“45 cases of torture of prisoners are under investigation” – Ombudsman

It is noted that in the first half of 2023, the Ombudsman received 125 complaints about mental, psychological, physical or other pressure on persons detained in closed institutions with limited freedom of movement.

19 of the complaints were received directly during monitoring visits, 18 were received through the “ombudsman box”, 40 were received by the administration of penitentiary institutions and close relatives of prisoners through the postal service, and 21 were received by the Ombudsman and his staff, 22 of them were received electronically and 5 of them were received through the Ombudsman “hotline”.

“About 64% of these complaints were not confirmed according to the results of the investigation conducted by the prosecutor’s office and the investigation of the actions of the employees.

Regarding 8 of the complaints, according to Paragraph 2 of Article 83 of the Criminal Procedural Code, decisions on refusal to open a criminal case were canceled by high-ranking prosecutors based on the Ombudsman’s letter, and pre-investigation checks were ordered until further investigation.

In addition, investigation efforts are continuing in connection with 37 complaints,” Kun.uz reporter quoted Feruza Madrahimova, spokeswoman of the Ombudsman, as saying.

In addition, about 20 messages of this content published on social networks were immediately investigated by the Ombudsman and applications were submitted to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

It is noted that during the six months of 2023, the Ombudsman and his public groups visited places, where persons with limited freedom of movement were kept, 348 times. In particular, during this period, 113 penal colonies, 81 investigative detention centers, 43 temporary detention centers, 31 drug center branches, 27 special reception rooms, 16 “Sakhovat” and “Muruvvat” houses, 15 rehabilitation centers, 10 dispensaries of mental and nervous diseases, 8 internal affairs bodies and 4 points of medical assistance for people in a state of intoxication were studied.

During the monitoring visits, it was studied whether the conditions and quality of living, feeding, working and medical care of the persons detained in these institutions, as well as sanitary-hygienic requirements are being followed. About 7,000 convicts and prisoners were interviewed collectively and 2,417 convicts – individually.

Earlier, the head of the National Center for Human Rights, Akmal Saidov, stated that torture in investigating and penal institutions is a global problem.

On June 4, the 36-year-old suspect died as a result of brutal beatings by Buka district police officers, his ribs were broken, and it was found out that he was tortured by strangulation.

In Andijan in 2022, 12 police officers were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

After the death of the next arrested person in the hands of the officers of the internal affairs bodies, the “Yuksalish” movement announced that it has developed 10 proposals to end torture in the internal affairs agencies.