CCPR/C/114/D/2234/2013
was not allowed to receive any visits from her family or friends between January and
August 2007.
2.12 On 18 March 2008, the author was operated against her will. The authorities failed
to inform her about the reasons for the surgery, and did not tell her that her uterus was to be
removed during the surgery. After having been returned to the colony, where she did not
receive any medication, she was released on 2 June 2008 on medical grounds.
2.13 After her release, the author sought medical treatment; however, her doctors did not
have access to her complete medical file from the women’s colony, as the author’s requests
for the file were denied. The author submits that, on 13 October 2008, she travelled to
Germany, where she sought medical care. Additionally, surgery was carried out on the
author in Switzerland. Doctors in both Germany and Switzerland encountered problems
when seeking to establish why the author had been operated on. Owing to fear for her and
her family’s safety, the author subsequently left Uzbekistan for France in March 2009.
2.14 As a result of the torture and incarceration, the author has difficulties walking,
severe diabetes, significant problems to her eyesight, depression, memory loss and anxiety.
The author was examined by medical specialists from TRACES and the medical centre of
the non-governmental organization Parcours d’exil, who found that she was suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder, and that her allegations were consistent with the their
findings.
The complaint
3.1
The author submits that, in violation of article 7 of the Covenant, from July 2002 to
June 2008 she was the victim of an officially sanctioned campaign of harassment, illtreatment and torture in response to her human rights activities. While in the Ferghana
Remand Centre No. 10 and in prison, the author was subjected to a wide range of severe
abuses by the prison wardens and the prison administration aimed at breaking down her
resistance in order to force her to confess to running an illegal organization and to request a
pardon from the President. The author submits that a person in custody should not be
subjected to any medical procedures without informed consent. The forced surgery
included her forced sterilization, which amounts to an additional violation of аrticle 7.
3.2
The author further submits that the State party’s failure to adequately investigate her
allegations of torture violated article 2 (3), read in conjunction with article 7.
3.3
With regard to article 10, the author claims to be the victim of a breach of numerous
provisions of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, as she was not,
for example, provided with adequate medical care, separated from convicted prisoners or
allowed to present a defence with regard to disciplinary measures. She was systematically
denied contact with the outside world for prolonged periods of time. The authorities
furthermore repeatedly rejected her requests for access to her medical file.
3.4
With regard to her arrest on 7 October 2005 the author submits that the authorities
failed to promptly inform her of the reasons for her arrest and detention, contrary to article
9 (2) of the Covenant, and to bring her before a judge or enable her to challenge the legality
of detention, contrary to, respectively, article 9 (3) and (4) of the Covenant.
3.5
The author further submits that the State party failed to ensure her right to a fair trial
by an independent and impartial court contrary to article 14 (1) of the Covenant and to
provide her with adequate time and facilities for the preparation of her defence and to
communicate with her lawyers contrary to article 14 (3) (b), and to allow for the procedural
guarantees enshrined in article 14 (3) (e). The author also submits that the review of the
trial protocol and consideration by the appeal chamber of the author’s appeal were carried
out and dismissed by the Tashkent Regional Court, the same Court, if not the same judges,
5