Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the accuracy of reports of recently increased persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya, including reports of (a) at least two deaths of people in custody and (b) approximately 40 detentions.

We are deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Chechnya, including recent reports of renewed persecution of LGBT people. UK officials are not permitted to travel to Chechnya for their own safety so officials have met with human rights organisations operating in the region to discuss these reports. Taken together with detailed reports prepared by credible organisations including LGBT Network and Human Rights Watch, our assessment is that there has been an increase in LGBT persecution in Chechnya.

On 18 March the UK, joined by 31 other countries, delivered a statement to the UN Human Rights Council on the persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya. I also raised this issue directly with my Russian counterpart, First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov, in the margins of the Munich Security Conference in February. In November 2018, the UK was one of 16 countries to invoke the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Moscow Mechanism to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in Chechnya. We will continue to urge Russia to follow the recommendations outlined in the report of the Moscow Mechanism.​