In February, there have been reports about concentration camps in Chechnya which is part of the Russian Federation. Over 100 male residents have been rounded up, they are assumed to be gay or bisexual. They have been said to be detained and tortured by authorities because of their sexual orientation.

Students Who Are Not Silent (S.W.A.N.S) have encouraged people to sign a petition through Amnesty International to demand the government investigate what is going on and not ignore the issue.

“I think our government should at least look into these disturbing accusations, which come from sound sources and have little to no real oppositional facts, but I’m not holding my breath! At least Canada’s government vowed to launch a full investigation,” said S.W.A.N.S member Alex DeLong.

LGBT rights in Chechnya have always been a concern among those who are in the community. Described as a highly conservative society where homophobia is widespread and homosexuality is taboo, same sex sexual activity between men has been illegal since 1996, same sex relationships get no recognition and they aren’t protected by discrimination.

Also brought to attention was the fact that the mainstream media did very little to report about what is happening.

“It upsets me how little LGBTQ+ issues such as these are reported. Few people cannot tell me what the LGBTQ acronym stands for, let alone what is happening in Chechnya,” DeLong said.

For S.W.A.N.S vice president Avery Harmon, he believes that no one should have to feel scared in another country because of who they are.

“I think what is happening is terrible. People should be able to live public lives with out fear of persecution or death,” Harmon said.

S.W.A.N.S also has been trying to get the government including President Trump to condemn the attacks. So far UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Senator Marco Rubio, and former Vice President Joe Biden have condemned the anti-gay purge and have said that its something that can not be ignored.

Haley held a meeting on April 18, at the UN Security Council to talk about human rights in general after denouncing the lack of action or investigation on behalf of Chechnya and Russian authorities.

“It was an interesting place to have such a meeting seeing as the UN already has a human rights council. As far as I can tell not a whole lot was done,” Harmon said.

The main advice S.W.A.N.S has is to just keep spreading the information about what is going on in Chechnya.

“Try to spread the information as much as possible and let it be known so that the government feels the pressure to act,” said S.W.A.N.S member Marilyn Shields.

One of the main things that Harmon said can be done is to put the pressure on the Russian Government to hold an investigation.

“What we can do to help is to keep international pressure on the Russian authorities to hold real investigations into the situation and the groups responsible. It is the first thing that has to happen if there is going to be an end to this,” Harmon said.

When asked if there was something you could tell the prisoners and all of the LGBT residents of Chechnya right now, DeLong shared his thoughts.

“People care about you, people are fighting for you, you are not alone,” DeLong said.