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. 2

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