some of them killed, in the predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia.
[…]
Kochetkov said the new wave of anti-gay persecution started at the end of the year when Chechen authorities detained the administrator of a social media group popular with LGBTQ people in the North Caucasus. Kochetkov said the mass detentions began after the authorities got hold of contacts on his phone.

Meanwhile in Kyrgyzstan…

Kyrgyzstan man has ‘gay’ carved into stomach in homophobic attack
Pink News
By Sofia Lotto Persio 
16th January 2019

A bisexual man from Kyrgyzstan was forced to leave the country after suffering two homophobic attacks within the same month.
The man, who is in his 20s, said the attacks took place in November in the Issyk-Kul region located in eastern Kyrgyzstan, bordering Kazakhstan and China.

PinkNews has agreed to identify the victim only by the initials A.D. to protect him from possible repercussions.

The first homophobic attack took place after A.D. left the home of his friend A.A. around 8pm on an early November evening. The two hugged on the street as A.D. waited for his cab to arrive when three men approached them, calling A.A. by his name.

A.D. told PinkNews he and his friend were brought to an isolated area where the three men began to beat and insult them, particularly targeting A.A.
[…]
Kirey explained: “It created a climate of impunity, it gave a green light basically to anyone who wanted to express their hate towards LGBT people.”

“The police knows there are vulnerable groups for extortion,” she continued. But as there is no law in Kyrgyzstan outlawing homosexuality, “the police has absolutely no reason to detain or harass LGBT people. It’s purely arbitrary detention.”

Nazik, an advocate for LGBT+ rights in Kyrgzstan, previously opened up to PinkNews about the level of abuse LGBT+ people endure in the country. Describing one homophobic attack she survived, Nazik said she was “beaten with a bottle” and the police was unwilling to investigate the crime.

All around the world hatred against people who are “different” is increasing, in this time of socioeconomic strife people are looking for scapegoats and we are the target of their hate.