CCPR/C/122/D/2577/2015
Now.1 At the time of the submission, Mr. Formonov was being detained in Jaslyk Prison. 2
The author asserts that Mr. Formonov is a victim of violations of articles 7 read alone and
in conjunction with article 2 (2); 9 (1); 14 (1) (2) and (3) (b), (e) and (g); 17; and 19 (2) of
the Covenant. The Optional Protocol entered into force for the State party on 28 September
1995.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author’s husband is a well-known human rights activist, the chair of the
Syrdarya regional branch of the organization Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, for
which he monitored trials and produced pamphlets on human rights. On 29 April 2006,
police officers arrested him arbitrarily on charges of extortion then searched his home
without a warrant at 10 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. When they returned a third time, at 4 p.m., the
police knocked unconscious Mr. Formonov’s pregnant wife, who required overnight
hospital treatment. The police seized all human rights material found at the apartment, as
well as Mr. Formonov’s computer and printer. Mr. Formonov was held incommunicado for
one week after his arrest and tortured, including by suffocation and beatings, in order to
elicit a false confession. He was later permitted access to a lawyer, but the latter failed to
act independently and effectively to defend his client’s interests.
2.2
On 15 June 2006, without presenting any evidence at trial or giving Mr. Formonov
the opportunity to be represented by a counsel of his choice, a judge found Mr. Formonov
guilty and sentenced him to nine years in a general prison. Contrary to that sentence, the
State party has held Mr. Formonov in Jaslyk Prison, a strict-regime prison that is
recognized as the harshest in the country. Many international human rights monitoring
bodies and organizations, including the Committee against Torture, the Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have expressed their
concern over his treatment as Mr. Formonov has been repeatedly tortured in Jaslyk Prison.
From 23 May to 19 June 2007, he was held in an isolation cell and his legs and feet were
beaten so severely that he was unable to walk for 10 days. From 10 to 20 October 2007, he
was accused of “failing to walk straight in line” and placed in an unheated isolation cell for
10 days, where he was handcuffed and beaten by prison officials. Because the temperature
was below freezing, he fell ill with symptoms that lasted for months. The authorities
repeatedly beat him to coerce him into signing various statements. In 2008, he was beaten
until he signed a statement admitting to breaking prison rules. In 2011, to force Mr.
Formonov to sign a document stating that he was not being tortured but was in perfect
health, detained under good conditions and had access to medical care, prison authorities
beat Mr. Formonov severely on his head, back and stomach for an hour. Mr. Formonov
claims that, while he was being strangled, officer S.V. threatened to kill him, as well as
whoever visited him, including his wife, and to imprison his children.
2.3
Representatives of the Red Cross could not meet with Mr. Formonov in Jaslyk
Prison because, during their visits there, they were told he had been transferred to another
prison, in Nukus. The Committee against Torture has expressed particular concern that Mr.
Formonov has allegedly been subjected to torture while being arbitrarily detained and
imprisoned (see CAT/C/UZB/CO/4, para. 8).
2.4
Mr. Formonov filed several appellate complaints over the judgment of 15 June 2006
of the court of first instance. According to the Syrdarya Prosecutor’s Office, the Syrdarya
Regional Court considered the appeal, but left the decision unchanged. The document
issued by the Office acknowledged the appellate decision but did not give an exact date of
the decision. Despite numerous attempts to obtain a copy, the Court has not issued the
author with a copy of the appellate court’s decision. According to the author, Mr.
Formonov’s father-in-law “sent complaints” to the Syrdarya Regional Court, the Syrdarya
State Prosecutor’s Office and the Supreme Court, concerning the violations of Mr.
Formonov’s rights to a fair trial and accusations of torture, but received no response. The
author submitted a complaint to the Ombudsman and received a one-page response that
summarily concluded that there were no legal grounds to bring an appeal under the
1
2
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Power of Attorney signed by the author provided.
He was released on 3 October 2017.