CCPR/C/130/D/2429/2014
confessed to stealing, together with an accomplice, a cow on 17 April 2007. While at the
Aksiy district police station, he was subjected to beatings by four police officers for refusing
to confess to several more cattle thefts that had taken place in the area earlier. First, the
officers took the author to the office of investigator B., where they handcuffed his hands
behind his back and punched him several times in the head, then put a plastic bag over his
head, which made the author suffocate. After he lost consciousness and fell to the ground,
the officers kicked him in his stomach and kidneys. Then, the author was taken to the police
station’s gym, where the officers continued punching and kicking him and beating his feet
with batons. One of the officers, D., then gave the author a hot chilli and forced him to chew
it. After this, the author was taken to another room near the investigator’s office, where the
officers took off his trousers, put him in a crouched position with a plastic bag on his head,
tied his feet and hands and inserted a metal object in his anus, which caused the author to
lose consciousness again. Unable to bear the pain, the author confessed to six instances of
cattle theft.
2.2
On 23 April 2007, the police invited a television crew to the police station and made
the author confess to all six instances of cattle theft on camera. A week later, a programme
containing the author’s confession was aired on national television.
2.3
On 25 April 2007, the author was officially charged with all of the crimes to which he
had confessed. The charges were based only on his confession. On the same day, the Aksiy
district prosecutor ordered the author’s pretrial detention for two months.
2.4
On 26 April 2007, the Aksiy district akim (mayor) sent a letter to the Aksiy district
prosecutor in which he stated that he wanted to see more cases of cattle theft solved by the
district prosecutor’s office, that the author and his accomplice should receive appropriate
punishment and that he would be personally monitoring the author’s case.
2.5
On 25 April 2007, in a meeting with his brother, the author told him that he had been
tortured and forced to confess to crimes that he had not committed. He told his brother that
because he was afraid to report the torture and forced confession while in detention, he was
going to speak out about the torture during the trial.
2.6
On 26 April 2007, the author’s brother contacted the local human rights nongovernmental organization, Hope and Peace, to request legal aid. On the same day, the nongovernmental organization submitted a complaint to the Aksiy district prosecutor about the
torture suffered by the author on 22 April 2007. Again on the same day, the Aksiy district
prosecutor’s office initiated an inquiry into the author’s allegations. Upon learning this, the
police officers of the Aksiy district police department again subjected the author to further
beatings, warning him that if he did not deny any ill-treatment to the prosecutor’s office, he
would suffer the consequences. On 27 April 2007, the author was questioned by the deputy
district prosecutor about his allegations and asked to undergo a forensic medical examination.
However, since he was afraid of repercussions from the police, he denied having been
tortured, refused to undergo a forensic medical examination and attributed his injuries to a
fall from a horse. On 4 May 2007, the deputy district prosecutor refused to open a criminal
investigation for lack of a crime.
2.7
As a result of the beatings, the author experienced acute pain in his kidneys. At the
beginning of May 2007, he was able to send out several notes to his brother, describing his
pain and naming the police officers responsible for his injuries. On 18 May 2007, because of
the pain in his kidneys, an ambulance was called for the author. The paramedic advised the
detention facility personnel to conduct an ultrasound of the author’s kidneys and urine tests.
However, none of the tests were performed.
2.8
On 31 May and 1 June 2007, the author’s lawyer submitted motions to the Aksiy
district prosecutor asking for an urgent medical examination and hospitalization of the author
due to the injuries that he had sustained as a result of the torture. On 1 June 2007, the author
was examined at the Aksiy district hospital where he was diagnosed with soft tissue bruises
on his forearms, head and body, and injuries to his kidneys that could have been caused by a
blunt object. Despite the doctors’ recommendation to hospitalize the author for treatment, he
was taken back to the detention facility.
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