VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Torture and ill-treatment by State agents resulting in end of pregnancy/ Police surveillance

The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention concerning the following situation in Kyrgyzstan.

Brief description of the situation:

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights (KCHR), a member of the SOS-Torture network, about the torture and ill-treatment of Ms. Rukiya Ibragimova while in police custody, in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan.

According to the information received, Ms. Rukiya Ibragimova, 20 years old and 10 weeks pregnant, was arrested on 20 July 2006 at the Isolation Ward of Temporary Allowance (IVS) of Jalal-Abad. She was reportedly beaten by a policeman, Kubanychbek Torobaev, chief of the Regional Department of Internal Affairs, in order to force her to denounce her husband, Mr. Djamaliddin Abderashitov. He is suspected of involvement with an extremist organisation called “Islamic movements of Uzbekistan”.

Ms. Ibragimova was subsequently taken to the Kyzyl-Jarsk psychiatric hospital, where she was once again severely beaten on the 26 August 2006 by Kubanychbek Torobaev. She was immediately transferred to the gynaecologic department of the Tash-Kumyr city hospital. There, the doctors certified that her foetus was dead. Ms. Rukiya Ibragimova is now at the Kyzyl-Jarsk hospital under police surveillance and suspected of “concealment of criminals”.

It is worth noting that her husband, Mr. Djamaliddin Abderashitov, surrendered to the police immediately after he learned that his wife had been tortured.

OMCT is seriously concerned about these facts and urges the Kyrgyz authorities to "exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons" in accordance with article 4(c) of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Requested action:

Please write to the authorities in Kyrgyzstan urging them to:

i.                     Ensure Ms. Rukiya Ibragimova's physical and psychological integrity, including her access to adequate medical treatment;

ii.                   Order her immediate release in the absence of valid charges, and if such charges exist, ensure that she is given a prompt and fair trial, in which her procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;

iii.                  Carry out a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the ill-treatment of Ms. Rukiya Ibragimova in order to identify all those responsible and to bring them to justice and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;

iv.                 More generally, ensure women the right to be free from discrimination, including violence, in line with international law and standards;

v.                   Guarantee the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses:

·         Mr. Bakiev Kurmanbek Salievich, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyzskaya Respublika, 720003 g. Bishkek, Prospekt Chuy, 205, Fax: 996 312 218 627, Email: ghpress2@rhl.bishkek.su

·         Mr. Kulov Felix Sharshenbaevich, Vice Prime Minister, Fax: 996 312 218 627

·         Mr. Marat Sutalinov, Minister of the Interior, Fax: 996 312 663 031, 996 312 288 788

·         Mr. Mamyrov Erkin, Minister of Justice, Fax: 996 312 663 044 / 996 312 65 65 02

·         Mr. Azimbek Beknazarov, General Prosecutor of the Kyrgyz Republic, Fax: 996 312 665 411

·         Colonel Nurlan Temirbaev, Head of the Oblast Department of  Internal Affairs, Jalal-Abad, Fax: +996 3722 503 33

·         Mr. Abdibakit  Halmurzaev, Oblast Prosecutor's office, Jalal-Abad, Fax: + 996 3722 501 19

·         Permanent mission of Kyrgyzstan, Rue Maunoir 26, 1207 Geneva, Switzerland, Email: kyrgyzmission@bluewin.ch, Fax : +41 22 707.92.21

Please also write to the embassies of Kyrgyzstan in your respective country.

Geneva, 12 September 2006.

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

Published in: Torture and Ill-treatment by State Agents Resulting in End of Pregnancy/ Police Surveillance, OMCT, 12 September 2006.