Human Rights Watch documented numerous cases in which personnel of the Second Operational Investigative Bureau (ORB-2) of the Russian Federal Ministry of Interior torture Chechen prisoners in official places of detention.
Detainees described being subjected to electric shocks and severely beaten with boots, sticks, plastic bottles filled with water or sand, and heavy rubber-coated cables; some were also burned. In addition, Russians widely use psychological torturer, such as threats or imitation of sexual abuse or execution, as well as threats to harm their relatives.
In cases when victims dare to launch a formal complaint, prosecutors refuse to open an investigation, and courts disregard the defendants' allegations of torture, even when they are supported by medical records or witness testimony.
The climate of impunity is worsened by the occupation authorities' persistent efforts to close Chechnya to outside scrutiny and prevent documentation of abuses. Last month, Russia refused to allow the UN special reporter on torture to conduct unannounced visits and meet with detainees in private, forcing him to postpone his visit to Russia and Chechnya indefinitely.
Some Testimonies
"They beat me mercilessly. They put me against the wall with my legs spread apart and kicked me on my privates. I later saw that the entire area in between my thighs was all black from bruises. They pulled my pants down and threatened to rape me. I kept telling them, 'Just kill me!' but they said, 'No, we won't kill you right away, we'll do it slowly, and we will also rip your brother apart.' I felt like during these interrogations I was dying over and over again, and they would revive me to continue."
"Sulim S."(not his real name), detained together with his brother "Salambek S." (not his real name) by the ORB-2 personnel in March 2006.
"They started kicking me, and then brought an 'infernal machine' to give me electric shocks. They attached the wires to my toes and kept cranking the handle to release the current. I couldn't bear it. I was begging: 'Give me any paper? I'll sign it, I'll sign anything.'" "Khamid Kh." (not his real name), detained at a unofficial detention facility in April 2006, Reuters reported.
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