Alleged torture and incommunicado detention

The International Secretariat of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Kyrgyzstan.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR), a member of OMCT SOS-Torture network, about the detention and torture of Mr. Tashtanbek Mulladjanov, former member of the banned muslim party “Hizb-ut-Tahrir”. The statement obtained from the victim under torture is reportedly being used in a criminal case against him.

According to the information received, Mr. Tashtanbek Mulladjanov was arrested on 12 May 2008 allegedly with 1.5 kg heroin, which, according to Mr. Mulladjanov, was ice cream powder, on the road from Bishkek to Osh. He was later detained at the ITM (insulator of the time maintenance) of CNS management (Service National Safety) of Osh oblast, where he was allegedly tortured to obtain a statement in which he had to write that he was involved in the murder of a certain Mr. Abdusattar Bazarov, a market director of Arslanbob village in Zhalalabad oblast who was found dead on 6 May 2008 near the reservoir on the road Bishkek-Osh.

Mr. Tashtanbek Mulladjanov was reportedly severely beaten by officers of the operations of crime detection section for two days while being handcuffed and obliged to wear a gas mask. He was further reportedly not allowed to receive any visit but he managed to submit a complaint to the Ombudsman informing about the acts of torture. While the Ombudsman reportedly tried to visit him, he was allegedly refused access.

Mr. Tashtanbek Mulladjanov is accused of storage and transportation of heroin and of murder. He is currently detained at the Pre-trial detention facility and is not allowed any visits.

According to Mr. Tashtanbek Mulladjanov’s family, on the day of Mr. Abdusattar Bazarov’s murder (according to the investigation, the crime took place on 1 May 2008) he was in Bishkek. Mr. Tashtanbek Mulladjanov had already reportedly been arrested in 2002 for being member of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir. He was later released.

OMCT had previously received allegations that members of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir run grave risks of being subjected to severe ill-treatment and torture while in detention, with a number of them having died in detention both in Kyrgyzstan and neighbouring Uzbekistan, where the group is also active. The Kyrgyz authorities claim that Hizbut-Tahrir "soul-hunters" often use crowded areas such as trading lines, markets and places of rest for distributing their material (leaflets, etc)[1].

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Tashtanbek Mulladjanov. Furthermore, OMCT wishes to express its concern over the use of statements obtained under torture as evidence in a court case. OMCT recalls that article 7 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, to which Kyrgyzstan is a state party, states that “[n]o one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” and that article 15 of the Convention against Torture, to which Kyrgyzstan is also a state party, requires that “[e]ach State Party shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings (…)”. Therefore OMCT urges the authorities of Kyrgyzstan to order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, in particular the allegations of torture and to guarantee that Mr. Tashtanbek Mulladjanov undergo a fair trial during which the statement obtained under torture will not be considered.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Kyrgyzstan urging them to:

1. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Tashtanbek Mulladjanov;
2. Guarantee immediate and unconditional access to legal representation, his family and any medical treatment he may require;
3. Guarantee that no evidence obtained under torture be used in court cases;
4. Order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, to ensure that he is given a prompt and fair trial, in which his procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
5. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, notably the allegations of torture, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
6. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.

Addresses

• Mr. Bakiev Kurmanbek Salievich, President of Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzskaya Respublika, 720003. Bishkek, Prospekt Chuy, 205, Fax: 996312218627, ghpress2@rhl.bishkek.su
• Mr. Chudinov Igor, Prime Minister, Fax: 996312218627
• Mr. Kongantiev Moldomusa Tashpolotovich, Minister of Internal Affairs, Fax: 996312663031, 996312288788
• Mr. Marat Kaipov, Minister of Justice, Fax: 996312663044 / 996312656502
• Mr. Elmurza Satybaldiev, Public Prosecutor of the Kyrgyz of Republic, Fax: 996312665411
• Permanent mission of Kyrgyzstan, Rue Maunoir 26, 1207 Geneva, Switzerland, Email: kyrgyzmission@bluewin.ch, Fax: +41 22 707.92.21

Please also write to the embassies of Kyrgyzstan in your respective country.

Geneva, 12 June 2008

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

[1] See for example OMCT UA KGZ 030603.