Torture, undue process no poor detention conditions of a Kyrgyz woman

Facts

The author is Rosa Gorbaeva, a national from Kyrgyzstan. She was apprehended on allegations of murdering her neighbor and subsequently subjected to police torture until she signed an inculpatory confession. Following this, she was deprived of her liberty and forced to live in precarious conditions in detention facilities. On March 4, 2015, the Nooken District Court found the author guilty, sentencing her to 12 years of imprisonment. However, on April 9, 2015, the Jalal-Abad Regional Court remanded the case to the Prosecutor General for further investigation. Eventually, she was granted early conditional release. The author claimed that police torture and due process violations infringed upon her rights under article 7 and article 9 (1), (2) and (3) of the Covenant. Additionally, she claimed that the living conditions in detention facilities violated her rights under article 10 (1) of the Covenant. Furthermore, she claimed to have been forced into confessing to a crime, contravening article 14 (3) (g) of the Covenant.

Admissibility

The Committee finds that the author has not provided sufficient details to support her claims under articles 14 (3) (b) and (e) and article 7 of the Covenant, particularly regarding her incommunicado detention, nor substantiated how her claims align with article 9(1) and (2) of the Covenant. Nevertheless, the Committee determines that the author has sufficiently substantiated the remaining claims under article 7, articles 2 (3) (a), 9 (3), 10 (1), and 14 (3) (c) and (g) of the Covenant. As a result, it deems these claims admissible.

Merits

The Committee considers that the Office of the Prosecutor refused to open a criminal investigation because the time of infliction of the injuries found on the author’s left leg by medical report could not be established. Also, it notes that it failed to question the author’s husband and relatives and the police officers and had not checked the police records to establish the date of the author’s apprehension. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the author’s allegations of incommunicado detention and her allegations of torture by the police were left without substantive investigation. Therefore, the Committee concludes that the State party is responsible for the security of any person that it holds in detention and, when an individual in detention shows signs of injury, it is incumbent upon the State party to produce evidence showing that is not responsible for such injury (the burden of proof rests in the State rather than the victim, but the State only provided u reconcile de information concerning the timing of the author’s injuries and there’s an absence of information about the possible origin of those injuries from the State party.

The Committee recalls that persons deprived of their liberty may not be subjected to any hardship or constraint other than that resulting from the deprivation of liberty and they must be treated humanely in accordance with the Nelson Mandela Rules. Moreover, the Committee notes that the State party has the duty to protect detainees and investigate torture allegations. Additionally, the State’s failure to thoroughly investigate the torture claims, including not questioning relevant witnesses, resulted in a violation of the detainee’s rights, demonstrating a neglect in addressing and investigating the allegations properly. Finally, the Committee found the criminal proceedings, lasting 1,124 days, unduly prolonged, which demands immediate trials for detained accused.

Despite the case being returned for further investigation multiple times, the State party failed to justify the delays. Overlapping investigation gaps indicated repetitive investigative failures, contributing to the prolonged process. With no clarification from the State on these delays, the Committee concluded a violation of the author’s right to a timely trial.

Recommendations

The State party is obligated, inter alia, to:

a) Conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the author’s allegations of torture and, if the allegations are confirmed, to have the persons responsible prosecuted and to provide the author with adequate compensation;

b) Take all steps necessary to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future.

Implementation

Deadline for implementation: 23 April 2024

More information on the case:

— ACCA Media - Kyrgyzstan: woman was held in inhuman conditions for more than three years

— ACCA Media - Kyrgyzstan: victim of abuse claims compensation from authorities