A/HRC/19/61/Add.2 I. Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez, conducted a visit to Kyrgyzstan from 5 to 13 December 2011, at the invitation of the Government. The purpose of the visit was to assess the situation of torture and ill-treatment in the country, including conditions of detention, and to identify measures needed to prevent torture and ill-treatment in the future. 2. During his 9-day mission, the Special Rapporteur met with the President, the Vicespeaker of the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament), the Head of the Committee on Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Public Associations of Parliament (Parliamentary Committee), the Deputy Ombudsman, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for the Interior, the Prosecutor General, the Minister for Justice, the Head of State Service for the Execution of Punishments, the Deputy Head of State Committee on National Security, the acting Chairwoman of the Supreme Court, the Ministers for Health, Education, and Social Protection, district and city representatives of above-mentioned ministries in Osh and Djalal-Abad, members of civil society organizations and representatives of United Nations agencies and other international organizations. He also met with victims of torture and their relatives, and visited places of deprivation of liberty in Bishkek, Chui, Osh and Djalal-Abad provinces. 3. The Special Rapporteur wishes to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for issuing authorization letters providing him with unrestricted access to all detention facilities in accordance with the terms of reference for fact-finding missions by special rapporteurs.1 4. Owing to time constraints, the Special Rapporteur selected a representative sample of places and facilities and visited a total of 15 detention centres of all types, including seven temporary detention facilities, four pretrial detention facilities, two police stations, a penal colony and one psychiatric hospital in different parts of the country. 2 The testimonies heard about torture and ill-treatment shared the same pattern and were largely corroborated by forensic expertise. 5. The Special Rapporteur would like to express appreciation to the Government for facilitating his unrestricted access to most of the places where persons are deprived of their liberty. Overall access was by and large granted to pretrial detention facilities under the jurisdiction of the State Service for the Execution of Punishments. 6. The Special Rapporteur had to wait, however, for duty officers to gain permission from their superiors before he was granted access to IVSs run by the Ministry of the Interior. On two occasions, the Special Rapporteur had to interrupt his visits owing to unacceptable restrictions to his working methods. At the temporary detention facility in Uzgen district (Osh province), the deputy head, Baky Diykanev, entered into lengthy negotiations with him, questioning the time and purpose of his visit, on the pretext that the visit was being conducted after working hours on Saturday. The Special Rapporteur’s access to the temporary detention facility was eventually compromised with “no more than five minute” interviews with inmates, which he had to interrupt because of the officer’s continued interference and agitation of inmates “to tell the truth”. At the temporary detention facility in Moscowskiy district (Chui province), its deputy head, Zarubek Ibraimov, also placed undue time restrictions on conversations with inmates, in addition to 1 2 4 E/CN.4/1998/45, appendix V. In principle, a temporary detention facility (“IVS”) are used to hold inmates in the first 48 hours after their arrest and before the courts have authorized their remand for trial. A pretrial detention facility (“SIZO”) is used to hold inmates from the initial court decision until trial. Penitentiary colonies are for inmates serving sentences. In principle, police stations do not hold detainees.