Europe’s leading human rights body decided Wednesday not to remove a Chechen member of its Russian dissident advisory panel after earlier suspending him from his post over comments he made about LGBTQ+ people and so-called “honor killings” in the North Caucasus.
Ruslan Kutayev is one of five representatives of Russia’s Indigenous peoples and national minorities serving on the 15-member Platform for Dialogue with Russian Democratic Forces at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
In April, Kutayev stirred controversy when he said in an interview with journalists that he had “no desire to look into” the issue of women and LGBTQ+ people fleeing violence in Chechnya. He also refused to condemn so-called “honor killings,” a practice sometimes used to justify the murder of relatives perceived to have brought shame to the family.
PACE President Petra Bayr later said that she decided to suspend Kutayev’s membership in the Platform for Dialogue with Russian Democratic Forces after receiving “several complaints” about his adherence to the assembly’s rules.
Kutayev later clarified that he does not condone violence and was instead expressing attitudes within Chechen society as a whole.
