Address Torture in EU-Kyrgyzstan Human Rights Dialogue

On theoccasion of the EU-Kyrgyz Republic Human Rights Dialogue the coalitions againsttorture in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the Helsinki Foundation forHuman Rights (HFHR, Poland), International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR,Belgium) and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) jointly issued adocument, entitled “Torturein Kyrgyzstan: Current concerns and recommendations”. It summarizes positivesteps taken by the authorities of Kyrgyzstan in recent years, identifiesserious gaps and weaknesses that persist in the legislative and institutionalframeworks, and it focuses on how the failure to consistently implementexisting legislation contributes to on-going torture and impunity.

In2014, the NGO Coalition against Torture in Kyrgyzstan documented over 80 casesof men, women and children who are believed to have been subjected to tortureor other forms of ill-treatment and urged prosecutor’s offices to conducteffective investigations into the allegations. Although the strength ofevidence in support of the allegations available to the Coalition in thesecases is high, criminal cases were opened in only 16 of them and only very fewpolice officers were convicted.

Amongdozens of cases of torture and ill-treatment documented by NGOs in Kyrgyzstanin recent years is that of Yuri Marchenko from Tup village in thenorth-eastern Issyk-Kul region, whom police abused on two separate occasions in2011. In September 2011, several officers reportedly held him without contactto the outside world for several hours and beat him. After his mothercomplained to the head of the local police and the district prosecutor’soffice, he was released. In the night of 21 November, when returning home onhis motorbike, Yuri was stopped by five men, some of whom he recognized asofficers of Tup police station. The men reportedly beat him so severely withfists and metal objects that he lost consciousness. Police left him lying inthe snow. He was believed to have been targeted to punish his family for filingcomplaints about the police abuse in September. Yuri Marchenko was hospitalizedfor two weeks and doctors recorded fractures in his nose and two rib bones,other injuries to his chest and head and bruises and abrasions in differentparts of his body.

Acriminal investigation was opened, but it was closed in April 2013 for “lack ofevidence of a crime”. The criminal case was reopened in June 2013 and chargeswere brought against three officers. The trial made little progress as thedefendants failed to appear in court for trial for many months. Finally, thecourt issued two defendants with a warning to ensure that they appear in court.The trial started in April 2014 and is still on going. A fourth allegedperpetrator was issued with a search warrant but is still at large. TheCoalition against Torture in Kyrgyzstan is aware of many trials intorture-related cases that have not progressed for years. We thereforebelieve that international attention to this case is needed to ensure that theperpetrators are swiftly brought to justice.

We areconcerned that the Criminal Procedure Code does not provide detainees withbasic safeguards from the moment of de facto apprehension, such as access to alawyer of their choice, access to independent medical examination andnotification of family. Police routinely hold detainees in basements, trafficpolice cars or offices of police stations in the first hours, sometimes evendays, of detention. There, police frequently subject them to torture orill-treatment and force them to sign a confession, before placing them into atemporary detention facility (IVS) and recording their detention.

InKyrgyzstan detainees do not undergo an independent routine medical examinationupon admission to the IVS (run by the Ministry of Internal Affairs) and toinvestigation isolation facilities (SIZOs, run by the Government Service forthe Execution of Punishments at the President’s Office). Medical personnel inthese detention facilities lack independence as they are employed by theinstitution that runs the respective facility. The Coalition against Torture inKyrgyzstan has documented many cases in recent years where medical personnel bothin IVS and SIZOs failed to record injuries sustained as a result of policeabuse. In those cases where IVS do not have their own medical attendants policeusually take detainees to local public health clinics where they are seen bydoctors or medical attendants for the legally required examination beforetransferring them to an IVS. Sometimes the examination is conducted in thepresence of police officers. For fear of reprisals doctors often ignoreinjuries likely sustained through torture and victims often refrain fromtelling them about police abuse.

We arealso concerned that allegations of torture and other ill-treatment are usuallynot investigated effectively and independently in Kyrgyzstan. The internalsecurity services of law enforcement agencies conduct a preliminary inquiryinto allegations of torture if victims submit their complaint to these agenciesthat are implicated in the complaint. Due to the lack of impartiality of thisform of inquiry, the agencies usually conclude that the allegations have notbeen substantiated. As a result, in the vast majority of cases, no criminalproceedings are initiated.

Torturecomplaints can also be submitted to prosecutors. However, prosecutors, like thepolice, have an interest in reducing and resolving crime. In order to achievethis goal prosecutors may be inclined to overlook human rights violationscommitted by police, such as torture. Prosecutors and police from the sameregions frequently have close professional and sometimes even personal links, whichoften poses an obstacle to thorough and impartial investigations intoviolations committed by police.

