The following are excerpts from our report to the Flemish Parliament.
“LGBT World Beside is an organization founded by refugees who survived the “first wave” of persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya. We, our friends and relatives who remained in Russia, are living witnesses of how the Chechen authorities tried to rape them. Now that a new wave of persecution has begun in Chechnya, we are again afraid for ourselves and for the safety of our loved ones. We demand from the Russian authorities to put an end to the persecution and physical violence against LGBT people in Chechnya and to conduct an effective investigation of all the crimes of recent weeks. We also call on the world community, the authorities of democratic states that have signed the World Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Status of Refugees, not to refuse assistance to LGBT refugees from Chechnya, who literally have to choose between life and death.”
“The work of our organization is very important. LGBT World Beside – allows the world to find out what terrible tortures and murders occur in Chechnya, as well as conveying information for gays and lesbians of Chechnya, that they are normal and can live in society and benefit, that you can no longer hide and not be afraid, they can always Seek help in the civilized countries of Europe.”
The speech in the Flemish Parliament has just ended. The reason was the adoption of a resolution condemning the systematic persecution of gays and lesbians in Chechnya. LGBT World Beside spoke with delegations from various parties about the situation in Chechnya. Afterwards the delegation was received by Jan Peumans, chairman of parliament. On behalf of the Chechen refugees who came to the Flemish Parliament with us, we would like to thank Piet De Bruyn for the opportunity to tell our story.