Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Friday joined Los Angeles City Councilmen Mitch O’Farrell, Mike Bonin and Paul Koretz, as well as officials with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, to condemn international human rights violations, specifically the beating and torture of gay men in concentration camps in the Republic of Chechnya.

The group joined outside City Hall to call on President Donald J. Trump to condemn the horrific abuse of gay men in Chechnya.

(From left) L.A. LGBT Center CEO Lorri L. Jean; Councilman Paul Koretz, 5th District; Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District; Councilman Mike Bonin, 11th District; and Congressman Adam Schiff held a press conference to condemn human rights violations in the Republic of Chechnya.
(photo courtesy of the District 13 Council Office)

“President Trump is so completely tone deaf as it relates to the consequences of violence that authoritarianism breeds, and so engulfed in the meltdown of his own administration, that we cannot realistically expect a show of leadership from our own executive branch of government to pressure or shame the Russian government into addressing the persecution of the LGBT community within their borders,” said O’Farrell, 13th District. “The Trump administration must act and act now, and world leaders must speak in one voice. If the president will not do this, then we will do it ourselves.”

Schiff said he has been “appalled” to learn of the “ongoing atrocities.”

“Life, liberty and security are fundamental human rights that we are all entitled to, regardless of who we are, or who we love, and the United States must speak out against these attacks on fellow human beings. We cannot be silent and look the other way. The United States must serve as a beacon of hope for vulnerable populations around the world,” Schiff said. “We must recommit ourselves to protect and promote the human rights and dignity of all persons.”

To date, nearly 100 gay men have been detained and at least three have been murdered, according to O’Farrell’s office.

“As Los Angeles City Councilmember of the 5th District and former Mayor of West Hollywood, I have spent my career fighting anti-LGBTQ discrimination with the same vehemence as every other kind of discrimination,” said Koretz. “These atrocities must stop and stop immediately. We don’t fight discrimination by keeping it in the dark – we chase it out of the shadows by shining a strong light on inhumanity wherever it may occur. Today we stand together with love for our fellow human beings. Today we reaffirm that we will not stand idly by while our fellow human beings suffer.”

Bonin, 11th District, said the internment and genocide of gay men in Chechnya is a tragic episode in the history of humanity.

“If President Trump is unwilling to act, it shows him to be a coward unwilling to uphold the American ideal and we are calling on Washington, D.C. to engage and end this atrocity immediately,” Bonin said.

O’Farrell, Bonin, and Koretz introduced a resolution denouncing the violations of human rights by the Chechen government and the Russian Federation.

“The failure of our president, our secretary of state, and the U.N. secretary general to address these atrocities is an outrage,” said Lorri L. Jean, CEO of the LA LGBT Center. “Gay men are dying while President Trump and Secretary Tillerson cater to Vladimir Putin. As long as they stay silent in the face of such horrific violence and murder, they have blood on their hands.”

The City Council resolution will also call upon the Trump Administration and the State Department to sanction Chechnya and the Russian Federation for their inhumane treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.