Tajikistan says NO to torture

Press Review of Tajikistan for June 2013

The campaign “Let's say no torture” devoted to International Day of Victims of Torture became one of the most significant events in June in Tajikistan in the context of the fight against torture. The campaign included the photo exhibition, where the most high-profile cases of victims of torture were demonstrated, as well as the book “Broken destinies, lives taken away” was presented to the participants.

On June 3, the website of TojNews issued the letter of the Lawyer Faiziniso Vohidova “Protest of Qori Sadriddin and a letter to the President” in which the lawyer of the prisoner Sadriddin Toshev, known as Qori Sadriddin, informs about her client hunger strike as a protest against illegal actions of law enforcement officials and cases of beatings and torture of the prisoners in Khujand colony.

 “I can say with certainty that torture is used in the prisons of the country. Thus Hamza Ikromzoda was beaten to death in the colony# 1 in Dushanbe, while the prisoners who witnessed this violent incident were transferred to Khujand colony where they had been heavily beaten. Officers of the correctional facility were directly involved in this kind of activities, who instead of correctional rehabilitation of the prisoners. Such prison officers disgrace the country's image on the international arena. It might be the time to get rid of such “employees”? - writes Vohidova.

On June 6 the site of “Ozodagon” published an interview with the Deputy Chief of the Main Directorate for Correctional Affairs of the Ministry of Justice RT Bakhrom Abdulhakov under the title “We came under slander" which denies the existence of torture in prisons and calls such claims "libelous".

In an interview with the journalist Abdulhakov says that if there were torture in the prisons, it would have been revealed by the special committee of the Ministry of Justice and representatives of the Prosecutor General: “I'll tell you one thing, not all complaints of torture justified. You can see that most of the complaints are sided. Neither the Commission nor the special department of the prosecutor confirmed any allegations of torture. There had been lot of anecdotal evidences lately in the media which are based on what the prisoners or their relatives tell”. He believes that these “complainers” have only one purpose - to discredit the work of correctional institutions or directly its managers. “That’s their policy” - said Abdulhakov.

On June 5, 2013 the website of the NGO Coalition against Torture NoTorture.Tj reported about the attempts of the prosecutor office in Sugd to obstruct the investigation into the death of Ismonboy Boboev, who died in 2010 during the arrest, allegedly as a result of torture.

NoTorture.Tj reminds that on April 12, 2013 the city court of Khujand partially upheld the complaint of the father of I. Boboeva against officials of the prosecutor's office in Sughd region. Thus, the Court ruled that the suspension of the investigation of the case was illegal and sent it back for a retrial in the Sughd oblast prosecutor's office.

This was followed by the private protest from the side of the prosecutor's office in Sughd region demanding the city court of Khujant to cancel its decision. However, on June 5 the judicial board on criminal cases of Sughd regional court considered the private protest and its satisfaction was refused as ungrounded. In other words, the decision of the city court of Khujand from April 12, 2013 was upheld.

Ismonboy Boboev was arrested on February 19, 2010 by the officers of the Sughd RUBOP Manouchehr Akbarov and Firdavs Shokirov. After being brought to the building of RUBOP, during the interrogation, the detainee Boboev had died. Relatives of a young man claimed that he had died as a result of torture as illegal methods of interrogation.

In March 2010, the Investigation Division of the Prosecutor's Office of Sughd region initiated criminal case into the death of I. Boboev against the above mentioned police officers Manouchehr Akbarov and Firdavs Shokirov.

On June 25, 2010 the criminal case was suspended in connection with health conditions of the suspects. After numerous complaints from the relative of the deceased detainee, Juraboy Boboev to the General Prosecutor's Office, in October 2012, the investigation was reopened.

However, based on the decision of the investigative officer of Sughd prosecutor's office from 30 October 2012 in connection with the health conditions of Shokirov and Akbarov, the criminal case was again suspended.

It was only on April 12, 2013 the city court of Khujand sent the case back to the investigation to the Sughd prosecutor's office.

