CCPR/C/117/D/2219/2012 domestic remedy was available for him to obtain redress against his repeated prosecution and conviction as a conscientious objector to military service. The author claims that with the submission of a supervisory appeal to the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, he has exhausted the available domestic remedies concerning the alleged violation of article 18 (1) of the Covenant.4 He considers that the appellate court decision of Dashoguz Regional Court, dated 5 January 2010, on his first conviction, and the decision of the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, dated 13 July 2012, on his second conviction, satisfy his obligation to exhaust all available domestic remedies prior to submitting his communication to the Committee. 2.10 In his additional submission dated 6 February 2013, the author informed the Committee that on 24 January 2013 at 10 p.m., weeks after the present communication and nine others had been transmitted to the State party by the Committee on 7 December 2012, the author’s family home was raided by more than 30 police officers. The police subjected the family members and guests present that evening to beatings, threats of rape and serious mistreatment. After having submitted a complaint in that regard to the Prosecutor General and the President of Turkmenistan, the author requested the Committee’s protection against reprisals (see para. 1.2 above). 2.11 The author has not submitted his communication to any other procedure of international investigation or settlement. The complaint 3.1 The author claims that his prosecution and imprisonment on the ground of his religious beliefs expressed in his conscientious objection to military service in itself constitutes inhuman or degrading treatment within the meaning of article 7 of the Covenant.5 3.2 The author also claims a violation of article 7 of the Covenant on account of his inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment while in detention, including police brutality, and of the detention conditions in the LBK-12 prison. In that regard, he refers, inter alia, to the concluding observations of the Committee against Torture,6 the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights,7 and the report of Turkmenistan 4 5 6 7 4 In other communications submitted to the Committee by conscientious objectors in Turkmenistan, it is argued that the national courts of Turkmenistan have never ruled in favour of a conscientious objector to military service. See, for example, communication No. 2222/2012, Ahmet Hudaybergenov v. Turkmenistan, Views adopted on 29 October 2015, para. 2.7. See, for example, European Court of Human Rights, Feti Demirtaş v. Turkey (application No. 5260/07), judgment of 17 January 2012, para. 91, in which the Court ruled that the applicant suffered inhuman and degrading treatment because he was subjected to “numerous criminal proceedings” and “criminal convictions,” in addition to ill-treatment while in prison. That conclusion applies mutatis mutandis to the author’s case. See CAT/C/TKM/CO/1, paras. 18 and 19, in which the Committee expressed its concern, inter alia, at ongoing physical abuse and psychological pressure carried out by prison staff, including collective punishment, ill-treatment as a “preventive” measure, the use of solitary confinement, and sexual violence and rape by prison officers or inmates, that had reportedly motivated the suicides of several detainees. The Committee also expressed deep concern about the current material and hygiene conditions in places of deprivation of liberty, such as inadequate food and health care, severe overcrowding, and unnecessary restrictions on family visits. The author cites Kolesnik v. Russia (application No. 26876/08), 17 June 2010, paras. 68, 69 and 72, in which the European Court of Human Rights concluded that an extradition order to Turkmenistan for criminal prosecution subjected the applicant in that case to a “serious risk” of being subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. The following factors were taken into account: credible and consistent reports from various reputable sources of widespread torture, beatings and use of force