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Eyewitnesses have told human rights crisis group NC SOS, which helps LGBTQ+ people leave regions where they face persecution, about the torture methods used by Chechen police.
- One form of torture is referred to as “riding in a BMW,” which involves covering a person's head with a black bag and strangling them with it. When the victim starts to suffocate, the bag is taken off and then put back on, continuing the strangulation. The victim also shared an experience where he was placed face down, a bag was put over his head, electrodes were attached to his fingers, and a chair with an officer sitting on it was positioned over his head. When an electric current was passed through his body, he couldn't scream and hit his head on the chair.
- Another victim recounted being placed on a bench in a garage and tied with a rope to a chain on the floor by his feet. Using a remote control, one of the officers operated a winch, suspending him upside down. In this position, he was struck on his ankles and thighs with a metal crowbar. He vividly remembers the excruciating pain and losing consciousness. Upon regaining consciousness, he was told that since he was awake, he “wouldn't die.”
- Another individual shared an account of being compelled to place the muzzle of a gun and a police baton in his mouth, with the police officers claiming that “gays like big d*cks.” This led to the man losing two teeth due to the force. The police officers also tried to insert a baton into his anus.
- Another individual recounted an instance of torture where the victim was compelled to immerse his feet in a metal basin filled with water, which was then heated using a gas torch. This painful act was intended to dissuade him from contemplating an escape.
- In a different form of torture, the police displayed to another person via a phone screen the act of inserting a metal tube into the victim's anus, which was then used to insert barbed wire. The tube was subsequently removed, and the wire was slowly extracted. Following this demonstration, the detainee succumbed to cooperating with the police and provided information about at least three other Chechen gay men.
- Lastly, the last victim endured electrocution using a TA-57 field telephone. To compel his cooperation, a police officer attached electrodes to the man's fingers and then rapidly turned the generator's knob. This electrocution torture lasted for close to five minutes.
Amin Dzhabrailov, a resident of the Chechen capital Grozny, and Maxim Lapunov, a native of the Omsk Region, were the first to speak openly about the persecution of LGBTQ+ people in Chechnya. Both of them were detained and spent time confined in various prison cells, where they endured physical abuse and electric shock torture. They were coerced to reveal names of other members of the LGBTQ+ community. News later emerged about the escape of Aminat Lorsanova, who was beaten and “treated” for bisexuality by her relatives. In 2021, another individual, Khalimat Taramova, was abducted, having previously reported instances of physical abuse and threats from her family members.