Nikki Haley, President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, is overshadowing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and, for now at least, has become the nation’s top diplomat. Her forceful statements against human rights atrocities has made good use of an institution that Trump frequently badmouthed on the campaign trail. Haley initially supported Marco Rubio for president, so it was curious when Trump picked her to be the country’s U.N. representative. But Haley has continued to surprise us by having carved out a role for herself in the foreign policy vacuum created by Tillerson’s few public comments and appearances.
Now, as reports surface that hundreds of men have been detained in concentration-style camps in the Russian region of Chechnya because of their "non-traditional" sexual orientation, Haley must absolutely condemn such actions. According to reports, it marks the first time since World War II that LGBT people have been held in concentration camps. In addition to allegations of torture at the hands of government officials, there are reports that at least three men have been killed.
OutRight Action International, a global LGBT rights organization, stated in a news release that the detentions of the men were confirmed through independent sources. LGBTQ people living in Chechnya are in extreme danger, OutRight stated, and called on the international community to "act immediately."
Human Rights Watch stated that a "brutal"campaign against LGBT people "has been sweeping through Chechnya."
The International Business Times reported that the arrests "are being made as part of a widespread anti-gay purge in the area."
A spokesman for Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov denied that LGBTQ people exist in the country, which is impossible. But the spokesman also indirectly highlighted the violence and homophobia faced by gay men, 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."
This week, Tillerson is meeting in Moscow with Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin. The meeting comes amid rising tensions after the U.S. airstrike on a Syrian airfield last week, which was taken in retaliation for the Assad regime’s use of saran gas on children and others, killing 80 people. This portends poorly for future relations between the U.S. and Russia, even after Trump and Putin engaged in mutual admiration during the campaign and Russia meddled in the U.S. election.
Haley was the first senior administration official to speak out against the Syrian government s use of chemical weapons on its own people, wielding pictures of dead Syrian children, the New York Times reported. She needs to keep denouncing atrocities. The U.S. can t take a backseat to gays being tortured, or children being gassed. The international community needs to investigate the situation in Chechnya, and Haley should use her position at the U.N. to keep the issue in the spotlight.