CEDAW/C/77/D/133/2018 Advance unedited version
Background
1.
The author of the communication is R.G., a national of Kyrgyzstan born in
1969. She claims a violation by the State party of her rights under articles 2 (a),
(b), (d), (e) and (f), 3 and 5 (a), read in conjunction with article 1, of the
Convention. The Optional Protocol to the Convention came into force for the State
party on 22 July 2002. The author is represented by counsel, Sardorbek
Abdukhalilov.
Facts as submitted by the author
2.1 On 27 February 2013, local police of Maili-Say city found the body of a
woman. The forensics examination concluded that she was killed by a sharp object.
On the suspicion of committing this crime, the police then detained the author on
2 March 2013, and initiated a criminal investigation against her. The investigation
concluded on 27 April 2013, and the prosecutor sent the case to court. On 26 June
2013, the author was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 15 years of
imprisonment by the Maili-Say City Court.
2.2 Upon the author’s appeal, the Jalalabad Regional Court overturned the trial
court’s verdict and sent it for additional investigation. The case was later
overturned on appeals twice more, and in the end, on 3 October 2016, the author
was sentenced to conditional release. During these trials in three different cour ts,
the author was held at several different detention centres, as described below.
2.3 Detention in the Maili-Say temporary isolation ward occurred on the
following dates: 2 February 2013 to 16 January 2014, 19 February to 25 June 2014,
9 October to 25 December 2014 and 17 February to 23 April 2015. There, the
author was held in a small cell of about 6 m 2 . The only window in the cell was
blocked by a sheet of metal, obstructing the access of natural light. During the
winter, it was cold in the cell, and in the summer it was very hot. The author was
not given any bedding except a dirty mattress. The toilet facilities were in the cell,
and were not blocked from the rest of the room. The person using the toilet was
visible to everyone, including guards, who were all men. The toilet flush did not
work.
2.4 The shower facilities were not equipped with a door, and the person using it
was visible to male guards as well. Hot meals were served only once a day and no
hot meals were provided during the weekends. During her detention in this facility,
the author complained 23 times about her health. Since the detention facility did
not have any medical staff, on seven occasions she was taken to the Maili -Say city
hospital for treatment.
2.5 Detention in the Jalalabad temporary isolation ward occurred from 26 June to
23 July 2014, from 27 December 2014 to 17 February 2015 and from 23 April to
28 August 2015. The author’s cell was located in the basement, and she was not
given any bedding except a dirty mattress. She had no access to television,
newspapers or any other sources of information. The toilet facilities did not exist –
instead, the detainees used a bucket. Sometimes, the author was taken to use toilet
facilities outside, but most of her body was visible to male guards. The author
suffered from physical and psychological discomfort and her health deteriorated as
a result. She had to request medical assistance eight times in this facility.
2.6 Detention in the Tash-Komur temporary isolation ward occurred from 24 July
to 8 August 2014. Here, the author was kept in a very small cell, with no natural
light and no fresh air. She was given no bedding accessories except a mattress. She
could not read owing to the lack of lighting, which prevented her from preparing
for her court hearings. No toilet facilities existed in the cell, and everyone had to
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