1,000 signatures reached
To: John Witherow, Tony Gallagher, Katharine Viner, Chris Evans, Paul Dacre, Ted Young, George Osborne
Put the Genocide of Gay Men in Chechnya on the Front Page
Please give the genocide of gay men in Chechnya the media coverage necessary to pressure the government into action, by ensuring it becomes a front-page feature.
Why is this important?
The British government and the international community has yet to call the situation in Chechnya what it is: Genocide. The Chechen government is rounding up, torturing and murdering gay men. Their families are being given an ultimatum: murder your relatives or state enforcers will.
The media is a powerful force in British civic life and forms the strongest voice in setting the political agenda. We urge you, as editors of our country's dominant media platforms, to ensure that the genocide of gay men in Chechnya becomes a front page issue in Britain. Only then will politicians give the issue the attention it deserves. The General Election allows an opportunity to bring this issue to the front pages at a time when politicians are especially susceptible to headlines.
Please understand the huge significance of the power you wield as agenda setters in the United Kingdom. Innocent people are being tortured and murdered and you have the power to stop it. I urge you to embrace the media's power to affect the agenda to save the lives of those desperately in need - before it's too late.