Coming back to the death of the prisoner Hamza Ikromzoda, on June 26 the weekly “Charkhi Gardun” informed that “the witness of Ikromzoda death is being threatened” in which, with reference to the brother of Hamza - Amirali Ikromzoda reports that the authority of the Dushanbe colony # 1 required the convicted Davlatyor Kurbonov to stop giving testimonies in court on the case of Hamza. The lawyer Buzurgmekhr Yorov commenting on the situation states that: “It's no secret that there is torture being used in our prisons. However the practice of transferring the convicts from Dushanbe to Khujand was not used for several years and this happened right after the death of Hamza Ikromzoda. This suggests that Hamza indeed died under torture”.

In the light of these trends the Human rights organizations in the country feel that there is a need for specially trained lawyers for victims of torture. Therefore it was decided to conduct training on “Capacity building of lawyers on freedom from torture and effective investigation of such cases in accordance with national and international mechanisms of human rights protection” which was held in Dushanbe on June 13-15, 2013.  According to “Asia-Plus”, the event was held by a public organization “Human Rights Center” in the framework of the activities of the Group on legal aid of the NGO Coalition against Torture in Tajikistan. The event was attended by 20 practicing lawyers from Dushanbe, GBAO and RRS.

The main purpose of such educational and practical events is to develop a single registry for advocates. In the future, they will provide professional legal assistance in criminal cases involving torture and ill-treatment in all regions of the country.

The most significant event in the context of the fight against torture during the month of June was the action “Let's say No to torture” which was held on June 25 on the eve of the International Day for the Protection of Victims of Torture.

The event was covered by several local independent media - “Ozodagon”,  TojNews, “Asia-Plus”, “Ozodi”, and NoTorture.Tj. Nargis Zokirova, director of the Bureau of Human Rights and Rule of Law, said that the main objective of the action - once again draw the attention of the authorities and the public to the problem. “We are seeking to ensure a thorough investigation over all “hovering”cases on torture and ill-treatment to be conducted and those responsible are punished” - she said.

According to her, the exhibition presents the history of the nine families who are struggling to stop impunity for torture and other ill-treatment in Central Asia.

“The six stories that relate to Tajikistan are the stories of  Hamza Ikromzoda, Khurshed Bobokalonov, Bahromiddin Shodiev, Safarali Sangov Ismoil Bachadzhonov and Dilshodbek Murodov who died during the arrest or in custody. The other three stories are from our partners in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan” - underlined Ms. Zokirova.

“We talk a lot and hear much about torture, and always think that it will never happen with us. We never saw the face of this problem. Today, this photo exhibition gave us such opportunity. This is the most difficult - see the faces of the victims of torture and their relatives - disconsolate mothers and widows, orphaned children. And I urge everyone not to stay away from this problem”- said the Tajik human rights activist Nigina Bakhrieva.

In the frame of the photo exhibition the documentary book “Broken destinies, lives taken away” by Nargis Hamrabaeva, a journalist of “Asia-Plus” was presented. “The book is based on eight real-life stories of the victims of torture and violence in the country, the most resonant and current affairs. Hamza Ikromzoda, Safarali Sangov - I think these names are known to many of us. The book also tells about the life of the people who still suffer torture. About their minds, their memories, their struggle for justice. These are their wives, children, parents of those who have suffered, or, even worse, died of the arbitrariness of some law enforcement agencies designed to protect us. Each of us has heard of such stories. We begin to empathize, indignant, but we will never be able to fully understand the pain of relatives of victims of torture. It is impossible to convey grief of a mother who sits in front of you and heavily compresses her hands while talking about her son, not feeling or seeing before herself. It is impossible to watch without tears the pictures of children orphaned because of someone's “negligence”. So we decided to call the book “Broken destinies, lives taken away”- said the author of the book.

The event was attended by members of the NGOs Coalition against Torture in Tajikistan, the representatives of the Ombudsman's Office, international organizations and diplomatic missions, as well as relatives of victims of torture and ill-treatment.

