The President of the Philippines got a phone call from the USA's President, this could be interesting on a global basis.
Pursuing peace rather than irritating the entire human race about differences is a far better path. President Putin needs to investigate these assertions.
Russia is an enormous country and the powers that rule locally can take on it's own persona. We have seen this before in Chechnya with soldiers making shame an issue with women in the streets. But, with the intensification of religious enthusiasm rising, this could be a very sad outcome no one in Moscow expected.
I fully expect improvement with this issue. This is a human rights violation. It needs to stop. If there are deaths, that needs to be reported to the international community.
President Putin needs to redefine what loyalty to Russia actually is and it doesn't mean Russian against Russian. I am sure there are many in Moscow, in the eastern region of Russia, surprised at these reports. There are many, not a few and there is every expectation there are much more torture taking place.
17 October 1917
By Sarah Rainsford
Six months after reports emerged (click here) that gay men were being detained illegally and tortured in the Russian republic of Chechnya, a young man has spoken publicly for the first time about his ordeal.
Maxim Lapunov has described being held for 12 days in a blood-soaked cell, beaten with sticks, threatened and humiliated by police.
But despite reporting what he endured to the authorities, his lawyer says no proper investigation has been conducted.
Mr Lapunov, who is 30 and from Siberia, had been working and living in Chechnya for two years when he alleges he was grabbed and dragged into a car one night in March by two men he didn't know....
