Ombudsman: 1 employee of the security forces was arrested for torture, 11 were given disciplinary punishment 

According to the press secretary of the Human Rights representative of Oliy Majlis, 297 monitoring of penitentiary institutions were carried out under the leadership of the Ombudsman in 9 months of 2022.

“Monitoring by the Ombudsman and his regional representatives is carried out without warning the administration of the penal institutions, and existing cases are being investigated. During the studies, convicts and prisoners are met face-to-face, asked whether torture is used or not, and whether the conditions created for them are at the level of the specified requirements.

In 2022, the Ombudsman received complaints about torture, but in most cases they were not confirmed. Some appeals are about torture occurred 5-10 years ago. In order to thoroughly study the current situation, from 2022, anonymous surveys among prisoners throughout the republic have been launched,” Fatima Madrakhimova, spokeswoman of the Ombudsman, said.

It is noted that the results of the studies will be published in the Ombudsman’s annual report on the analysis of the activities carried out on the prevention of torture.

“In 2022, the Ombudsman received appeals against law enforcement officers who abused their authority and violated human rights. They were studied and sent to the prosecutor’s office for a legal evaluation of the actions of the officers. In one case, an officer was found guilty under the Articles of intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm and falsification of evidence of the Criminal Code. Also, 11 employees were subject to disciplinary action and the employment contract of 1 employee was terminated.

It should be noted that the Ombudsman is developing proposals to prevent torture during investigative processes based on the analysis of appeals sent to it,” Fatima Madrakhimova added.

According to the information policy advisor of the Human Rights representative of Oliy Majlis, the Ombudsman advocates prevention and elimination of cases of torture, but not concealment. Therefore, if he receives an appeal about torture and it is confirmed by the convicts or prisoners, the public will be informed about it.