CCPR/C/126/D/2697/2015
1.
The author of the communication is Ulan Nazaraliev, a national of Kyrgyzstan born
in 1982. He claims that the State party has violated his rights under article 7, read alone and
in conjunction with articles 2 (3) (a) and 10 (1) of the Covenant. The Optional Protocol
entered into force for the State party on 7 January 1995. The author is represented by
counsel.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
From 21 July to 15 November 2012, the author was kept in the temporary detention
centre of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the city of
Jalalabad on charges of hooliganism and robbery under articles 234 (2) (1) and 168 (2) (1)
and (3) and (4) (4) of the Criminal Code, respectively. The author describes the conditions
of his detention as inhuman and degrading: detainees were kept in a basement area,
comprising 10 cells with eight persons in each one. There was neither ventilation nor
heating, which meant that it was extremely hot in summer and cold in winter. As there were
no sanitary facilities, during the day the author and other inmates were taken to the toilets
out in the yard without any privacy. Overall hygiene was bad and there was a high risk of
infectious diseases. The temporary detention centre did not have medical staff.
2.2
On 4 November 2012, at approximately 6 p.m., the author informed the police
officers that he had a headache. They gave him a razor blade saying that he could cut
himself but nobody would help him. The author started to scream protesting against this
kind of treatment by the officers. The officers hit him in the chest and then pinned him
against the wall and started to choke him. As an act of protest, the author took out the razor
blade and cut his left wrist.1 When the ambulance arrived, the author received the necessary
medical help. On 5 November 2012, his hand started bleeding again and he was taken to
Jalalabad regional hospital for his wounds to be stitched.
2.3
On 6 November 2012, six police officers entered the author’s cell in order to
conduct an inspection. While conducting the inspection, the officers started to hit the author
and his cellmates. When the author asked what was going on, one of the officers responded
that they were conducting an inspection. The author was ordered to lie down on the floor
and an officer climbed on top of him and started punching his head and ears, kicking him in
the kidneys and genitals. The author’s clothes and personal belongings, including
medication and basic personal hygiene items, were thrown away during the inspection. In
the afternoon, in the yard in which detainees were allowed to exercise, the author was
thrown down on a mattress and subjected to two searches by police officers and his clothes
were taken away. Then, the author was taken to one of the investigators’ offices in the
detention centre where they hit his head against the wall. Unable to bear the pain and in
response to his ill-treatment, he unpicked the stitches of his wound, which started bleeding
again. The police officers handcuffed him to a radiator. The author was left in that position
for some time.
2.4
The next day, 7 November 2012, the author and other ill-treated detainees submitted
complaints to the prosecutor’s office of the city of Jalalabad. They accused the police
officers of physical abuse and inhuman and degrading treatment in relation to their
behaviour during the cell inspection of 6 November 2012.
2.5
On 8 November 2012, following the complaint, the author was transferred to the
temporary detention centre of the Department of Internal Affairs in the Suzaksk District of
Jalalabad Region (10 km away from the city of Jalalabad). During the transfer, the police
officers mocked and humiliated the author, took his underwear down and photographed his
genitalia. Despite the injuries visible on the body of the author, the police officers at the
temporary detention centre admitted him without conducting a medical check-up.
2.6
On the same day, a forensic medical expert examined the author. According to the
forensic medical report, the author had suffered “minor injuries”. However, the expert, in
the forensic medical report issued on 14 November 2012, did not exclude the possibility
that the injuries had been self-inflicted. According to the author, he subsequently suffered
1
2
The author further explains that, during the inspection that took place on 6 November 2012, several
detainees were beaten and subsequently cut their own wrists in protest at their ill-treatment.