A/HRC/19/61/Add.4 Kyrgyzstan JUA 16/03/2011 Case No. KGZ 1/2011 State reply: 31/05/2011 Alleged violation of due process rights and guarantees in the conduct of criminal proceedings in relation to the June 2010 violence. 93. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Kyrgyz Republic for its reply, dated 31 May 2011, to this communication regarding, inter alia, alleged torture and illtreatment of individuals detained in relation to the June 2010 violence. In its reply, the Government indicated that its penal enforcement system “does not allow any acts of racism, torture or anti-Semitism.” The Government indicated that it did not receive any “official complaints” regarding the allegations. The Government noted that the Ministry of Internal Affairs Internal Security Service found no proof of the alleged death from torture of Mr. Khairullo Amanbaev. It also indicated that authorities decided “not to bring criminal cases in respect of all the information submitted” due to lack of evidence. The Government reported that 20 inspections of detention conditions had been undertaken since May 2010, and that these did not confirm torture. The Government described the offenses of which Mr. Askarov was accused and denied that he had been subjected to torture, noting also that the provincial prosecutor's office did not bring charges regarding alleged acts of torture and illtreatment against him. The Government reported that the municipal prosecutor's office decided not to bring criminal proceedings regarding allegations of torture against Mr. Gapirov, citing lack of evidence. It also reported that, of 122 applications for searching for missing individuals, 89 individuals have been found and 33 investigations remain ongoing. Nonetheless, the Government did not address allegations that a significant number of defendants, in trials relating to inter-ethnic violence since June 2010, were subjected to torture and ill-treatment to extract confessions or statements implicating co-defendants, which were admitted as evidence in court. It did not address reports that judges failed to order prompt and impartial investigations of allegations of torture. Similarly, the Government did not present evidence to refute reports that between 27 August 2010 and 31 December 2010, 46 cases of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officers have been documented, of which 43 involved ethnic Uzbeks. The Special Rapporteur interviewed Mr. Askarov in prison in December 2011 and is persuaded that he was indeed tortured at the time of his detention, the Government‟s response notwithstanding. In addition, Mr Askarov has been sentenced to a life term on the basis, at least in part, of evidence obtained under torture from the defendant and from others. In this sense, the Special Rapporteur recalls that under paragraph 7(a) of Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23 of 12 April 2011, States are urged “[t]o take persistent, determined and effective measures to have all allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment investigated promptly, effectively and impartially by an independent, competent domestic authority, as well as whenever there is reasonable ground to believe that such an act has been committed.” The Special Rapporteur also reminds the Government that article 12 of the Convention against Torture requires competent authorities to undertake a prompt and impartial investigation wherever there are reasonable grounds to believe that torture has been committed, and article 7 of the Convention against Torture requires State parties to prosecute suspected perpetrators of torture. Based on the information presented, the Special Rapporteur determines that the rights of the named individuals under the Convention against Torture have been violated. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to immediately undertake prompt, impartial and effective investigations of all allegations of torture, leading to prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators, and to provide full redress to victims, including measures of non-repetition. In addition, the Government must undertake a review of all judicial verdicts to ensure compliance with the international standard that forbids the use against criminal defendants of any evidence obtained under coercion. 41