The human rights crisis group NC SOS said the man faced retaliation from relatives after his sexual orientation was revealed.
The human rights crisis group NC SOS has reported that it has helped a young queer man from Chechnya leave Russia after, according to the organisation, he faced the threat of being killed by his relatives. The man’s name was not disclosed for security reasons.
In its publication on Telegram, NC SOS claimed that the man came from an ‘influential family’ and that his sexual orientation had been revealed to those around him. After this, human rights defenders say, he faced a direct threat of violence.
‘His orientation was exposed, and the family was ready to deal with him. But he managed to leave. After the escape, he did not remain in Russia for even a few hours: he was almost immediately sent to another place. His case involved high risks and allowed no delay’, the organisation said.
According to the group, the evacuation process took place under conditions of heightened secrecy. A case manager from the organisation met the man at the airport, gave him a new mobile phone, and took the old one away to eliminate the possibility of tracking.
‘The old phone was destroyed for security reasons’, the crisis group explained.
Details of the route and the country to which the young man was sent were not disclosed.
According to the crisis group, if he had remained in Chechnya, the man would have faced the threat of an ‘honour killing’. This term is used by human rights defenders to describe cases in which relatives kill family members, accusing them of ‘bringing shame’ or ‘violating traditions’.
OC Media
According to data from crisis centres, young women and members of the queer community are considered the most vulnerable. At the same time, many people who face the threat of an ‘honour killing’ do not turn to law enforcement agencies because of distrust and fear of further persecution. Russian legislation does not contain special provisions directly regulating the protection of victims of ‘honour killings’.
NC SOS has been providing assistance since 2020 to people from the North Caucasus who are subjected to violence or persecution. The organisation offers temporary shelter, legal advice, and also helps people leave for other Russian regions or abroad.
Human rights defenders note that evacuating people from the North Caucasus is often complicated by social and cultural factors. In small settlements, they say, a person’s movements quickly become known to others, increasing the risk of being discovered. Additional difficulties are created by possible control by relatives, a lack of financial resources and documents, and dependence on the family environment.
Nate Ostiller
A study by the human rights organisation Legal Initiative identified 39 cases of honour-motivated killings between 2012 and 2017. Twenty-two cases were found in Daghestan, two in Ingushetia, and nine in Chechnya. It was noted that the real number of such killings is far higher than those documented in the study.
In December 2023, Saida Sirazhudinova, president of the Centre for the Study of Global Issues of Modernity and Regional Problems ‘Caucasus. Peace. Development’, published a report showing that in Chechnya, honour killings were the dominant motive behind the killing of women: out of 31 verdicts between 2022–2023 for the killing of women, 22 were committed according to the motive of an ‘honour killing’.
Elizaveta Chukharova
