Rights activists from Human Rights Watch say in a new report that high-level officials in Russia’s Chechnya have visited detention facilities where gay people allegedly were illegally held and tortured. (Nataliya Vasilyeva, File/Associated Press)MOSCOW — High-level officials in Russia’s Chechnya humiliated inmates during visits to detention facilities where gay people were allegedly held and tortured, Human Rights Watch said in a new report Friday. Human Rights Watch said it had spoken to six former detainees who said Chechen officials, including two high-level ones, visited the unofficial prisons and humiliated the inmates. The Chechen men “remain at great risk of being hounded by Chechen authorities or their own relatives as long as they remain in Russia,” Human Rights Watch said. President Vladimir Putin earlier this month assured the country’s human rights ombudswoman that he would speak with law enforcement officials about the reported torture of gay men.

Source: Washington Post May 26, 2017 08:37 UTC