Torture:
“Tajikistan still needs to breach the gap between policies and reality” – UN
rights expert
DUSHANBE (12 February 2014) – The United
Nations Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Méndez, today urged the
Government of Tajikistan to fully implement its policies for the eradication
and prevention of torture and ill-treatment.
“Tajikistan still needs to breach the gap
between policies and reality,” Mr. Méndez stressed at the end of a three-day
follow-up visit to the Republic of Tajikistan to evaluate the level of
implementation of the recommendations issued after his 2012 visit*. “I consider
follow-up a priority and believe that this is an important example that should
be emulated by other States.”
“I find it very satisfying to see that my
recommendations were taken so seriously and that systematic action has been
initiated by the Government to implement some of them,” stressed the
independent expert charged by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor a report
on the use torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment in the world.
Mr. Méndez welcomed in particular the
adoption of a National Action Plan to implement his advice, and other measures
taken, such as the new institute of forensic medicine, legal awareness
campaigns and capacity building efforts.
“I regret, however, that civil society has
not been consulted in the creation or execution of this Plan, that some areas
lack specificity and measurable indicators and that no specific time frame for
the implementation is provided,” he noted.
The expert was encouraged by the adoption
of new legislation that brings the definition of torture in line with the
Convention against Torture and a Supreme Court decree that guarantees the
availability of safeguards to prevent torture from the time of apprehension.
But he insisted that the punishment for torture and ill-treatment needs to be
increased in accordance with the severity of such acts and that amnesty for
these crimes need to be specifically prohibited in the applicable legislation.
“I am still concerned that in the past two
years only four cases were prosecuted under the new provision despite the fact
that allegations of torture and ill-treatment during apprehension,
interrogation, pre-trial detention, and in prison still persist,” the
Rapporteur said.
“The Government must continue working to
ensure that improved laws and policies result in concrete changes in practice,”
he stressed. In particular, the Special Rapporteur remains highly concerned
about persisting denial to access legal counsel in a timely and independent
manner.
The independent expert regretted that there
has not been substantive progress to ratify the Optional Protocol to the
Convention against Torture and the creation of a National Preventive Mechanism
(NPM). “The ratification would prove the openness of prison authorities and
would enhance the transparency of the penitentiary system,” he said, “and the
NPM is essential for the investigation and punishment, but most of all for the
prevention of torture and ill-treatment.”
In the context of monitoring places of
detention, the Special Rapporteur welcomed the expansion of the Ombudsperson’s
mandate and that office’s willingness to cooperate with civil society to
conduct visits to detention facilities. He regretted, however, that in recent
cases civil society representatives were denied access to prisons to
investigate alleged acts of mistreatment. .
“Lack of compliance with the
non-refoulement provision in the Convention Against Torture continues to be a
matter of concern,” Mr. Méndez noted. “The legislation should be amended to
ensure that the obligation not to extradite or deport or expel a person to a
country where he or she faces a risk of torture or ill-treatment is duly
recognized and that appropriate legal recourse is guaranteed in order to allow
for a meaningful risk assessment.”
The Special Rapporteur also expressed deep
concerned about information received related to reprisals after his 2012 visit
despite a clear understanding with the Government that such acts are
unacceptable. Reprisals and intimidation constitute a serious threat to the work
of the Rapporteur and other UN Human Rights mechanisms.
“I strongly urge the Government to take all
necessary measures to prevent intimidation and reprisals against individuals
who seek to cooperate or have cooperated with my mandate and I expect no similar
allegations after my follow-up visit,” insisted the expert.
The Special Rapporteur expressed his
willingness to continue the fruitful engagement with the Government and civil
society of Tajikistan through his Anti-Torture follow-up Initiative. “Although
more efforts are needed in several areas, I can attest that there is strong
evidence of political will on the highest level to work on eradicating and
preventing torture and ill-treatment,” he said.
“I will submit a follow-up report to the
Human Rights Council with more detailed observations and recommendations and I
am confident this will further enhance the efforts already made to end the
practice of torture and ill-treatment in the country,” he concluded.
(*) Check the Special Rapporteur’s 2012
report on Tajikistan: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session22/A-HRC-22-53-Add1_en.pdf
ENDS
Juan E. Méndez (Argentina) was appointed by
the UN Human Rights Council as the Special Rapporteur on torture and other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment on 1 November 2010. He is
independent from any government and serves in his individual capacity. Mr.
Méndez has dedicated his legal career to the defense of human rights, and has a
long and distinguished record of advocacy throughout the Americas. He is
currently a Professor of Law at the American University – Washington College of
Law and Co-Chair of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar
Association. Mr. Méndez has previously served as the President of the
International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) until 2009, and was the UN
Secretary-General Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide from 2004 to
2007, as well as an advisor on crime prevention to the Prosecutor,
International Criminal Court, between 2009 and 2010. Learn more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Torture/SRTorture/Pages/SRTortureIndex.aspx
Learn more about the Special Rapporteur’s
Anti-Torture follow-up Initiative, log on to: www.antitorture.org
UN Human Rights, country page –Tajikistan: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/TJIndex.aspx
Check the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CAT.aspx
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Stephanie Selg (sselg@ohchr.org) or Fernanda Velasco (+41 22 917 9329 /
fvelasco@ohchr.org)
For media inquiries related to other UN
independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit
(+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
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