Tatiana Moskalkova
The Commissioner for human rights in Russia Tatiana Moskalkova doubted the veracity of the statements of “Novaya Gazeta” about the alleged repression against homosexuals in Chechnya. Her words are quoted in the Thursday, April 20 “Interfax”.
“I suspect that this is a provocation, it’s a false accusation”, — said Moskalkova. “What is it, do people get hurt, or someone wants to speculate on this?” — asks the Ombudsman, adding that is not yet ready to draw final conclusions.
She noted that all requests on this situation came from abroad. “Asked the Ambassador of England, [the Secretary General of the Council of Europe thorbjørn] Jagland, Council of Europe Commissioner for human rights Nils] Muiznieks, Commissioner for human rights UN [Zeid al-Hussein], Amnesty International,” — said Moskalkova. According to the Ombudsman, then with the filing of the foreign applicants intensified Russian.
According to her, five of her requests, including the Prosecutor General and the Investigative Committee, it received a negative response — no such crime has not been registered. “It was stated [in the publications of “the New newspaper”] about losses and two prisons with specific addresses in the town of Argun that there is supposedly a torture zone. I, having no interaction with human rights defenders, appeal to them to the journalists who work there, they leave the place, checking every corner — is untrue,” — said Moskalkova.
Earlier Moskalkova has complained that further validation is complicated by the lack of published material the names and specific acts of violence. According to her, she asked the correspondent of “Novaya Gazeta” to provide this information, but received no response.
The article “Novaya Gazeta” about the persecution of Chechen residents suspected of homosexuality, was released on 1 April. According to journalists, they are placed in a special prison, where he was tortured and forced to reveal the names of other gays.