Communications Nos. 1108/2002 and 1121/2002 Submitted by: Mr. Makhmadim Karimov and Mr. Amon Nursatov (not represented by counsel) Alleged victims: Aidamir Karimov (Makhmadim Karimov’s son), Saidabror Askarov, Abdumadzhid Davlatov and Nazar Davlatov (Nursatov’s brother and cousins respectively). State party: Tajikistan Date of adoption of Views: 27 March 2007 Subject matter: Imposition of death sentence after unfair trial and absence of legal representation in capital case. (Askarov/Davlatovs) respectively, requested the State party not to carry out the alleged victims’ executions while their cases are under examination by the Committee. Later, the State party explained that all the death sentences of the alleged victims were commuted to 25 years’ imprisonment. Substantive issue: Torture; unfair trial; right to life; conditions of detention Procedural issues: Evaluation of facts and evidence; substantiation of claim The facts as presented by the authors 2.1 On 11 April 2001, at around 8 a.m., the FirstDeputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, Khabib Sanginov, was shot dead in his car near his house in Dushanbe. Two bodyguards and the car driver also died in the ambush. Seven individuals were arrested during 2001 as suspects in the murders, including the alleged victims. Articles of the Covenant: 6, 7, 9, 10 and 14 Article of the Optional Protocol: 2 Finding: Violation (Messrs. Davlatov: arts. 6, para. 2; 7 and 14, para. 3 (g); 10; and 14, para. 2; Messrs. Karimov and Askarov: art. 6, para. 2; 7, 10; and 14, paras. 2 and 3 (b), (d) and (g)) The case of Aidamir Karimov 2.2 On an unspecified date in early June 2001, Aidamir Karimov was arrested in Moscow on charges of terrorism, pursuant an arrest warrant issued by the Tajik Prosecutor’s Office that was transmitted to the Russian authorities. He was remitted to the Tajik authorities and arrived in Dushanbe allegedly on 14 June 2001, but his relatives were informed of this only five days after his arrival. 1.1 The first author is Makhmadim Karimov, a Tajik national born in 1950, who submits the communication on behalf of his son, Aidamir Karimov, also Tajik national born in 1975. The second author is Mr. Amon Nursatov, a Tajik national born in 1958, who submits the communication on behalf of his brother Saidabror Askarov, 1 and his cousins Abdumadzhid Davlatov and Nazar Davlatov, both Tajiks born in 1975. At the time of submission of the communications, all four victims were awaiting execution, after being sentenced to death by the Military Chamber of the Supreme Court on 27 March 2002. The authors claim violations by Tajikistan of the alleged victims’ rights under article 6, paragraphs 1 and 2; article 7; article 9, paragraphs 1 and 2; article 10; and article 14, paragraphs 1, and 3, (e) and (g), of the Covenant. 2 The second author invokes in addition violations of article 14, paragraph 3 (b) and (d) in relation to his brother Askarov; the communication appears to raise similar issues also in relation to Aidamir Karimov. They are unrepresented. 2.3 He was detained for two weeks on premises of Dushanbe’s Internal Affairs’ Department. The author claims that the building is not adapted for prolonged detentions, and the maximum allowed period for detention there is three hours. His son was transferred to a Temporary Detention Centre only two weeks later (exact date not specified) and kept there for two months, instead of the statutorily maximum authorized 10 days. Afterwards, he was transferred to the Investigation Detention Centre No 1 in Dushanbe, but was systematically brought to the Internal Affairs’ Department and subjected to long interrogations there that went on all day and often continued into the night. The food was insufficient and the parcels his family transmitted to the authorities did not reach him. 1.2 Pursuant to article 92 of its rules of procedures, when registering the communications, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur of New Communications and Interim Measures, on 19 August (Karimov) and 25 September 2002 2.4 On 11 September 2001, the author’s son was officially charged with premeditated murder under aggravating circumstances, accomplished with a particular violence, with use of explosives, acting in an organized group, theft of fire arms and explosives, illegal acquisition of fire arms and explosives, and deliberate deterioration of property. 1 Both the author and the State party use two names in relation to Mr. Nursatov’s brother: Saidabror Askarov and Said Rezvonzod. 2 The Optional Protocol entered into force for the State party on 4 April 1999. 92