Anotherissue of concern is the lack of comprehensive reparation provided to torturevictims in Kyrgyzstan, which should include fair and adequate compensation andrehabilitation for damages caused by torture and ill-treatment. Whileinternational standards hold that the state is responsible for these damagesand must provide compensation, domestic legislation stipulates that civilcourts can order the perpetrator to provide compensation for harm suffered.There have been some court decisions in recent years where perpetrators wereordered to provide compensation to victims. However, to our knowledge, none ofthe victims have yet received the payments.

Recommendations:

Thedocument “Torture in Kyrgyzstan: Current concerns and recommendation” concludeswith a list of recommendations to the authorities of Kyrgyzstan that, ifimplemented, would significantly reduce incidents of torture and ill-treatmentin Kyrgyzstan. The following are key recommendations identified by the NGOsissuing this statement that the authorities should implement as a matter ofpriority:

• Amend domestic legislation to reflect thatdetention starts from the moment of de facto apprehension and ensure thatdetainees have access to basic safeguards such as access to alawyer of the detainee’s choice, access to an independent medical doctor andnotification of family as of that moment.

• Introduce legislation to create and fund an independentmechanism endowed with sufficient authority and competence to conductprompt, thorough and independent investigations into allegations of tortureor other ill-treatment.

• Ensure that there are clear provisions in domesticlegislation on the right of torture victims to reparation, includingfair and adequate compensation and rehabilitation for damages caused bytorture, regardless of whether perpetrators of such acts have been brought tojustice. In addition, amend legislation to ensure that the state has toprovide the compensation.

Thispress release was jointly issued by the NGO coalitions against torture inKazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights(Poland), International Partnership for Human Rights (Belgium) and the WorldOrganisation against Torture (OMCT). It was produced with the financialassistance of Open Society Foundations. The contents of the document are thesole responsibility of the organizations issuing it and can under nocircumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of Open SocietyFoundations.

Addresstorture in EU-Kyrgyzstan Human Rights Dialogue

Brussels18 May 2015. Torture and ill-treatment including electric shock,suffocation, rape and beatings continue to be widely used in Kyrgyzstan andimpunity is the norm. Central Asian and international human rightsorganizations are calling on the European Union to use the Human RightsDialogue, that takes place in Brussels today, to raise pressing concerns andindividual torture cases, in line with the EU Guidelines to Policy towardsThird Countries on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment orPunishment. They insist the EU should work in close cooperation with theGovernment of Kyrgyzstan toward prevention and eradication of torture andill-treatment in the country. In addition, the organizations are calling onKyrgyzstan to commit to concrete steps to end torture and other forms ofill-treatment.

On theoccasion of the EU-Kyrgyz Republic Human Rights Dialogue the coalitions againsttorture in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the Helsinki Foundation forHuman Rights (HFHR, Poland), International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR,Belgium) and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) jointly issued adocument, entitled “Torturein Kyrgyzstan: Current concerns and recommendations”. It summarizes positivesteps taken by the authorities of Kyrgyzstan in recent years, identifiesserious gaps and weaknesses that persist in the legislative and institutionalframeworks, and it focuses on how the failure to consistently implementexisting legislation contributes to on-going torture and impunity.

In2014, the NGO Coalition against Torture in Kyrgyzstan documented over 80 casesof men, women and children who are believed to have been subjected to tortureor other forms of ill-treatment and urged prosecutor’s offices to conducteffective investigations into the allegations. Although the strength ofevidence in support of the allegations available to the Coalition in thesecases is high, criminal cases were opened in only 16 of them and only very fewpolice officers were convicted.

Amongdozens of cases of torture and ill-treatment documented by NGOs in Kyrgyzstanin recent years is that of Yuri Marchenko from Tup village in thenorth-eastern Issyk-Kul region, whom police abused on two separate occasions in2011. In September 2011, several officers reportedly held him without contactto the outside world for several hours and beat him. After his mothercomplained to the head of the local police and the district prosecutor’soffice, he was released. In the night of 21 November, when returning home onhis motorbike, Yuri was stopped by five men, some of whom he recognized asofficers of Tup police station. The men reportedly beat him so severely withfists and metal objects that he lost consciousness. Police left him lying inthe snow. He was believed to have been targeted to punish his family for filingcomplaints about the police abuse in September. Yuri Marchenko was hospitalizedfor two weeks and doctors recorded fractures in his nose and two rib bones,other injuries to his chest and head and bruises and abrasions in differentparts of his body.

