USA sanctioning Chechnya’s gay purges for violating human rights, torturing and killing innocent people.
Gay purges in Chechnya started early 2017, when Romzan Kadyrov called for Chechnya to be purified of gay people. But, at the same time he said and (still does) that “We don’t have those kinds of people here. We don’t have any gays. If there are any, take them to Canada. Praise the God. Take them far from us so we don’t have them at home. To purify our blood, if there are any here, take them. They are devils. They are for sale. They are not people.”
Mike Pompeo condemns ‘horrific reports of abuses against LGBTI persons’.
Finally, on Monday, the US levelled personal sanctions against the Chechen leader, his wife and his daughter — banning them from travel to the US, and permitting the targeting of their personal assets.
In fact, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said: “This designation is due to Kadyrov’s involvement in gross violations of human rights in the Chechen Republic. The Department has extensive credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and extrajudicial killings. […] Along with many other likeminded nations, the United States has repeatedly raised concerns about reports of Mr Kadyrov’s violations publicly and privately. […] In 2018, the United States and fifteen other nations took the extraordinary step of invoking the OSCE’s Moscow mechanism to create a fact-finding mission into horrific reports of abuses against LGBTI persons, human rights defenders, members of the independent media, and other citizens who ran afoul of Mr Kadyrov. […] The Moscow mechanism rapporteur found that ‘harassment and persecution, arbitrary or unlawful arrests or detentions, torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions’ had taken place and that ‘a climate of impunity’ surrounded these events. […] We are concerned that Mr Kadyrov is now using the excuse of the coronavirus pandemic to inflict further human rights abuses on the people of the Chechen Republic.”
Pompeo then concluded: “Today’s action serves to notify Mr Kadyrov that his involvement in gross violations of human rights has consequences, both for him and his family, and that the United States is committed to using all the tools at our disposal to ensure accountability for those who engage in this abhorrent behaviour.”
Bravo Mike!!
