Re: gay torture camps, one more thing...

Thanks again for adding your name! Now forward the email below to everyone -- let's make our urgent call for human rights and justice impossible to ignore:

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Dear friends,

Chechnya is rounding up gay people and taking them to torture camps, and it's as horrific as it sounds. Men are being electrocuted, tortured until they reveal names of other gay people, and beaten so badly that some have died.

Targeting gay people and dragging them into camps is like something the Nazis would do. It's both terribly upsetting and infuriating, but there's a plan to stop it.

Avaaz will amplify the call of brave local activists in the media and use our massive global outcry to force an end to the crackdown. Sign the petition and tell everyone - let's get to one million:

Close the gay torture camps

It's almost too horrific to believe, but Chechnya has long been controlled by a brutal human rights abuser, backed by Russia. When asked about the torture camps, his officials denied the existence of gay people at all. Saying: "If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them, as their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return."

And now the well respected International Crisis Group has confirmed reports from people who've escaped from the camp, and they're releasing the information to get global attention.

So let's use this moment and build a massive outcry that puts Russia, Chechnya and their barbaric practices to shame. Join the call by clicking below, then forward this widely:

Close the gay torture camps

So much of what's happening in the world right now feels out of our control. But each day we have a choice - either sit back and watch the horror unfold, or do something about it. Together, let's choose action, love and unity, and let's channel it towards the terrified families in Chechnya who risk losing a loved one. 

With hope and determination,

Rewan, Emma, Fatima, Sarah and the entire Avaaz team

More information:
Chechen police 'kidnap and torture gay men' - LGBT activists (BBC)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39566136

More than 100 gay men 'sent to prison camps' in Chechnya (Independent)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chechnya-gay-men-concentration-camps-torture-detain-nazi-ramzan-kadyrov-chechen-russia-region-a7677901.html

Gay Men Are Being Rounded Up And Killed In Chechnya: Report (Huffington Post) 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chechen-gays-arrested-killed-reports-say_us_58e12a65e4b0b3918c843db6

Gay men go missing in Chechnya, reports say (CNN) 
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/04/europe/chechnya-gay-men-reported-missing/

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