Acriminal investigation was opened, but it was closed in April 2013 for “lack ofevidence of a crime”. The criminal case was reopened in June 2013 and chargeswere brought against three officers. The trial made little progress as thedefendants failed to appear in court for trial for many months. Finally, thecourt issued two defendants with a warning to ensure that they appear in court.The trial started in April 2014 and is still on going. A fourth allegedperpetrator was issued with a search warrant but is still at large. TheCoalition against Torture in Kyrgyzstan is aware of many trials intorture-related cases that have not progressed for years. We thereforebelieve that international attention to this case is needed to ensure that theperpetrators are swiftly brought to justice.

We areconcerned that the Criminal Procedure Code does not provide detainees withbasic safeguards from the moment of de facto apprehension, such as access to alawyer of their choice, access to independent medical examination andnotification of family. Police routinely hold detainees in basements, trafficpolice cars or offices of police stations in the first hours, sometimes evendays, of detention. There, police frequently subject them to torture orill-treatment and force them to sign a confession, before placing them into atemporary detention facility (IVS) and recording their detention.

InKyrgyzstan detainees do not undergo an independent routine medical examinationupon admission to the IVS (run by the Ministry of Internal Affairs) and toinvestigation isolation facilities (SIZOs, run by the Government Service forthe Execution of Punishments at the President’s Office). Medical personnel inthese detention facilities lack independence as they are employed by theinstitution that runs the respective facility. The Coalition against Torture inKyrgyzstan has documented many cases in recent years where medical personnel bothin IVS and SIZOs failed to record injuries sustained as a result of policeabuse. In those cases where IVS do not have their own medical attendants policeusually take detainees to local public health clinics where they are seen bydoctors or medical attendants for the legally required examination beforetransferring them to an IVS. Sometimes the examination is conducted in thepresence of police officers. For fear of reprisals doctors often ignoreinjuries likely sustained through torture and victims often refrain fromtelling them about police abuse.

We arealso concerned that allegations of torture and other ill-treatment are usuallynot investigated effectively and independently in Kyrgyzstan. The internalsecurity services of law enforcement agencies conduct a preliminary inquiryinto allegations of torture if victims submit their complaint to these agenciesthat are implicated in the complaint. Due to the lack of impartiality of thisform of inquiry, the agencies usually conclude that the allegations have notbeen substantiated. As a result, in the vast majority of cases, no criminalproceedings are initiated.

Torturecomplaints can also be submitted to prosecutors. However, prosecutors, like thepolice, have an interest in reducing and resolving crime. In order to achievethis goal prosecutors may be inclined to overlook human rights violationscommitted by police, such as torture. Prosecutors and police from the sameregions frequently have close professional and sometimes even personal links, whichoften poses an obstacle to thorough and impartial investigations intoviolations committed by police.

Anotherissue of concern is the lack of comprehensive reparation provided to torturevictims in Kyrgyzstan, which should include fair and adequate compensation andrehabilitation for damages caused by torture and ill-treatment. Whileinternational standards hold that the state is responsible for these damagesand must provide compensation, domestic legislation stipulates that civilcourts can order the perpetrator to provide compensation for harm suffered.There have been some court decisions in recent years where perpetrators wereordered to provide compensation to victims. However, to our knowledge, none ofthe victims have yet received the payments.

Recommendations:

Thedocument “Torture in Kyrgyzstan: Current concerns and recommendation” concludeswith a list of recommendations to the authorities of Kyrgyzstan that, ifimplemented, would significantly reduce incidents of torture and ill-treatmentin Kyrgyzstan. The following are key recommendations identified by the NGOsissuing this statement that the authorities should implement as a matter ofpriority:

• Amend domestic legislation to reflect thatdetention starts from the moment of de facto apprehension and ensure thatdetainees have access to basic safeguards such as access to alawyer of the detainee’s choice, access to an independent medical doctor andnotification of family as of that moment.

• Introduce legislation to create and fund an independentmechanism endowed with sufficient authority and competence to conductprompt, thorough and independent investigations into allegations of tortureor other ill-treatment.

• Ensure that there are clear provisions in domesticlegislation on the right of torture victims to reparation, includingfair and adequate compensation and rehabilitation for damages caused bytorture, regardless of whether perpetrators of such acts have been brought tojustice. In addition, amend legislation to ensure that the state has toprovide the compensation.

Thispress release was jointly issued by the NGO coalitions against torture inKazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights(Poland), International Partnership for Human Rights (Belgium) and the WorldOrganisation against Torture (OMCT). It was produced with the financialassistance of Open Society Foundations. The contents of the document are thesole responsibility of the organizations issuing it and can under nocircumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of Open SocietyFoundations.