Committee against Torture hears response of Delegation of Turkmenistan

Committee against Torture
AFTERNOON

18 May 2011

The Committee against Torture this afternoon heard the response of Turkmenistan to questions raised by Committee Experts on the initial report of that country on how it is implementing the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Responding to a series of questions raised by Committee members on Tuesday, 17 May, the delegation, led by Hangeldy Serdarov, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, noted that the independence of judges was strengthened by instituting a new process of appointment by the President which broke with the previous practice of election of justices during the Communist period. The Presidential State Commission received complaints against the activities of the police and was made up of the heads of the main policing bodies, non-governmental organization representatives and individuals from the council of women and youth organizations and met once a month. Mr. Serdarov said that the Government cooperated regularly with the International Committee for the Red Cross, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs would sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Red Cross to create an information resource centre on humanitarian law and for the provision of technical assistance in the reform of the penal system.

Other delegation members said that overcrowding developed in the prison system in the 1990s after the country gained independence and that $ 70 million was marked for prison construction of which 20 per cent had been expended. Tuberculosis was a problem in Turkmenistan and the Government was launching a national programme from 2010 to 2015 to address it. More than 200 non-governmental organizations were registered in the county and there were six bar associations with 100 lawyers and more than 30 private legal firms.

Felice Gaer, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Turkmenistan, said there was no response from the delegation on the location of detained individuals, specifically the former Foreign Minister, Mr. Boris Shikhmuradov, Mr. Annaniazov, Mr. and Mrs. Berdyev, Mr. Nurliev, or on the finding by the Human Rights Committee that compensation should be provided to Mr. Komarovski for acts committed during his detention. She also asked whether an autopsy was performed on Ms. Muradova, who had died in detention.

Claudio Grossman, the Committee Chairperson who Served as Co-Rapporteur for the report of Turkmenistan, stressed that not providing access to families of detained persons could be considered as inhumane treatment toward family members and asked the delegation to state the whereabouts of Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khajiev, whose location remained unknown six years after their detention. The Co-Rapporteur asked if the delegation would consider independent visits to prisoners as a means of cooperating with human rights mechanisms and to verify the report by Amnesty International of women detained on misdemeanour charges and raped in 2007 by members of the Ministry of Interior.

Other Committee Experts asked about additional cases, including the whereabouts of Mr. Gulgeldy Annaniazov, did minorities hold positions within the justice system and was Turkmenistan considering ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention?

In response to these questions, the Turkmenistan delegation said they would provide the record of prisoner access visits for Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khajiev to show that their families had visited them and said that last week 1,500 people received clemency from a Presidential Decree and returned to their homes.

The Turkmenistan delegation included representatives from the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Parliament, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, the Council on Religious Affairs, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Interior, Institute of Democracy and Human Rights and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 19 May, at 10 a.m. when the Committee will meet to consider the third periodic report of Mauritius (CAT/C/MUS/3).

Response by Delegation of Turkmenistan

HANGELDY SERDAROV, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, noted that the independence of judges was strengthened by instituting a new process of appointment by the President which broke with the previous practice of election during the Communist period. A judge must be first recommended by a judicial body before it reaches the President for appointment; promotion and dismissal was based on a decision from a collegiate body of judges. People’s assessors, elected by the people, acted as a check on judges because they could overturn judicial decisions. Article 6 of the Constitution stated that the rules of international agreements and treaties would directly apply in the legal system, at present there were no such cases of this application but the ongoing training provided to judges on the Convention would result in such cases in the future.

An order from a superior officer could not be invoked to carry out torture and there was a legal guarantee that an individual would bear no criminal liability when not obeying such an order, Mr. Serdarov said. Children were taught basic aspects of individual rights and duties while in all higher education law faculties and in many higher educational institutes, the constitutional obligations toward human rights were covered.

In 2007, the President established a State Commission to consider the activities of the police which was made up of the heads of the main policing bodies, non-governmental organization representatives and individuals from the council of women and youth organizations. The Commission met once a month and all complaints were analyzed in advance of the meeting. The Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion and all religious organizations which were separate from the State. All male citizens of a certain age were obligated to serve in the Turkmenistan army and there were no exemptions for religious reasons. However, in the few cases where this was requested, the military had not called these conscientious objectors to serve. The structure of the Ministry of Defense also permitted individuals to serve in a civilian capacity in place of their military service.

Mr. Serdarov, in replying to questions on the case of Mr. Nurliev, noted that he was a Turkmen by nationality, 46 years old and came from a region where the main language was Turkmen; during the trial there was no appeal from him for the services of an interpreter and if there had been one an interpreter would have been provided.

