DUSHANBE, June 7, 2011, Asia-Plus — Khatlon law enforcement authorities claim that the province is free of tortures. According to them, no cases of use of tortures have been reported this year during preliminary investigations or interrogations.
Chairman of the Qurghon Teppa city court, Temour Boyev, told reporters yesterday that their court has not considered any torture-related case this year. “However, there were cases when defendants said that police officers had beat them to extort confessions,” Boyev noted.
The deputy prosecutor of Qurghon Teppa, Mahmadsaid Nasimov, also noted that the city prosecutor’s office have not received any application or complaint from citizens about use of torture by law enforcement officers against them.
Tajik Ombudsman Zarif Alizoda, during his trip to Rumi district, also noted that they have not received any application or complaint from Khatlon residents about use of torture against them.
“We have received complaints from Dushanbe and Sughd province, especially from persons being held in prisons and their relatives,” said the ombudsman, “In their applications, they note that their rights were infringed during investigation. We have checked all those complaints, but no one of those facts has been confirmed. We cooperate with the Prosecutor-General’s Office on checking such facts. Under the plan for this year, we will inspect all the penitentiary institutions in the country for use of tortures.”
In the meantime, Ghulom Boboyev, who is one of skilled lawyers in Khatlon province, considers that cases of use of tortures and other cruel treatment by local law enforcement officers exist in the province but it is very difficult to prove that.
“Probably such crimes have not been registered in the province, but when you attend trials, you see that defendants change their accounts of the events and say that law enforcement officers beat them to extort confessions,” said the lawyer, “In such cases, people must apply to the prosecutor’s office or their lawyers. I had several cases in my practice when defendants complained about use of beatings by police officers. It is very difficult to prove such cases. In my 12-year practice of law, only in 2008, 2 or three police officers were convicted for beating suspects.”
