DUSHANBE, February 20, 2009, Asia-Plus — February 2009 is the concluding month of the two-year project “Combating torture in Central Asia” which has been implemented by partner-organizations in the region with financial support from the European Union.
Summing up the project work at a presentation in Dushanbe on February 18, human rights defenders noted that there are certain positive developments in the sphere of combating torture in Central Asia, but generally the situation remains difficult, press release issued by Delegation of the European Commission to Tajikistan said.
Among the positive developments, they mentioned the ratification of the Optional Protocol to Convention against Torture (OPCAT) by Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Sergey Romanov, lawyer of the Bureau on Human Rights and the Rule of Law, and national project coordinator, informed that in Tajikistan, 92 cases of torture and abusive treatment by law-enforcement officers have been recorded by the ”Coalition against torture” (including lawyers, human rights advocates, journalists) during the period of June 2007 – December 2008.
According to him, the ”Coalition against torture” was formed in the framework of the project and during its implementation conducted different activities to protect torture victims. In particular, it recorded facts of torture, assisted in the protection of torture victims, conducted various meetings, round tables and conferences on preventing torture, as well as ensured mass media coverage of this problem.
As mentioned during the presentation of the project”s results on February 18, there was barely any noticeable improvement in ensuring a regular and unhindered access to closed institutions (detention centers, prisons) for monitoring. These institutions essentially remain closed off for human rights organizations in Tajikistan. Moreover, certain deterioration in constructing a dialogue between non-governmental organizations and state agencies is also noticeable in the country.
In his turn, Sardar Bagishbekov, the project’s Regional Coordinator, noted that as follow up to the reports submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan were given certain recommendations, which should be now implemented for the systematic prevention of torture.
«One of the main results, to my mind, is that in all three countries Coalitions were established, which will continue to work in this direction in the future».
The project established a common and objective database of alleged torture cases. It also established new and strengthened existing networks of defenders and journalists, who cooperated closely on documenting and investigating torture-related issues. The project also invested notable resources into capacity-building of defenders and journalists, whose main task was to attract attention of both governments and the wider publics to the problem of torture. In the course of the project, journalists prepared 250 articles on torture.
Human rights defenders hope that new steps will be accomplished in fighting torture in Central Asia at the level of prevention and the adequate punishment for those committing it.
The new EU Strategy for Central Asia aims to strengthen ties between the European Union and its Central Asian partners. It has doubled European Commission assistance to the region to €750 million for 2007-2013. Tajikistan gets the main share of bilateral assistance (€66 million for 2007-2010) in support to sector programs, technical assistance and grants. It focuses on social protection, health and private sector development, underpinned by public finance management. Projects aimed at enhancing living standards continue. Tajikistan also receives regional and thematic assistance in areas like border management and drug control (BOMCA/CADAP), education (TEMPUS, Erasmus Mundus), water / environment, human rights and democracy (EID HR), non-State actors (NSA) and SME development (CA-Invest). The total value of EC assistance disbursed to Tajikistan since 1992 is over €500 million.