The event was held with the support of the international human rights organization Amnesty International. The photo exhibition, which began in Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, will be continued in other cities around the world during the summer of 2013.

According to the Amnesty International’s statement released on June 25, torture in Central Asia – is a quite practiced phenomenon”. “Law enforcement officers detain a lot of people (mostly men, less frequently - women), held them in detention incommunicado and forced to sign the false confessions. Sometimes people are kept behind bars, threatening them with constant beatings, as long as the family members have collected a ransom for their release. Too often, people are dying in police custody. The detainees are subjected to torture or ill-treatment, inflicting severe physical or mental injury,  after an unfair trial, many of them end up in jail. Too often during the trial, even when there are obvious signs of torture, judges lack the independence and courage to demand to investigate allegations of torture.

Many of these families have trusted the local criminal justice system and have filed complaints about such treatment. However, those who dared to do so have faced harassment by the authorities. And this is in addition to the fact that the family has lost a breadwinner, and children – a father”- said the AI.

In addition, Amnesty International draws attention to the case Dilshodbeka Murodova whose case has not been investigated yet and who died in prison in Dushanbe in 2009, presumably as a result of torture and ill-treatment. AI calls upon all concerned people to express their solidarity and to sign a petition in order to help the mother of Murodov - Lubat Burkhonova to achieve justice and to end impunity and torture in Tajikistan. Sign the petition here http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/Tajikistan

The same case was also reported by the newspaper “ImruzNews” that also covered the event "Let's say NO to torture”. The newspaper published the article titled “I wrote a letter to Ban Ki-moon” where the mother of Dilshodbek Muvrodov names the officer of the Dushanbe colony # 1 Jamor Mukhtorov as one of those who were involved in the death of her son, though she was told that her son's death was caused by heart failure.

“I received a letter from Izzatullo Sharipov that my son fell in the toilet, he got his nose bleeding and soon he died. It's a lie. My son was healthy and did not suffer from any disease”- says the mother of Murodov.

The weekly “Ozodagon” covered the stories of Hamza Ikromzoda. His mother, Zulaikho Djuraeva, who also participated at the event, told the newspaper that it’s been already 9 months since her son’s death in the prison #1 in Dushanbe, but to this day no one has been held accountable for it.

“No one had been charged and nobody bears the responsibility” - said the mother of Hamza, on June 25 at the event devoted to the Day of the fight against torture.

According to her, her repeated requests to the President did not produce any results.

- For nine months, we've scoured the Attorney General and other departments, but no one is listening to us! We are all mortal, but no one wishes to dye this way. We tried hard but were not able to meet with the President. Why in other countries, the President communicates with its citizens. What is our fault? The President also has a son, children the same as Izzatullo Sharipov. Is only our children to commit crimes, and the children of officials never do? - said Zulaikho Djuraeva.

According to civil society activist Mahmurod Odinaev, if the perpetrators of torture will not be punished, he is ready to start a foot picket from Gissar to Dushanbe with the slogans “Down with torture” and for resignation of Izatullo Sharipov (Head of GUIUN) Nusratullo Abdullayev (Head of the Supreme Court) Sherkhon Salimzoda (General Prosecutor PT). According to him, there are about 700 people willing to join him in this rally.

Mahmurod Odinaev is the father of Sunnatulo Rizoev one of the prisoners, who witnessed the torture being used against a prisoner Hamza Ikromzoda, who died in autumn 2012, the prison in Dushanbe.

The same weekly “Ozodagon” in its article "Once upon a time, but it's not a fairy tale” from June 26, writes: “Torture - is something that exist and at the same time does not exist in Tajikistan. Human rights activists and relatives of the victims claim that there is torture while the public authorities categorically deny the existence of torture”.

The newspaper reminds that one of the famous prisoners Sirodzhiddin Abdurahmonov known as Eshoni Sirodzhiddin - a former leader of the capital’s Salafis movement - after his release in June of this year in an interview with reporters, denied the existence of torture in prisons. “I spent 4 years in the prison. Never seen that someone was beaten, broken arms and legs. All these talks are just a fiction”.