CAT/C/KGZ/CO/2
(c)
The apparent practice by investigators of valuing the testimonies of
individuals implicated in torture over those of complainants, and of dismissing complaints
summarily; and
(d)
The failure of the judiciary to effectively investigate torture allegations raised
by criminal defendants and their lawyers in court. Various sources report that judges
commonly ignore information alleging the use of torture, including reports from
independent medical examinations.
As a matter of urgency, the State party should take immediate and effective measures
to prevent acts of torture and ill-treatment throughout the country, including by
implementing policies that would eliminate impunity for perpetrators of torture and
ill-treatment and ensure prompt, impartial, effective investigations into all allegations
of torture and ill-treatment, prosecution of those responsible, and the imposition of
appropriate sentences on those convicted. The State party should:
(a)
Publicly and unambiguously condemn the use of all forms of torture,
warning that any person ordering, committing, instigating, acquiescing to or acting as
an accomplice to such acts shall be criminally prosecuted and punished;
(b)
Establish an independent and effective mechanism to facilitate the
submission of complaints by victims of torture and ill-treatment to public authorities;
and ensure that complaint mechanisms are available and that complainants are
protected in practice against abuse or intimidation as a consequence of their
complaint or any evidence given;
(c)
Ensure that all health professionals who encounter signs of torture and
ill-treatment are under a legal obligation to document such abuses, in line with the
Manual on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol), that all persons
deprived of their liberty are guaranteed timely access to a qualified and independent
medical investigator upon their request, and that all medical examinations are carried
out in private; and consider transferring responsibility for oversight of medical staff
of detention facilities to the Ministry of Health; and
(d)
Ensure that investigations into allegations of torture are not undertaken
by or under the authority of the police, but by an independent body, that preliminary
enquiries into complaints of torture are undertaken and concluded promptly upon
receipt of the complaint, and that official investigations are opened in all cases where
there are reasonable grounds to believe that torture was committed; and ensure that
officials alleged to be responsible for violations of the Convention are suspended from
their duties during such investigations.
7.
The Committee remains seriously concerned by the State party’s response to the
allegations of torture in individual cases brought to the attention of the Committee, and
particularly by the State party’s authorities’ refusal to carry out full investigations into
many allegations of torture on the grounds that preliminary enquiries revealed no basis for
opening a full investigation. The Committee is gravely concerned by the case of Azimjan
Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek human rights defender prosecuted on criminal charges in
connection with the death of a police officer in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, which
has been raised by several Special Rapporteurs, including the Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights defenders (A/HRC/22/47/Add.4, para. 248; A/HRC/19/55/Add.2,
para. 212). Mr. Askarov has alleged that he was beaten severely by police on numerous
occasions immediately following his detention and throughout the course of the criminal
proceedings against him, and that he was subjected to repeated violations of procedural
safeguards such as prompt access to a lawyer and to an effective, independent medical
examination. The Committee notes that independent forensic medical examinations appear
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