WHERE THE ‘GAY PURGE’ BEGAN
Lapunov’s Russian ethnicity offered him a small degree of privilege, as his interrogators told him they would not beat him as severely as ethnic Chechens. Instead, they forced him to witness the torture of other detainees. “POLICEMEN WOULD BURST INTO THE CELL, SHOUTING THAT I WAS GAY AND THAT PEOPLE LIKE ME SHOULD BE KILLED.” “Every 10-15 minutes, while I was being beaten, different policemen would burst into the cell, shouting that I was gay and that people like me should be killed. From their words and actions, I assumed that eventually.” Lapunov recounted. He endured a harrowing 12 days, forced to sleep on a piece of cardboard on the cold floor. Bloodstains from a previous prisoner who had been tortured in the same cell were a constant reminder of his predicament. Every day, as he lay down on his makeshift bed, he was confronted by these chilling reminders. Prisoners were coerced into fighting each other and were subjected to constant humiliation. “They did everything they could to degrade, insult, and belittle us. Day after day, they detailed the manner in which I would be killed,” Lapunov explained. Eventually, Lapunov was released, but not before being forced to record a staged video confessing that he was homosexual. Chechen policemen threatened to kill him if he disclosed his ordeal to anyone. Nevertheless, Lapunov sought help from human rights activists and filed a police report. “I want to ask the government to investigate because we are all human and we all have rights,” he stated. However, the police did not investigate Lapunov’s case, and the Russian authorities did nothing to bring the perpetrators to justice. Consequently, for his own safety, Lapunov had to leave Russia. He does not disclose his current location as his life remains under threat. Lapunov is currently petitioning Europe’s highest rights court, arguing that Russian authorities failed to conduct a thorough investigation into his case. Lapunov was able to publicly tell his story and leave Russia thanks to human rights activists. The human rights organization, NC SOS Crisis Group, aids LGBTQ+ individuals in the North Caucasus whose lives are in mortal danger. The organization evacuates individuals from the region or from Russia, provides legal, medical and psychological support, basic necessities such as food and clothes, and also assists survivors in finding a new home. Since 2017, the situation in the North Caucasus has deteriorated further. The inhuman practices originating in Chechnya have permeated the entire region, making life for LGBTQ+ individuals unbearable. They have no one to trust and no one to turn to for help, except for human rights activists who evacuate those in mortal danger. Meanwhile, Russian authorities have denied the accusations, and Kadyrov himself claims that there are no gay individuals in Chechnya at all. Kadyrov said “They [homosexuals] are not humans. And they will be damned for lying about us.” Maxim Lapunov’s story is also featured in the HBO documentary “Welcome to Chechnya.”
By Alexandra Miroshnikova
In one region of Russia, LGBTQ+ individuals are being relentlessly persecuted. Gay individuals in the North Caucasus are forced into specialized clinics where they are purportedly “treated” for homosexuality, their freedoms are stripped away, and they are coerced into marriages. The situation is particularly dire in Chechnya, where prisons specifically for gay people exist, and LGBTQ+ individuals are subjected to torture and brutal killings. The voices of the people from this region are barely heard – fear pervades every aspect of life in Chechnya. Residents are terrified to discuss what is happening, even under the cloak of anonymity. The tortures and killings in Chechnya came to light in 2017 when human rights activists started rescuing victims. Most survivors were too terrified to talk about their experiences, fearing that the security forces would track them down and kill them. The ‘gay purges’ in Chechnya are orchestrated by the region’s head, Kremlin-backed Ramzan Kadyrov, a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Those who managed to escape Chechnya feared that Kadyrov would exhaust all resources to silence anyone who dared to speak out. There was a desperate need for someone who would publicly accuse the Russian and Chechen authorities of organizing the “gay purge”. Maksim Lapunov rose to the challenge. His testimony alerted the world to the critical state of LGBTQ+ rights in the North Caucasus. Lapunov, an ethnic Russian, had lived in Chechnya for two years, working as an event host. In 2017, he was abducted by two men in plain clothes and taken to a so-called “gay prison”. Security forces subjected him to beatings in an attempt to extract information about other gay individuals in the republic. They also forced him to leave his fingerprints on a gun as a form of leverage. He was beaten with sticks, tortured with electric shocks, and constantly threatened with death.
www.corkpride.com
#CorkPride2023
64
65
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker