Torture - a shameful phenomenon for law enforcement

In November, the local Media continued actively cover the issues of torture in Tajikistan. Newspapers monitored developments around the death of Hamza Ikromzoda - prisoner who allegedly died from torture, and another focus of Media was presentation of the Government Delegation report to the UN Committee against Torture.

On November 7, the online edition of Tojnews agency published the article “Relatives of the prisoners gathered  near the Prosecutor General's Office” which refers to the demonstrations of more than 40 relatives of the prisoners who were transferred from the Dushanbe colony # 1 to Khujand, where they were allegedly beaten and abused. The relatives demanded the Prosecutor General to meet with them, as they believed the transfer was “illegal”.

Parents of some of the prisoners - Sadriddin Toshev and Sunatullo Rizoev - believe that their sons witnessed the painful and cruel death of Hamza Ikromzoda, and did not refused from their testimonies, which caused their transfer.

The weekly edition of “Tojikiston” continued the topic and informed about the lack of access for the family members and lawyers to the group of transferred prisoners. “Mother of Sunatullo Rizoev, already for the second day could not arrange a meeting with her son” - says the publication.

On November 9, in interview to the radio “Ozodi” the Prosecutor General Sherkhon Salimzoda explained the reason of transferring the prisoners to another detention colony. According to him the perpetrators of serious crimes should be kept in high-security prisons. “Since there were no means to transfer them earlier, the decision was made a few days ago”, - said the prosecutor. Salimzoda also mentioned that the staff members of the prosecution have already met with these prisoners and received their statements, as well as conducted a forensic examination. According to the Prosecutor General “there were no obvious traces of violence found on their bodies”.

However, on November 12 at the website of “Asia-Plus” news agency published a statement of the NGO Coalition against Torture in Tajikistan, demanding to investigate the incident in Khujand prison. “The Coalition requires the Government of Tajikistan  to provide immediate access for the lawyers to the detainees in order to provide them with high quality legal assistance and representation of their interests; establish a working group from the representatives of the Parliament and the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Tajikistan, Ministry of Justice , members of the NGO Coalition against Torture in Tajikistan, including international experts for conducting judicial, medical and psychological examinations, as well as observers from the OSCE and other international organizations for an independent, impartial and effective investigation into the incident that occurred in the colony # 3/3  of Khujand, thus  demonstrating a  “zero tolerance” policy towards torture in the country” - said in a statement.

Few days later, on November 19, the same website published an interview with the father of Sunatullo Rizoev, who presented an audio recording of a telephone conversation with his son. During a short conversation the prisoner complained about his health conditions and warns his father that in case of his death, they should not believe in suicide version of his death.

The Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice for Penitentiary System in RT immediately reacted to this publication and on November 20 issued a statement on the website of “Asia-Plus” that the prisoner Rizoev is fine and in the coming days his mother and a lawyer will be allowed to meet with him.

On November 12, the  weekly edition of “Samak” published an article “Sherkhon Salimzoda: There is a torture is, but very few”, quoting the Prosecutor radio interview for “Ozodi” rights after the presentation of the governmental delegation in Geneva before the UN Committee against Torture.

However, this statement was questioned by the article published by “Ozodagon” on November 14, covering the issue of prisoners’ transfer to Khujand: “Thus Tajikistan presented its report to the United Nations Committee against Torture, where Sherkhon Salimzoda stated that torture in Tajikistan is a a very rare phenomenon. Do you believe in this?”

However, in his interview to the radio “Ozodi” on November 9, Sherkhon Salimzoda mentioned that “at the present time all the security agencies in Tajikistan taking the facts of using torture as a serious offence”.  “Only for the last three years, the prosecutors received 130 complaints of torture. Most of these facts have been disclosed as a result of the prosecutor's investigation, 39 criminal cases were submitted to the courts. All of them were punished. Only by bringing these people to the custody, we can stand in the way of torture. It is also necessary to use other measures as economic and legal for the total eradication of torture in law enforcement agencies”- he said.

Finally, a public censure of torture was proposed by the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon on November 10, in his speech on the occasion of the Day of the Tajik militia. He emphasized that no law enforcement officer under any circumstances, have the right to use torture and other ill-treatment. He called this phenomenon the “shameful” – reported by the State news agency “Khovar" and other media.

On November 15, the website of “Asia-Plus” reported that two police officer will stand at the trial on the charges under the article on “Torture” in the north of Tajikistan.

On November 20,  BBC and Radio “Ozodi” published materials about the former prisoner Saidali Kazakov, who told the media about the number of lawlessness in prisons of the country and who is currently resides in Russia. According to Kazakov he is persecuted by a few people whom he believes to be close to the leadership of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice for Penitentiary System in RT.

However, on November 28, Head of the Prison system Izzatullo Sharipov in an interview with “Millat” informed that “Our prisoners are spoiled .. Each prison of the country contains over 900 prisoners. Why should I prosecute them? Let them freely express their opinions. Let address the media. The inmates are in prison not at my invitation. They violated the law and according to the court decision were sentenced to a definite term and must serve their sentences in the prison. I am only responsible for providing the appropriate conditions for serving their sentences”.  He once again stated that Hamza Ikromzoda hanged himself, and if there were cases of torture and beatings the investigation team will reveal these facts.

On November 20, the website of “Asia-Plus” posted information that a 12-years-old boy was beaten and illegally held for three days by the employees of the State Committee for National Security in Dushanbe. The child was beaten to obtain necessary evidence against the detainees suspected of extremism”- says the agency, citing the words of the child, who came with his mother to the news agency office.

The very next day, the SCNS Office responded to the publication where they denied the fact of beating the child and reported that the boy was involved in extremist activities.

On November 28, the website of the “Asia-Plus” news agency reported that in Dushanbe court resumed hearing of the criminal case into the death of 28-year resident of the capital Bahromiddin Shodiev, who died in hospital after questioning by the officers of the Shohmansur district Police Department. The agency reminds that the case was sent for the additional investigation for almost 9 months ago. “The defendant is the former investigator of Shohmansur district Police Department Abdurahmon Dodov, who is accused of negligence” - writes “Asia-Plus”.

On November 22, the radio “Ozodi” published a statement of the International human rights organization Human Rights Watch on the eve of the visit of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton to Central Asia, where it is noted that the visit will take place during the constraints of respect for human rights in all five countries. “Tajikistan suffers from systemic corruption, poor reputation on the question of torture and the increasing level of authoritarianism. The government recently forced to close a human rights organization that has worked on the issue of torture”- said the HRW.

Perhaps to a certain level the situation with tortures in the country could be resolved by preparation of specialized lawyers. On November 26, the website of “Asia-Plus” reported that the NGO “Independent Center for Human Rights Protection” completed training for lawyers who will continue to provide practical legal assistance to the victims of torture. “Training was held in the framework of the project      “Combating torture and impunity in Tajikistan”. During the 4 months of the project implementation 5 lawyers were trained on the basis of providing quality legal assistance”- the agency said.