CCPR/C/112/D/2069/2011
2.6
The author submits that on 30 December 2002, a video recording of
Mr. Shikhmuradov’s confessions was broadcast before the People’s Council, in which he
labelled himself and his associates as a “criminal group” and “mafia” and requested the
harshest possible sentence. The author claims that, in the video, Mr. Shikhmuradov
appeared to be under the influence of some kind of “mind-altering substance” and was
allegedly forced to make such a statement. All delegates of the People’s Council demanded
the death penalty for Mr. Shikhmuradov. President Niyazov proposed applying a sentence
of life imprisonment instead because, as he proclaimed, Turkmenistan was a democratic
country.
2.7
Since 25 December 2002, the author has not received any information about
Mr. Shikhmuradov, such as official court documents, trial transcripts, or copies of the
sentence. Neither does she have information about the place of his eventual detention or his
state of health. She repeatedly (on 17 March, 26 April, 15 June, 26 August and
14 September 2006 and continuing until 2010) requested the Prosecutor-General, the
Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the President of Turkmenistan to
provide her with information, but those requests were ignored.2 She has received no
answers or replies, but she did receive acknowledgements of receipt of her complaints. She
did not have any opportunity to appeal the court decision before the Turkmen courts. She
has not returned to Turkmenistan since she left in March 2001 for the Russian Federation,
and claims that no one could guarantee her freedom of movement and safety in
Turkmenistan.
The complaint
3.1
The author submits that the State party has violated article 6, paragraph 1, of the
Covenant, because Mr. Shikhmuradov’s whereabouts remain unknown, and despite
numerous requests, the State party’s authorities did not provide any information. The author
submits that because there has been no information for so long, she fears for
Mr. Shikhmuradov’s life.
3.2
The author also submits that the State party violated Mr. Shikhmuradov’s rights
under article 9 of the Covenant. She claims that Mr. Shikhmuradov was arrested under
unknown circumstances and he was not able to challenge his detention before the court, his
relatives were not informed about his detention, his life sentence included a five-year
prohibition of contact with the outside world, he has had no possibility of having his
deprivation of liberty reviewed, and he was imprisoned after an unfair trial — all in
violation of article 9 of the Covenant.
3.3
Furthermore, the author claims that the State party violated Mr. Shikhmuradov’s
right to a fair trial, in violation of article 14, paragraph 1, of the Covenant. The trial started
only four days after Mr. Shikhmuradov’s arrest, and lasted only one day.
Mr. Shikhmuradov was convicted based solely on his confession, which, the author claims,
was obtained as a result of torture.
2
4
A compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
dated 29 September 2008 (A/HRC/WG.6/3/TKM/2), reported that “in 2005, the General Assembly
expressed its grave concern at credible reports on ongoing torture and mistreatment of detainees and
poor conditions in prisons, and the failure to grant access to detainees to the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) according to its usual terms, as well as to international monitors. The
Special Rapporteur on the question of torture sent a communication in 2005 related to 62 individuals
convicted in December 2002 and January 2003 to prison terms ranging between five years to life for
their involvement in what the authorities described as an assassination attempt on the President in
November 2002, and who continued to be held incommunicado, including without access to ICRC.”