News
2007-02-15
Russian army
accused of gay prostitution
Following recent
news that Russia may reinvigorate Soviet law by jailing
gays, a new report finds that young recruits in the
R
Following recent
news that Russia may reinvigorate Soviet law by jailing
gays, a new report finds that young recruits in the
Russian army are being forced into prostitution.
The Gazeta newspaper reported that soldiers from an
army base in St. Petersburg are routinely being pimped
by senior officials, who then force them to turn over
the earnings. Clients allegedly include a former
general of FSB, Russia's intelligence agency.
Anonymous
soldiers told Gazeta that they were violently
tortured and beaten by senior officers as a means to
force them into prostitution. Last year a 19-year-old
recruit was reportedly beaten so badly that his
genitals and legs had to be amputated.
The Union of the
Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, a rights
group speaking on behalf of soldiers, said that clients
arrived at the base late at night to avoid
recognition. Soldiers were forced into cars and often
would be gone all night.
"The officers
would beat us on the arms and legs. We were sent out to
the park to earn money," one solider told the newspaper. "I
was tortured with electric shocks."
The officers
allegedly pasted a client list to successors, suggesting
that the practice was long-held tradition. Soldiers were
paid about $50 on average for each client, most of
which went back to the officers.
Defense minister
Sergei Ivanov, rumored as a potential successor to
President Vladimir Putin, has pledged an investigation.
(Hassan Mirza, Gay.com/U.K.)
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