Case KGZ 270509
Incommunicado detention/ Alleged torture and ill-treatment/ Fear for safety
The International Secretariat of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Kyrgyzstan.
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR), a member of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the incommunicado detention and alleged torture and other forms of ill-treatment of Mr. Erkin Bulekbaev, chairman of the “Green Party of Kyrgyzstan” and of the “Public Association of Kazakhs in Kyrgyzstan”, as well as a member of the political bureau of the “United People’s Movement”, since his arrest on 27 April 2009.
According to the information received, Mr. Erkin Bulekbaev was arrested by officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the village of Petrovka (Chui region), accused of organising a mass riot in Petrovka on 26 April 2009. On 30 April 2009, he was remanded in custody for two months by the court of Bishkek.
Mr. Erkin Bulekbaev is reportedly currently detained at the Kyrgyz National Security Service (SNB) detention unit without access to his lawyer and family. He was first placed alone in a cell but would be now detained together with a detainee accused of murder. Mr. Erkin Bulekbaev was allegedly repeatedly beaten in order to confess the alleged organisation of a mass riot. His body would be covered with bruises.
According to the same information, Mr. Erkin Bulekbaev was arrested after he had requested the local authorities of Petrovka to release all individuals who had been arrested during the confrontation with local forces the day before. Mr. Bulekbaev had been reportedly asked by the local population to mediate between local government and protesters.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Erkin Bulekbaev, all the more that he remains detained incommunicado and has reportedly suffered acts of torture and ill-treatment. Furthermore, OMCT wishes to express its concern over the use of statements obtained under torture as evidence in a court case. OMCT recalls that Kyrgyzstan is a State party to the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which both prohibit cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In line with their obligations under this treaty, it is incumbent on the authorities to consider seriously any allegations of torture and ill-treatment, and to undertake a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation in this regard. Article 15 of the Convention against Torture stipulates that, “each State Party shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings (…)” and Article 11 that “each State Party shall keep under systematic review interrogation rules, instructions, methods and practices as well as arrangements for the custody and treatment of persons subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment in any territory under its jurisdiction, with a view to preventing any cases of torture”.
Please write to the authorities in Kyrgyzstan urging them to:
Please also write to the embassies of Kyrgyzstan in your respective country.
Geneva, 27 May 2009
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
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