Recommendation 2138 (2018)

Persecution of LGBTI people in the Chechen Republic (Russian Federation)

Author(s): Parliamentary Assembly

Origin - Assembly debate on 27 June 2018 (24th Sitting) (see Doc. 14572, report of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, rapporteur: Mr Piet De Bruyn). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 June 2018 (24th Sitting).

1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers to its Resolution 2230 (2018) on the persecution of LGBTI people in the Chechen Republic. In 2017, a campaign of persecution unfolded against the backdrop of serious, systematic and widespread discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people in the Chechen Republic and resulted in abductions, arbitrary detentions, torture, beatings, intimidation and harassment.

2. Considering that all forms of persecution, hate speech, discrimination and harassment on any ground, including sexual orientation and gender identity, should be condemned in the strongest terms and should not go unpunished, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

2.1. call on the Russian Federation to comply with the recommendations laid down in Assembly Resolution 2230 (2018);

2.2. in the event of the Russian Federation failing to conduct an investigation within a reasonable lapse of time, consider launching a Council of Europe investigation into the campaign of persecution against LGBTI people which took place in 2017 in the Chechen Republic.

3. The Assembly recommends that when reviewing its Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)5 on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, the Committee of Ministers pay special attention to homophobic and transphobic hate speech, including by politicians, and its impact on discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, and hate crimes against LGBTI people.