Chechnya: Beaten with a hose and electrocuted

More details are emerging of the violent mass crackdown against LGBT people in the Russian republic of Chechnya.

Earlier this week, various sources reported that around 100 gay men were rounded up, arrested and even killed by the authorities in recent weeks.

The Russian LGBT Network has now released information about a number of incidents. In one report, a man claims he was arrested by security officials simply on suspicion of homosexuality.

“In order to get the confession, they beat him with a hose and tortured [him] with electricity,” said the group.

“He reported that about 30 people were locked in the same room together with him. According to him, the security officials themselves stated that the order came from the leaders of the Republic. The detained were forced to share the contacts of other gay men. The more the person informed, the longer he was detained.”

In another incident, a man was detained because of messages he sent via the Russian social media site VKontakte.

“People in the ‘Terek’ uniform (Special Rapid Response Team) put a young man in a car and took him to an unknown location,” reported the network. “The young man was detained and tortured for several days. The father was told that that his son would be publicly ashamed on TV and then released. The young man was indeed released… [but] his whereabouts are unknown.”

An anonymous source also contacted the group’s hotline and reported that he was detained and witnessed mass tortures of people suspected of homosexuality.

He claimed that detainees were beaten and tortured with electricity. “The anonymous source provided photos with extensive hematomas. The detained were not fed properly. Sometimes people were beaten to death,” said the network.

A number of governments have now spoken out against the persecution of the LGBT community in Chechnya.

The US State Department said: “We urge the Russian government to conduct an independent and credible investigation into the alleged killings and mass arrests, and hold the perpetrators responsible. We were likewise deeply disturbed by local authorities’ statements that apparently condone and even incite violence against LGBTI persons.”

President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani also called for the perpetrators to be prosecuted while the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office expressed its condemnation of the incidents.

It noted: “The human rights situation for LGBT people in Russia has deteriorated significantly in recent years and we have voiced our serious concern over these developments with Russian authorities at all levels.”