Worldwide protests erupt after reports of a gay concentration camp in Chechnya

Various human and gay rights groups are leading protests around the world after reports of more than 100 gay men being rounded up into Chechen concentration camps.

An independent Russian newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, has reported that three men, suspected of homosexuality, have been killed as well.

Gay men are being ‘tortured and murdered in secret prisons’ in Chechnya.https://t.co/Jt4UTgUgzo pic.twitter.com/xHrN6U2oOc

— Gay Times Magazine (@GayTimesMag) April 10, 2017

The newspaper also claims that more than three people have been killed, according to their sources, but they have only confirmed three names.

Organizations like Amnesty International, Stonewall and Human Rights Campaign are leading the protests.

Worrying reports emerging of concentration camp-style prisons for gay men in Chechnya. Call for their safety: https://t.co/QMe9TUymEZ https://t.co/ChMsCf3Pt0

— Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) April 10, 2017

“Hundreds of men suspected of being gay are being abducted, tortured and even killed in the southern Russia republic of Chechnya,” said Amnesty International UK on their website. “The Chechen government won’t admit that gay men even exist in Chechnya, let alone that they ordered what the police call ‘preventive mopping up’ of people they deem undesirable.”

Stonewall UK says they are working closely with LGBT groups involved in the Chechen crisis to find the most helpful and safe resolution.

We’re working closely with LGBT groups involved in the Chechen crisis to find the most helpful – and safe – resolution. #Chechnya

— Stonewall (@stonewalluk) April 11, 2017

Meanwhile, Human Rights Campaign calls the detention camps “not only a crime against the LGBTQ community, but a crime against humanity.”

Chechnya, or the Chechen Republic, is a federal subject of Russia located in the southernmost part of Eastern Europe.