DUSHANBE, July 9, 2008, Asia-Plus — Tajik authorities should provide the Red Cross and human rights activists access to penitentiary facilities, Mr. Payam Foroughi, Human Dimension Officer at the OSCE Center in Dushanbe, announced at a roundtable meeting formally titled “Tajikistan and the UN Committee against Torture – One Year On: Achievements and Future Challenges” in Dushanbe on July 8.
According to him, in 2004 the president of the country allowed the Red Cross to visit prisons and talk with inmates. However, access to prisons was available for employees of this international organizations only for several months. May be Tajik authorities feared that cases of violence and mistreatment in penitentiary facilities might come out because such practice are in contrary in obligations adopted by the country on international agreements, Mr. Foroughi said. He noted that Tajikistan should be open for the Red Cross and this will enhance the country’s prestige on international arena.
Speaking at the meeting, Yusuf Salimov, head of the department for constitutional guarantees within President’s Executive Office, admitted that systematic monitoring by international and national experts of penitentiary facilities had not been conducted and it is very difficult for public associations and human rights activists to get access to prisons. “I think that adoption of the ombudsman law will improve the situation,” Salimov said.
Zarif Alizoda, State Adviser to the Tajik President for Legal Matters, noted that preparatory work on the establishment of the institution of ombudsman is under way in the country and “after solution of all organizational issues the ombudsman will be appointed.”
According to him, they are currently working out a new criminal-procedural code of the country and it will be submitted for consideration to government this autumn.
The meeting brought together some 30 participants, including MPs, representatives of president’s office, law enforcement agencies, as well as experts and representatives of civil society and international organizations active in Tajikistan to discuss recommendations of the Committee against Tortures, analyze a status of implementation of them by the government over the past year as well as jointly develop a plan of actions for implementation of them.
The meeting discussed key matters such as the criminalization of torture, ensuring access by lawyers to detainees, the right to lodge a complaint, redress and compensation, the professional training of public officials on the prohibition of torture, and the systematic monitoring of places of detention and possibilities of ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT).
The meeting was staged by the UNDP CO Tajikistan and its “Enhancing Peace and Promoting Human Rights in Tajikistan” project in cooperation with the UNCHR CO Tajikistan, OSCE Center in Dushanbe, and the department for constitutional guarantees within President’s Executive Office.
Representatives of the Association for the Prevention of Torture, Mathew Pringle and Vincent Ploton (Fundraising Officer), also attended the meeting.
Mr. Pringle presented the Overview of the UN Committee against Torture’s Concluding Observations on Tajikistan.
