Today the Central Committee of the Christian Universal Life Church, a liberal protestant church with over a million members in more than 70 countries, called the leaders of all free nations to intervene against what is nothing less than a genocide against LGBT people in the Russian federal state of Chechnya. While the situation for homosexual people in Russia is unfavourable anyway, the circumstances in Chechnya have become nothing less than a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Church is horrified
The events of the recent times in the most vicious region of the Russian Federation has left the public in shock.
According to reports from Human Rights Watch, gay men have been incarcerated, tortured and murdered for being either gay or not against the LGBT population. Novaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper, conducted an investigation and confirmed that the Chechen authorities directly ordered to abduct gay men and to keep them in a special prison in the city of Argun. This jail is said to be nothing less than a concentration camp similar to the ones of the Nazi era in Germany. The independent newspaper reports that gay men are tortured there and blackmailed to reveal the identities of other gay people in Chechnya.
Against everything
The Ambassador to the Orthodox Countries, Her Eminence Sister Evangelia, reported to the central committee of her church that reports from human rights activists confirm that the Chechen leadership seems to be responsible for mass abductions and torture of LGBT people.
"Although Islam being the religious background of the region, the actions of the Chechen leadership is even against Islamic sharia law and the laws of the Russian Federation," the Ambassador reported."It's just sadism in action. Moscow desperately wants stability in Chechnya, so they let the leadership of the region govern their territory the way they want to.
The Kremlin would never risk stability in Chechnya, especially as the Russian Federation itself is not in favour of gay rights".
Shocked religious leaders
The clergy of the Church was shocked at the reports. Deputy Supreme Leader, Archbishop Jemima made clear that a person cannot change his or her sexual nature. According to the Archbishop, the LGBT community has nowhere to flee to in southern Russia.
Even their families may pose a danger to them. So-called "honour killings" are widespread in Chechnya and usually left unpunished. "Gay men are the most endangered group in Russia. We are deeply concerned," the Archbishop expressed her deep disgust regarding the situation in Chechnya. The central committee issued an executive order calling all their church members to do everything in their power to work against this situation. It also asks all other Christians to join the fight for human rights in southern Russia and around the globe.
