Case History №8: Hamzali Ikromzoda

In September 2012 virtually all independent Tajik media reported the horrific death of 27-years old Hamzali Ikromzoda in detention. The press coverage included photos of the numerous injuries on the body, one clearly showing the outline of an electric iron. Many of my colleagues said the terrible sight of these pictures made their blood run cold. Hamzali’s relatives are convinced he was a victim of torture and abuse.

His parents were more than certain that the crime was committed by officials at the Ministry of Justice Correctional Colony Nr 3/1 in Dushanbe where the young man had been serving time. They told journalists that the prison staff had been extorting money from the prisoner and his relatives and that eventually they were short of money and were unable to pay the required amount. The parents learned there was an argument between the officials and their son, and the next day, on 19 September, they were notified of his death.  A forensic medical examination was carried out immediately but the parents were not allowed to witness the obduction.

The official version said that Hamzali Ikromzoda was found hanged on his own shirt. Prison staff removed the noose and started administering first aid but it was too late. „In particular, on doctors‘ advice, they placed plastic bottles with hot water all around the prisoner’s body, including his armpits, knees and head, which resulted in marks reminiscent of burns. In this way, the doctors struggled to save his life for around half an hour. After his pulse disappeared, the medics tried to reanimate him by administering electroshocks, which also left marks in the chest area,“ – this how Bahrom Abdulhakov, Deputy Head of Directorate of Correctional Institutions (DCI) of the Ministry of Justice, explained the injuries on Ikromzoda’s body.

However, the family does not accept the assertion that the burns on Hamzali’s body were caused by first aid and the injuries on his chest were the result of their son being attached to a breathing apparatus.

Thinking of her son

The lawyer for the aggrieved party, provided by the Office for Human Rights and the Observance of Law, filed a complaint with the Special Prosecutor’s office, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the State Committe for National Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, demanding that a thorough, independent and impartial investigation be carried out and those responsible are brought to justice.

On 1 October 2012 a criminal investigation was opened into the death of Hamzali Ikromzoda on charges of „negligence“. A forensic examination did not confirm that torture had occurred. The experts stated that it was a self-inflicted death by hanging.

Od 3 October the lawyer met a man who serves his sentence in the same prison and who witnessed Hamzali’s death. The parents say he is one of many witnesses who saw that the prison guards subjected Hamzali to a brutal beating because of a conflict with the colony officials, and later locked him in a punishment cell where they continued abusing him. However, the lawyer did not manage to obtain any information from the witness as the meeting was held in the presence of the prison officials and staff of the Correctional Institutions Directorate. The lawyer’s request to be allowed to speak to her client in private was ignored.

„We grew up in a big family, our parents had 10 children – six brothers and four sisters,“ says Amirali, Hamzali Ikromzoda’s brother. „Our family home where we grew up is in Hirmanak, a settlement in the Gissari District. Many of us still live in this house with our families. We miss Hamzali very much. He was the most understanding, open and sincere of us all.“

Amirali told me his elderly parents still haven’t recovered from the blow and that every night, when the family gathers, the father asks his sons about the progress of the investigation into Hamzali’s death and inquires if there are any news. When he hears that no progress has been made, he sinks into a long silence, his brows knitted.

Amirali also told me that from an early age his brother had always defended anyone who had been wronged. At school he would stand up for a poor friend who was teased because of his threadbare clothes and when he grew up he would stand up for those who were weak and unfortunate. „Hamzali would give his soul for justice,“ my interlocutor says.

His relatives recall that Hamzali was very hard-working. „From an early age we had to help our parents to tend to the apple orchard, we had 80 trees there that rewarded our loving care with a great crop of exquisite tasting fruit. We used to help out in the mill, watching grain turn into freshly milled flour. Hamzali’s help in any kind of work was indispensable,“ his brother says.

He wasn’t afraid of hard work and spent eight years working at a market in Russia, later he transported huge trunks of goods from China. By the way, it was in Russia that Hamzali met his love – a Russian girl who gave him a son, Alisher. The boy now lives with his mother in Irkutsk and is in second year at school.

„Two years ago a black cloud entered Hamzali’s life. He was arrested, charged with robbery, extortion and unlawful ownership of a hunting rifle, and sentenced to 8.5 years‘ imprisonment. He phoned us from prison, trying to cheer us up by saying he had six years left but that he was determined to endure being tested by fate and be released from prison,“  Amirali continues.

After the funeral a Russian boy, Zhenya, Hamzali’s friend from Russia, came to visit. „As soon as he learned that Hamzali had died he bought a ticket and flew over. You have to admit that these days even relatives cannot always attend funerals or weddings in another city and here’s this stranger from far away Russia. When he heard the story of Hamzali’s death, Evgeny kept saying he didn’t believe that he could have taken his own life,“ says Amirali.

The brother says Hamzali’s body had been covered in wounds – heavy burns around his ribs, back, neck, haematomas on his back and legs, injuries to his head. „This doesn’t really look like suicide. But how can we prove that now that there is no justice anywhere and money is the measure of everything?“ asks Amirali.

In August 2013, Rustam Toshtemirov, Head of the Penal colony №3/1 of the Main Directorate of Correctional Institutions of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan, whose name mentioned among others on the case of Ikromzoda’s death, was removed from his post and transferred to a correctional institution 3/7 Main Directorate of Correctional Institutions of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan, where the former law enforcement satff serve thier term.

This transition happened despite the fact that in September 2012 Head of the Main Directorate of Correctional Institutions of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan Izzatulo Sharifov promised the relatives of the deceased convict Hamza Ikromzoda to dismiss Rustam Toshtemirov, regardless of the forensic results.

Materials was prepared in the frame of the project on “Actions against torture in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan”, with financial assistance of the European Union The contents of this materials  are the sole responsibility of the organizations issuing it and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.