It also said three of the interviewed victims witnessed Daudov’s presence at unofficial detention facilities in Grozny and Argun, where the abuses were carried out. It says most of the purge victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch 'reported hearing the police who held and abused them refer to Daudov and to orders he allegedly issued about violence against gay men.' The report says the speaker of Chechnya’s parliament, Magomed Daudov, 'seems to have played a key role in both securing and giving approval from the Chechen leadership to set in motion the purge.' In a 29-page report released on May 26, the U.S.-based nongovernmental rights group said the 'antigay purge' lasted from late February until at least early April - and that 'it was ordered and conducted by officials in Chechnya.'
Human Rights Watch says it has confirmed that police in Russia's Chechnya region rounded up, tortured, and humiliated dozens of gay or bisexual men during the spring of 2017 in 'an apparent effort to purge them from Chechen society.'