Other members of the delegation said that overcrowding developed in the prison system in the 1990s after the country gained independence. The Ministry of Interior managed the prisons and in March 2011 there was an enforcement code adopted by Parliament to bring the prison system into line with international standards. Seventy million dollars was marked for building prisons of which 20 per cent had been expended. A new female prison colony was planned. New prison facilities would all respect the minimum space per detainee of 4 m2. In order to improve the health care system in the prisons, equipment valued at $ 2.5 million was required and the Ministry of Interior was in the process of preparing tenders for international companies.

Monitoring commissions supervised inmates, received complaints from prisoners, and oversaw all aspects of their integration into society when on parole. In the Penal Code, there was provision for separate detention for women, men and minors. There were three prisons for minors and owing to a Presidential Decree on minors, there was only one girl in prison. The monitoring and care of female prisoners was carried out by women and ill inmates were detained in hospital facilities. The Doctors in the women’s penal colony were all women.

The delegation said that Tuberculosis was a problem in Turkmenistan and the Government was launching a national programme from 2010 to 2015 to fight against tuberculosis which would introduce a nation wide campaign. The programme would provide medicine for patients and the United Nations Development Programme was preparing tenders for ventilation equipment for a special hospital for convicts where inmates who suffered from tuberculosis would be placed.

A registration process took place no less than 48 hours after a person was brought into detention, the delegation said. Authorities were obliged to provide a report stating the reason for arrest and the conditions of arrest which was kept as a record in police stations. In the first 24 hours after a person was taken into custody, information on the case must be given to the Prosecutor’s office; within 48 hours the Prosecutor must review the case and there was a maximum of 72 hours that a person could be detained without judicial review. A training institution within the Ministry of Interior provided training on international human rights standards. Concerning disciplinary liability and responsibility of Ministerial staff, public officials could be brought under criminal liability, and if found guilty would be subjected to disciplinary action, including a note in the person’s record, a reprimand, a note on exceeding authority, deletion of the name from the role of honour, detention and dismissal.

HANGELDY SERDAROV, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, said that there were forged documents in the Berdyev case which had been submitted to deceive the Commission. Turkmenistan cooperated regularly with the International Committee for the Red Cross, including organizing lectures on armed conflict within the military establishment, and seminars and lectures on international humanitarian law for training specialists. The Minister of Foreign Affairs would sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Committee for the Red Cross to create an information resource centre on humanitarian law and for the provision of technical assistance in the reform of the penal system.

The delegation said that the claims of Mr. Farid Tukhbatullin that his website was hacked and that there were threats against him by the authorities of Turkmenistan were without basis and he regretted these allegations had been brought forward. Concerning nationality and citizenship, Turkmenistan nationals could not be deprived of their citizenship and there were no internally displaced persons in Turkmenistan. The Government had increased its cooperation with human rights mechanisms in the last four years, including the opening in April of the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan in Geneva. During the Universal Periodic Review, the Government committed to meet with all Special Rapporteurs and the Representative to the Permanent Mission would take the responsibility for arranging this visits.

The Government had extradition treaties with four countries: the Russian Federation, Belarus Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. According to Article 7 of the Constitution, citizens of Turkmenistan who committed crimes on another State were not subject to extradition to that State. A foreign citizen or stateless person who committed a crime outside of Turkmenistan could be extradited to that country to face legal proceedings. The Procurator General’s Office considered all extradition requests. Extradition would be refused if in the following cases: if the person was a citizen of Turkmenistan, if the person had been given asylum by Turkmenistan and if the actions were not considered a crime in Turkmenistan. Cases of illegal detention of individuals in custody had not been detected and among 450 checks of legality on detention 73 people were investigated. In 2009, one person was extradited to the Russian Federation; in 2010 three people were extricated: one to Russia, one to Ukraine, and one to Uzbekistan; and in 2011 none had been extradited.

Concerning the case of Mr. Komarovski, he was never subjected to torture and was allowed free access to medical services. Under custody, he frequently met the Vice Counsel of the United States and never raised issues of torture during these meetings. In 2003, Mr. Komarovski was released from custody and left the country. Concerning the case of Mr. Begdesenov, he was a businessman who was found guilty of taking bribes and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Registration of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) was governed by the Law on Social Organizations and the Law on Freedom of Worship and Religious Organizations. There were more than 200 NGOs registered and there had been a growth in applications, which showed that civil society was active in Turkmenistan. There were six bar associations registered with 100 lawyers and there were more than 30 private legal firms. A lawyer was an independent consultant on legal issues and was either a citizen or an individual with a permanent residence. A lawyer required a license and must be a member of the bar association. A lawyer could not work for the State other than for teaching or research work. Previously convicted criminals, those expelled from the bar association or stripped of their license could not serve as lawyers. A lawyer ensured confidentiality with his client without limitation to the number of visits to its client. Lawyers and members of their family were protected by the State. Working with the European Union, the Government engaged on a project on legal capacity building to bring national legislation up to international standards and to develop a legal glossary. On 20 May 2011 there would be a seminar to adopt the advisory committee and working plans for this legal project.

