Translate this: Vladimir Putin and his puppet are lying about Chechnya’s gay concentration camps
This is the latest news from a Russian newspaper called “SIGHT” which was titled “Kadyrov declared his readiness to cooperate with federal authorities on the topic of gay rights in Chechnya.” I used Google Translate to read this article in English. I did not correct the grammatical errors that the translation tool made in the interpretation. I also added my own personal translation as far as what was really being said.
The caption under the above picture stated (Google Translation) “Authorities and law enforcement agencies in Chechnya are ready to work with federal agencies to check media reports about alleged violations of the rights of people with unconventional sexual orientation in the republic, and no statements have been received so far, Chechnya’s head Ramzan Kadyrov said.” (link)
My Translation: Kadyrov still denies there have been any complaints by gay men in Chechnya but he is willing to work with federal agencies so he and Putin can say they have investigated while possibly taking a vacation hunting brown bear in Alaska with Sarah Palin.
Google Translation: The head of Chechnya noted that in his region “there is no very phenomenon called non-traditional orientation: the people have lived for thousands of years by other rules, which are prescribed by the Most High, are dictated by morals and ethics of relations between people.” “We have never had them among the Chechens. Unless we are talking about those who, not being a Chechen, call themselves so that they can get to the West,” he said. According to Kadyrov, local authorities called for reports of harassment or violence, if any, but so far no statements have been received in this regard. (link).
My Translation: Homosexuals have never existed in the history of Chechnya. The only people in Chechnya that say they are homosexuals are from another country and are looking for sanctuary or asylum in the west. Again, Kadyrov is denying that any LGBTQ people are born or have ever lived in Chechnya. Kadyrov also said that local police had asked gay people to come forward if they had been attacked and nobody had come forward. Of course not one person came forward because they know they would have been shipped off to one of Kadyrov’s concentration camps. All LGBTQ Chechens know this would be a death sentence.
Google Translation: At the same time the head of the republic rejected the assumption that people are afraid to apply to law enforcement bodies. “This is not true. Nobody intimidated anyone,” Kadyrov noted. The head of Chechnya noted that “some influential forces of world scale” need to “inflate” this topic for a long time. At the same time, Kadyrov pointed out, bloody conflicts, wars, epidemics, mass deaths from famine in Africa, violence against children are ignored. Kadyrov announced his intention to work closely with the Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova and Russian law enforcers. He assured that the authorities of Chechnya are interested in having the truth about the situation in the region heard. “The law prevails in Chechnya. Anyone who violates it will be called to account. There should be no doubt about this,” Kadyrov said. (link)
My Translation: Basically Kadyrov states that homosexuals are not afraid of the police, that they would report abuse, knowing they would be taken directly to concentration camps! Nobody had to threaten anyone as all LGBTQ know the threat is implied by breathing. Seriously, I know I would never turn myself in to be tortured with electroshock, beaten with rubber tubes and starved. He also tries to divert the conversation by saying there are many problems in the world like war, epidemics, famine in Africa etc that are “real issues” while human rights and world leaders are calling out for an investigation into Chechnya wasting President Kadyrov’s time. He must have learned this from all of Trump’s diversion tactics from the beginning of his campaign until today.
Google Translation: Kadyrov said it was necessary to convey to Western politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the idea that their statements about the oppression of gays in Chechnya are groundless and are connected with the fact that these politicians do not have objective information. “We get the impression that a number of politicians in the West initially do not allow for the existence of a different opinion and other conclusions on this issue,” Kadyrov stressed. At the same time, if the West demands in an ultimatum form that Chechnya accept their rules, “if men marry men, women marry women, adopt children, teach them the same, this is unacceptable for our people,” Kadyrov stressed. He noted that in the West “they used to say what is in their interest, and not what is really there.”
Earlier Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised the ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova that he would ask the Prosecutor General and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to assist in checking the situation in the North Caucasus Federal District with people of non-traditional orientation.
Let’s remind, Novaya Gazeta reported about the allegedly carried out by the authorities of Chechnya, the persecution of local representatives of sex minorities. Head of the region Ramzan Kadyrov categorically rejected such accusations. (link)
My Translation: In this final section President Kadyrov of Chechnya says that all world leaders, especially Chancellor Angela Merkel, are lying in calling out Chechnya. He says this even though we have video evidence and interviews from the victims who have managed to escape Chechnya. He also states that the countries trying to intervene are trying to force Western views/human rights on to the Chechen people saying what’s good for Germany, America, England is good for the people of Chechnya. Kadyrov states Merkel is not being objective. All I can say is what a hypocrite. Kadyrov like Putin and Trump is a Psychopath/Sociopath Narcissist.
The only view that he believes to be true and valid is his own. Kadyrov is telling the rest of the world “Let Chechnya live by their laws and mind your own business”. His repeated terms of “people of non-traditional orientation” and “unconventional sexual orientation” are perfect examples that the only thing acceptable to Kadyrov are heterosexual men and women. He makes it very clear that it is unacceptable to have lesbians or gay men in their culture and that they absolutely would never be allowed to adopt a child much less raise them and teach them to be homosexuals, which, by the way, is not taught.
My verdict: Of course we all know this is ludicrous. I truly believe in the end Putin will say this horrific situation has been investigated fully by Russian and Chechen authorities and this is all just a plot cooked up by democratic countries as an attack on Chechnya. All we can do is continue to call on the United Nations and pressure Kadyrov for an independent investigation into gay men being tortured and killed in Chechen concentration camps. Only time will tell.
Kevin Orr is a political activist based in Austin, Texas. He’s known as @KevinDarryl on Twitter.