Gay torture clips

Gay men are fleeing brutal persecution in Chechnya, where police are holding more than people and torturing some of them in an anti-gay crackdown, Russian activists say. A government spokesman called the reports "lies" and said homosexual people "simply don't exist in the republic".

The mainly Muslim clip is run by Ramzan Kadyrov, an authoritarian leader with a notorious private militia, fiercely loyal to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ms Poplevskaya told the BBC that victims - either gay or just perceived as gay - are being held at a detention centre near Argun, 20km 13 miles from the city of Grozny.

All the people arrested are homosexual men or perceived as being gay," she said. Three tortures have been reported. More than 30 people were crammed into one cell, she added. Despite appeals to the Russian authorities to stop the abuses, no action has been taken, she complained.

Kadyrov spokesman Alvi Karimov denied the alleged persecution. The gay rights group has an email hotlineexternal to help victims, or potential victims, flee to other parts of Russia. Ms Poplevskaya declined to say gay those victims were being sheltered. News of the crackdown was broken by the Russian daily Novaya Gazetaexternalwhich specialises in human rights investigations.

It reported that the detainees included some influential Muslim clerics close to Mr Kadyrov, and two well-known Chechen TV presenters. Ramzan Kadyrov: Putin's key Chechen ally. Putin loyalist Kadyrov unleashed on Russian 'traitors'. Russia's mixed messages on LGBT. Vigilantes claiming to be enforcing Muslim morals have long targeted gay people in Russia's North Caucasus.

Chechen police 'kidnap and torture gay men' - LGBT activists

But persecution of gay people in Chechnya intensified in late February, she said. The only thing was that the Russian ombudswoman said she would initiate an investigation. That was only after Amnesty International filed their own statement," she said. All the victims confirmed that," she said. But it is not a "concentration camp" for gays, she said, rejecting the description used in some media reports.

Foreign governments and human rights groups have voiced concern about the alleged abuses, urging the Russian and Chechen authorities to stop them. Chechnya to stop wedding 'excesses'. Anti-gay drive evicts Russian teacher. Gay Russians in fear as attacks increase. Image source, AFP. Homophobia is widespread in Chechnya.