CCPR/C/119/D/2555/2015
request of National Security Service operational officers, to extract a confession. Due to
prolonged torture, the author made a suicide attempt by cutting his penis.
2.8
The injuries that the author sustained in detention have not been assessed by a
medical expert, despite his requests. He claims to have two broken ribs and severe
headaches. His claim about the use of torture is corroborated by his and his counsel’s
complaints to different authorities, as well as by his brother’s statement that he saw and
heard the author being beaten and dragged, unconscious, to his cell in the temporary
detention facility.
Review of the author’s complaints and of the criminal proceedings against him
2.9
The pretrial investigation of the author lasted from 8 August 2012 to 8 January 2013.
2.10 On 9 August 2012, the counsel requested the head of National Security Service to
verify the lawfulness of his arrest and detention on the customs premises and in the
temporary detention facility, to provide extracts from the registration logs specifying the
admissions and visits and to establish the identity of his co-detainees. On 13 August 2012,
the counsel requested the head of National Security Service to provide a similar extract
from the registration logs of the Department of the Interior in Bekabad and of the temporary
detention facility, as well as questioning records in respect of the author’s co-detainees and
bodily search and arrest records. On 10 August 2012, the counsel requested the senior
investigator of National Security Service in the Tashkent Region (hereinafter referred to as
the investigator) to release the author on bail; that request was rejected on 12 August 2012.
2.11 On 10 August 2012, Kibraisk District Court ordered the author’s detention. On 13
August 2012, his counsel appealed the decision, claiming that the author’s detention was
unlawful and that he had been tortured from 3 to 8 August 2012. It is unclear whether the
appeal has been examined.
2.12 The author and his counsel met on the premises of Kibraisk District Court on 10 and
13 August 2012 and during the author’s confrontation with Mr. Yu. on 11 September 2012.
The counsel filed multiple requests with the investigator to set up confidential meetings
with the author but to no avail. No confidential meetings took place from 8 August to 20
November 2012.
2.13 On 7 November 2012, Kibraisk District Court extended the author’s detention until
8 January 2013. On 27 November 2012, the author appealed that decision, claiming his
detention to be unlawful. It is unclear whether the appeal has been examined. The author
claims that his detention was not officially extended after 8 January 2013, and that between
8 January and 6 June 2013 he was continuously detained without any detention order.
2.14 On 13 December 2012, the counsel requested the investigator to verify the
lawfulness of the author’s arrest and detention. However, no action was taken on this
request. The counsel also submitted a complaint to the investigator claiming that the
author’s confession had been obtained under torture, requesting further investigation and
asking to question witness T. in order to confirm the author’s innocence. No response was
received. However, the author later found that the criminal file contained the investigator’s
decision of 14 December 2012 rejecting the complaint since incriminating evidence had
been obtained through different sources, including from witnesses and from confrontations.
2.15 On 4 January 2013, the author was indicted under articles 28 (2), 246 (2) and 273 (5)
of the Criminal Code.2 On 4 March 2013, the prosecutor of the Tashkent region approved
the indictment.
2.16 On 4 January 2013, the investigator severed criminal proceedings in relation to A. as
his identity and whereabouts had not been established.
2.17 On 4 and 5 January 2013, the investigator altered the author’s indictment and drew
up a questioning record, in the absence of the author’s counsel but in the presence of a
2
Types of accomplices (art. 28); smuggling (art. 246); illegal production, purchase, storage, and other
activities related to narcotic and psychotropic substances with purpose of sale as well as sale thereof
(art. 273).
3