Wyatt Harms

Opinion contributor

News that about 40 people have been detained and two killed in the latest crackdown on Chechnya's LGBT community have made it to the United States, as reported by the Russian LGBT Network.

Unfortunately, this is not breaking news. In fact, in the early months of 2017, more than 100 LGBTQ Chechens were kidnapped, detained in concentration camps, tortured and even executed. The U.S. State Department took months to act, but it eventually released a statement that April calling for an end to the purges. A week later, the United Nations condemned the violence, and a handful of other countries followed suit.

This acknowledgement and condemnation were steps in the right direction, but they ultimately failed to keep queer Chechens safe. These statements were the diplomatic equivalent of wagging a collective finger.

The world's response to human rights violations

The U.N. did not launch an investigation, did not place multilateral sanctions on Russian or Chechen officials, and made no overarching effort to expedite or grant visas to those affected by the violence.

European nations, in general, were slow to accept refugees — with Canada stepping up and hosting the largest number of Chechens fleeing.

Though the United States placed sanctions on five Russians (including the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov), our country is still not officially accepting queer Chechen refugees to this day, leaving those facing the horrors of a purge with one less option and a possibly angered dictator.

One striking example of the Chechen's government brazenness is the disappearance of Zelim Bakaev, a famous Russian pop artist. He was kidnapped by Chechen officials during a trip back to Chechnya for his sister's wedding. Despite international outcry, Bakaev's whereabouts are still unknown, and it's widely believed he was murdered by the government, as part of the anti-LGBTQ purges. And he's not the only one.

An official investigation is needed

We still do not know how many people were killed in the purges of 2017, as neither Russia nor the U.N. has conducted an official investigation.

The closest we have come to know of a rough estimate of the victims has been an official report commissioned by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and presented in December, almost two years after the initial violence began.

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The result of this inaction is clear. Chechen officials have felt emboldened to continue in their anti-LGBTQ purge. Igor Kochetkov of the LGBT Network explains, "The reason this is being repeated is impunity. ... The Russian authorities didn't open a criminal case, and (the Chechen government) felt this impunity."

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov claims that "there are no gay men in Chechnya," and with no international accountability, it seems as though he is trying to make good on that promise.

The international community failed LGBTQ Chechens in 2017. As we watch a potential genocide start once more, we must demand substantial action from our political leaders.

One survivor, Maxim Lapunov, described the torture. He was detained with his partner in a camp for almost two weeks, along with other LGBTQ people, where the guards would beat him every day and made him and his partner fight one another for their entertainment. "Day after day, they were telling me how precisely they want to kill me," Lapunov said. He was let go after he signed a statement acknowledging he was gay.

We need to step up

The recent reports of renewed persecution show that the global queer community cannot settle for finger wagging. We need to demand multilateral sanctions on top Chechen and Russian officials, clear refugee resettlement policies in both Europe and America, and an official U.N. investigation into these crimes against humanity for review by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

How many more queer people must die for us to act?

We need fellow Americans to push for change and demand from their members of Congress to have the State Department take action on Chechnya — including allowing refugees to be resettled in the United States. The least we can do is provide refuge for those being persecuted, as America has done in the past.

Wyatt Harms is an activist with Voices4, a direct action group that works with local activists to fight for global queer liberation. You can follow him on Twitter: @wyattharms