Gay men in Chechnya were detained and tortured by police, according to HRW. Igor Kotchetkov, the head of the Russian LGBT Network, said at least 23 men had been detained between December in 2018 and January in 2019.  HRW interviewed four of the men and found that their phones had been taken away during torture that included being kicked by police and beaten with sticks and pipes. Three of them were tortured with electric shock and one was even “raped by a stick.” They were interrogated and  were forced to expose other gay men that they know.

Rachel Denber, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Europe and Central Asia director, said “Russian authorities should immediately investigate the new wave of torture and humiliation by the Chechen police of men they believe to be gay and, finally, carry out an effective investigation into the purge of 2017.”