CCPR/C/119/D/2359/2014
claimed violations of article 7 of the Covenant, facts as submitted by Mr. Davudov, Mr.
Vasilov and Mr. Erbabaev give rise to such allegations. The Optional Protocol entered into
force for the State party on 7 January 1995. The authors are represented by counsel,
Valeryan Vakhitov.
The facts as submitted by the authors
2.1
The authors submit that on 9 and 10 June 2010, ethnic violence broke out between
the Kyrgyz population and the Uzbek minority in the city of Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan.
2.2
The authors further submit that on 12 June 2010, Mr. Saidarov, Mr. Davudov, Mr.
Vasilov and other unspecified persons were hiding from the street violence in Mr.
Saidarov’s house in the city of Osh. At some point, the authors came out of the house to
help to extinguish a fire at a neighbour’s house. The neighbours subsequently detained two
minors of Kyrgyz ethnicity, later identified as I.D. and A.D., who were suspected of being
the arsonists, and brought them to Mr. Saidarov’s house. Mr. Saidarov immediately
informed the police by telephone about the detention of the alleged arsonists. On the
morning of 13 June 2010, officers from the National Security Service arrived and removed
the alleged perpetrators of the arson from Mr. Saidarov’s house; the officers issued no
official report of the incident.
2.3
On 20 June 2010, Mr. Erbabaev returned to the city of Osh from the village of SuraTash, to which he and his family had fled to escape the riots. At around 5.30 p.m., he went
to meet Mr. Vasilov. Both men were arrested at that time and brought to the Osh branch of
the National Security Service. They both had to stand facing the wall for half a day and
were beaten on the back, kidneys and head to coerce them into confessing to a crime. Mr.
Erbabaev was later tortured to force him to confess to a crime he had not committed.
2.4
Mr. Erbabaev was detained on 20 June 2010 at 5.30 p.m. and initially questioned as
a witness. It was only on the morning of 22 June 2010 that his detention as a suspect was
registered by an investigator from the National Security Service, in the absence of a lawyer
representing Mr. Erbabaev. On 23 June 2010, the Osh city court decided to detain Mr.
Erbabaev, pending trial. On 13 August 2010, the investigator in charge of Mr. Erbabaev’s
case dismissed all charges against him, except for failure to report a crime, an offence under
article 339 (1) of the Criminal Code.
2.5
Mr. Erbabaev submits that, under national legislation, there was no requirement to
place persons accused of the above-mentioned crime in pretrial detention. Mr. Erbabaev
was not released pending trial despite having a permanent address and remained in
detention until 26 August 2010. On 21 January 2011, Osh city court sentenced Mr.
Erbabaev to one year of imprisonment, to be served in a settlement colony. On 26 May
2011, following a supervisory protest brought by the prosecutor’s office, the Osh regional
court overturned the initial verdict, and requested the Osh city court to conduct a rehearing
of the case. On 16 September 2011, the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan reviewed that
decision under its supervisory review procedure, and upheld the initial verdict and the
sentence handed down by Osh city court in their entirety.
2.6
Mr. Davudov submits that he was first detained and questioned as a witness on 22
June 2010. His detention as a suspect was formalized and registered approximately five
hours after his initial detention. On 24 June 2010, the court ordered the author to be placed
in pretrial detention. The author was detained at the National Security Service detention
facility in Osh until 26 August 2010, when he was transferred to pretrial detention facility
(SIZO) No. 25, where he was held until 1 February 2011, pending trial.1 On 21 January
2011, the author was sentenced to five years of imprisonment for kidnapping and
possessing an illegal weapon. As with Mr. Erbabaev, in Mr. Davudov’s case the verdict and
sentence were first overturned by the Osh regional court, but were later upheld by the
Supreme Court.
2.7
Mr. Saidarov was also detained on 22 June 2010 by the National Security Service.
He did not resist arrest, but was nevertheless subjected to violent force. He was also forced
1
2
It is not clear whether this author was released on this date.