Top LGBT group projects message onto Presidential Palace in Helsinki ahead of Trump-Putin summit

A leading LGBT advocacy group blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump over what the group sees as ongoing crimes against LGBT people by projecting messages on the building where they will meet on Monday. 

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) displayed messages on the side of Finland’s Presidential Palace on Sunday, calling out Putin for the reported abuse and torture of LGBT people in the Russian republic of Chechnya and Trump for his silence on the issue.

{mosads}

“Trump and Putin: Stop the Crimes Against Humanity in Chechnya,” one message read.

“The whole world is watching,” another message displayed. “Silence is deadly.”

4/ The world is watching — silence is deadly. #EyesOnChechnya pic.twitter.com/BdSzCKhDF5

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) July 16, 2018

The HRC said in a statement that more than 100 LGBT people have been “rounded up, tortured and abused — and as many as 20 have been murdered.”

Protesters gathered outside of the palace in Helsinki.

“Trump has unconscionably turned a blind eye to some of the worst anti-LGBTQ atrocities in a generation, including monstrous attacks on gay and bisexual men in Chechnya,” Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global, told the crowd.

“HRC is here in Helsinki to demand Donald Trump end his deafening silence, publicly condemn these Chechen crimes against humanity, and call on Putin to investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice,” he added.

They were joined by representatives from the Russian LGBT Network, the largest collection of organizations fighting for LGBT human rights, and Seta, Finland’s national LGBT rights organization.

HRC noted that Trump and the White House have refused to publicly condemn the Russian attacks against LGBT people. Both chambers of Congress have passed bipartisan resolutions condemning the abuse.

Trump and Putin are meeting in Helsinki, days after the Justice Department indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for allegedly hacking the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential election.

Trump has being criticized by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle for his reluctance to condemn Putin and Russia for the meddling.

Both leaders have described their relationship as friendly, and Trump has said Putin is not his “enemy.”