23 February 2023, 18:48
Rights defenders from SK SOS Crisis Group report growth of appeals for help from Northern Caucasus
In 2022, the number of complaints about harassments due to sexual or gender identity has tripled in Northern Caucasus the SK SOS Crisis Group has informed.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in November 2022, the UN Human Rights Committee pointed to human rights violations in Northern Caucasus, noting the persecution of brothers from Chechnya, Salekh Magamadov and Ismail Isaev, convicted of aiding a militant.
In February 2021, the 20-year-old Salekh Magamadov and his brother Ismail Isaev, then a minor, were taken from Nizhny Novgorod to Chechnya by law enforcers. In March 2021, the brothers complained about beatings and torture and stated they had been forced to sign fabricated confessions. A court in Chechnya sentenced Salekh Magamadov to eight years and Ismail Isaev to six years in prison.
"In 2022, we received more than 130 applications from the regions of Northern Caucasus. While at the beginning of the year we received an average of two to three applications per week, by the end of 2022, the number increased to nine to ten," the Telegram channel of the SK SOS Crisis Group reports.
In particular, people complained about being harassed because of their sexual or gender identity. "In total, in 2022 we helped 48 people; apart from family members of LGBTQ+ people. In six years of our work, not a single crime against our clients was investigated by law enforcement bodies. In 2022, the situation became even worse: in no case did the police help us protect human rights," the Crisis Group has stated.
The report posted in the website of the Crisis Group presents stories, in particular, of Leyla Gireeva, a resident of Ingushetia, Magomed Askhabov, a native of Dagestan, and Salekh Magamadov, Ismail Isaev and Elina Ukhmanova, who were brought to Chechnya and convicted there.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 22, 2023 at 02:00 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: Caucasian Knot
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