CCPR/C/128/D/2710/2015 able to return to Osh on 22 June 2010, together with other refugees. These facts are corroborated by the documents sent by the Prosecutor’s Office of Andijan Region in Uzbekistan, most notably the customs committee’s proof that the author crossed the border on 10 June 2010, the statement by the deputy mayor of Andijan Region that the author was in the refugee camp from 14 to 22 June 2010 which was supported by the list of individuals transferred from the camp to Kyrgyzstan, and the stamp in the author’s passport attesting to his entry into Uzbekistan on 10 June 2010. 2.2 On 20 April 2011, at approximately 2 p.m., while he was at his sister’s house, the author received a phone call about meeting to discuss the installation of a satellite antenna. On his way to the meeting, he was approached by two men in civilian clothes, who began hitting him with their fists on his head and neck. They forced him into their car and continued to beat him on the head. The author was taken to a police station in the city of Osh, where he was held in handcuffs. Four police officers subjected him to physical illtreatment to force him to confess guilt in respect of a number of crimes. They threatened that if he did not confess guilt as requested, he would not leave the police station alive. They then put a plastic bag over his head and began suffocating him. As a result, he lost consciousness. After around four hours of beatings, the author was taken for interrogation to the office of the Osh Regional Prosecutor. During the interrogation, the police officers who had tortured him were present in the room together with an investigator and a counsel. Afraid of being tortured again, the author confessed to having been in the city of Osh in June 2010 and taken part in the mass riots. The investigator prepared the official record on the basis of his confession and put him in pretrial detention. 2.3 On 22 April 2011, the author was charged under article 174, part 2 (1) and (2), article 233, parts 1, 2 and 3, and article 339, part 2, of the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan, for deliberate destruction of property by arson, organization of and participation in riots, public calls for rioting, and concealment of serious crime. On the same day, he and his counsel filed complaints with the Osh Regional Prosecutor requesting the opening of a criminal investigation against the police officers who had tortured him with the aim of extracting a forced confession. Also on the same day, the author was taken to Osh City Court. He was walking with difficulty, limping, with abrasions and bruises visible on his hands. The court ordered his detention as a restraint measure. 2.4 The Osh Regional Prosecutor ordered that verification of the author’s complaint be assigned to the same investigator who was in charge of the criminal investigation against him. On 23 April 2011, the investigator ordered a forensic medical examination to be conducted to verify the author’s physical injuries. On 28 April 2011, the forensic medical examination concluded that the author’s injuries could have been sustained earlier, specifically two to three days before his arrest. In this regard, the author explains that in accordance with the Criminal Procedural Code of Kyrgyzstan, every suspect brought to a police station should undergo a medical examination. He argues, therefore, that if he had sustained injuries before the arrest, this would have appeared in the police’s arrest registration book. The author also notes that the two calls for ambulances on 25 April and 13 May 2011 due to his complaints relating to the injuries sustained (notably headaches, ringing in the ears, impaired vision, palpitations, and sensation of coldness in the limbs) were registered in the police’s arrest registration book. 2.5 On 4 May 2011, the author’s sister lodged a complaint with the Prosecutor General’s Office of Kyrgyzstan. On 19 May 2011, the investigator from the Osh Regional Prosecutor’s Office rejected the author’s complaint based on the outcome of the forensic medical examination and on the police officers’ statements denying any ill-treatment. On 7 June 2011, the author’s counsel filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General’s Office of Kyrgyzstan against the refusal of the Osh Regional Prosecutor’s Office to open a criminal investigation into the author’s torture allegations, which was rejected on 28 June 2011. 2.6 On 10 October 2011, the author’s counsel challenged the decision of 19 May 2011 of the Osh Regional Prosecutor’s Office investigator, before Osh City Court, which dismissed the complaint on 4 November 2011. On 11 November 2011, the author’s counsel appealed the Osh City Court decision, to Osh Regional Court, stating that there had been no effective investigation into the author’s allegations of torture. On 1 December 2011, Osh Regional Court quashed the investigator’s decision of 19 May 2011 and the Osh City Court 2

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