A/HRC/19/61/Add.2
document bodily injuries (article 23 of the Law on Procedure and Conditions of the
Detention of Persons Suspected or Accused of a Crime in Custody). The Special
Rapporteur observes that, in practice, the norms mentioned in the two paragraphs above are
not duly implemented in Kyrgyzstan.
3.
Complaints and investigation of acts of torture and ill-treatment
24.
Article 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires inquiry officers and
prosecutors to accept, register and review reports or statements on committed or intended
crimes. The complaint filing procedure requires the complaint to be forwarded to the
relevant addressee immediately or within 24 hours for persons detained or taken into
custody (art. 128). Furthermore, crime reports can be registered either in police stations or
with national security bodies, or financial police. The Special Rapporteur notes that, in
practice, the registration of crimes committed by police officers is often delayed, resulting
in the loss of evidence. In addition, the centre responsible for the collection, analysis and
storage of all crime-related information under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior
reportedly lacks transparency and has no external oversight.
25.
Under article 38 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, agencies of preliminary inquiry,
such as the police, penitentiary institutions and pretrial detention centres, military
institutions, agencies of national security, and financial police, upon the receipt of a
complaint, are to conduct a preliminary inquiry prior to the initiation of criminal
proceedings. In most cases, if any inquiries are held, the police investigate torture allegedly
perpetrated by its own officials, and the same holds true for the Committee for National
Security and the financial police. The Special Rapporteur observes that the preliminary
inquiry usually concludes that the allegations of torture and ill-treatment have not been
substantiated and do not merit a full-scale criminal investigation.
26.
In addition, during the preliminary inquiry, victims are not given an opportunity to
present evidence nor are they allowed to review the report of the preliminary inquiry,
making it virtually impossible for them to appeal its findings successfully.
27.
The Special Rapporteur observes that, although the legislation provides for various
complaint channels, the fact remains that these mechanisms are marred by allegations of
lack of independence and ineffectiveness and the complaints are essentially addressed to
the very body alleged to have perpetrated the ill-treatment. Such circumstances jeopardize
their public credibility and do not allow unbiased examination of complaints of torture by
police officers. In addition, there is not enough public awareness about the existing
complaint mechanisms or confidence in their protective role. The Special Rapporteur
recalls that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the heads of preliminary and pretrial
detention facilities denied having received any complaints of torture or ill-treatment in the
past five years. The denial or absence of official complaints leads to the conclusion that the
existing complaints mechanisms lack credibility, making them de facto non-functional.
28.
The Special Rapporteur notes that prosecutorial oversight, although exercised
regularly, does not focus on receiving or detecting cases of torture, but mostly on
conditions of detention. The Special Rapporteur believes that most detainees refrain from
filing complaints with prosecutors or inquiry officers during their monitoring visits out of
fear of reprisal. Furthermore, no protection is afforded by the State to victims of torture,
given that the Law on the Protection of Rights of Witnesses, Victims and Other Parties of
Criminal Proceedings does not envisage any enforcement mechanisms. The Ombudsman’s
Office, as part of its broad mandate, is also tasked with receiving complaints, including
cases involving acts of torture or ill-treatment; however, it lacks capacity and the resources
necessary to perform its tasks. According to the Deputy Ombudsman, in 2010, of 1,270
complaints, only eight were related to torture.
8