Questions by the Committee Experts

FELICE GAER, the Committee Expert who Served as Rapporteur for the Report of Turkmenistan, said that there was still no response from the delegation on the location of detained individuals, specifically the former Foreign Minister, Mr. Boris Shikhmuradov. The Rapporteur asked the delegation to provide the detention facility where Mr. Annaniazov was held and to allow an independent monitoring body to have access to him and raised the issue that there was still no reply to the Special Rapporteur on Torture’s request for information on 62 people detained concerning the 2002 assassination attempt.

Concerning the case of Ms. Berdyev, who was pregnant and lost a baby while in detention, the Rapporteur asked who had conducted the investigation in the case and as Mr. and Mrs. Berdyev were rearrested, where were they currently held and had they been provided with basic safeguards? Concerning Mr. Komarovski, the Human Rights Committee had found his complaint valid and the Rapporteur asked if the Government had implemented the Committee’s recommendations for compensation. Could an independent monitor verify the conditions where Mr. Nurliev was being held and that he was given access to a lawyer of his choosing? Concerning Ms. Muradova, who died in detention, was an autopsy carried out or an investigation based on the allegations of her family that she had been tortured?

The Rapporteur asked for statistics on the types of complaints submitted to the Presidential Commission especially as there were initially 1,000 when the Commission was established. Did the Presidential Commission have executive authority and what role did the courts play in relation to complaints submitted to the Commission? The Rapporteur also requested statistics on overcrowding in prisons and noted the unusually high increase in female detainees.

CLAUDIO GROSSMAN, the Committee Chairperson who Served as Co-Rapporteur for the Report of Turkmenistan, said that not providing access to families could be considered as inhumane treatment or even torture toward the family members and asked the delegation to state the whereabouts of Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khajiev, whose location remained unknown six years after their detention. The Co-Rapporteur asked if the delegation would consider independent visits to prisoners as a means of cooperating with human rights mechanisms and to verify the report by Amnesty International of women detained on misdemeanour charges and raped in 2007 by members of the Ministry of Interior.

A Committee member asked if minorities held positions within the justice system and if the reports from the monthly meetings of the Presidential Commission were made public and was Turkmenistan considering ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention?

An Expert said that the family of Mr. Gulgeldy Annaniazov was not aware of what detention facility he was located in and could the delegation provide this information. What were the asylum procedures in the country including at the borders.

Response by the Delegation

HANGELDY SERDAROV, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, in response to questions raised by the Committee, said that the number of female detainees was not increasing and there was a trend toward a reduction in the number of crimes and people receiving sentences. The 62 people in the assassination attempt were convicted for serious crimes to bring about forcible change. Concerning the details of the State Commission to investigate complaints, they covered a wide area and if the Supreme Court was not satisfied the complaint could be put before the correct body for a more detailed investigation. Forty-eight acts of clemency were handed down over the past few years and last week 1,500 people received clemency from a Presidential Decree and returned to their homes. Clemency released all obligations imposed on the person for the committed crime. If minority members met the professional requirements then they would work in the justice system.

A member of the delegation said that a new facility for women prisoners was being built not due to overcrowding but to improve the prison conditions. There were 2,213 women in prison and a large number would be released as a result of the recent decree of clemency.

The delegation said that the Government of Turkmenistan had not threatened Mr. Tukhbatullin and that they would provide the record of access visits to the prisoners, Mr. Amanklychev and Mr. Khajiev, to prove that their family members were aware of their location and had visited them. Considerable progress had been made during the last four years and the Government worked with the International Committee for the Red Cross on a phased basis which began with discussion and then moved on to projects and the Government intended to work with them on all aspects of their mandate.

The delegation said that Turkmenistan implemented the basic human rights legislation. Article 23 of the Constitution guaranteed that no one could be subjected to torture. In March 2011 the adoption of a new Penal Enforcement Code was in keeping with international standards and even supplemented international standards.

Turkmenistan was a young State and party to more than 120 international conventions, 40 of which were international human rights treaties. Concerning acceding to the Optional Protocol to the Convention, there was a substantial mechanism to be gone through before Parliament could adopt a decision to ratify the Optional Protocol. The Government had recently acceded to the Malta Convention, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Convention to Combat Doping in Sport and the World Health Organization Convention on the Prevention of Tuberculosis.

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