*This story has been updated to include a comment from Sen. Pat Toomey.
A committee of the U.S. Senate today passed a resolution led by Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania that condemns the violence and persecution of LGBT people in Chechnya.
The Foreign Relations Committee unanimously adopted the measure, and it is now awaiting a full Senate vote.
The resolution calls on Chechen officials to “cease the abduction, detention and torture of individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation and hold accountable those involved in perpetrating such abuses.” Additionally, it demands “the release of individuals wrongfully detained, and identify those individuals whose involvement in such violence qualifies for the imposition of sanctions under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 or the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who would be responsible for moving the bill forward for a full Senate vote, did not respond to request for comment.
The companion bill in the House, H. Res. 351, passed June 27 with 85 cosponsors, including 21 Republicans. Toomey introduced the resolution June 29 with Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.); it garnered 44 cosponsors, including 13 Republicans. Sen. Bob Casey (D) of Pennsylvania was among the cosponsors.
In a statement, Toomey said he hopes “the entire Senate approves this bill in short order.”
“The ‘honor killings’ in Chechnya of individuals who are or are perceived to be gay are not only abhorrent, but they are serious human rights violations,” Toomey said. “This situation is unacceptable and Russia must act to protect the human rights of all its citizens. I appreciate Senator Markey’s support of this resolution and Chairman Corker and Ranking Member Cardin moving quickly to approve it at the committee level.”
Over the past year, reports have surfaced of Chechen authorities running six secret prisons for LGBT men, at which they have been tortured into outing others in their community. Authorities allegedly rounded up and detained more than 100 men, and more than 20 have been reported dead.
A representative from the Human Rights campaign called this bipartisan condemnation “crucially important.”
“President Trump’s severe lack of leadership on this life and death situation in Russia is deeply disturbing, and it’s far past time he speaks out,” said Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global, in a statement. “Given the violence and arrests LGBTQ people are facing in places like Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Tanzania and Egypt, the U.S. must not back away from leading on LGBTQ human rights. We urge the full Senate to quickly pass this important resolution and send a strong message to this administration, the victims, and those responsible for these atrocities.”
Toomey has previously voted against a number of LGBT measures. They include the Charlie Morgan Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act, which would have given same-sex partners of veterans access to medical benefits, and the Student Nondiscrimination Act, which would have protected LGBT students in public schools from discrimination. He also publicly denounced the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision on marriage equality.
Toomey did vote in 2013 in favor of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, after first offering an amendment to broaden religious exemptions, which did not pass. He also supported the 2010 repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the military’s ban on openly gay service members.