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Grave of human rights defender Azimjon Askarov, who was arbitrarily arrested, tortured, convicted after an unfair trial in Kyrgyzstan and passed away in detention on June 25, 2020. Askarov’s grave is located in Yangibozor, Tashkent region, Uzbekistan.
© 2020 Navbahor Imamova, VOA

(Berlin, July 23, 2022) Kyrgyz authorities have yet to conclude an effective investigation into the death of the human rights defender Azimjon Askarov or provide redress for his decade of wrongful imprisonment, Human Right watch said today as the second anniversary of his death nears. The unresolved deaths in custody of two men in June 2022 raise renewed concerns over allegations of mistreatment and neglect in detention in Kyrgyzstan.

“The Kyrgyzstan government has obligations to ensure that the people it is holding in prison don’t experience inhuman or degrading treatment or conditions and receive adequate health care,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Azimjon Askarov’s death remains a dark stain on Kyrgyzstan’s human rights record, further marred by new deaths in custody in the Kyrgyz prison system.”

Askarov would have turned 71 on May 17, 2022, and was serving a life sentence, during which he experienced torture and ill-treatment. He was convicted in an unfair trial on politically motivated charges following the June 2010 inter-ethnic conflict in southern Kyrgyzstan.

In a March 2016 decision, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC), which supervises compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, found that he had been arbitrarily detained and called for his immediate release. The Kyrgyzstan government did not comply, violating a core obligation as a party to the treaty. Askarov died on July 25, 2020, in what the country’s prison service said at the time was a Covid-19-related complication.

Human rights defenders have demanded an effective, independent investigation into Askarov’s death. The initial inquiry was led by the Kyrgyz Investigative Department of the State Penitentiary Service, the same authority that oversaw Askarov’s detention and medical care. The investigator for the prison service closed the case in June 2021, claiming there was no actual “body of crime” due to the challenging epidemiological situation in the Kyrgyz Republic at the time and the surge in Covid-19-related pneumonia cases.

The investigation was reopened in September 2021 after pressure mounted from national and international human rights organizations, with the Prosecutor General’s Office assigning the task to the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security (SCNS). However, Bir Duino, a human rights organization representing Askarov’s widow, Khadicha Askarova, in her pursuit of justice for Askarov, has reported that the investigation has not made any progress.

Askarov’s health had deteriorated significantly during his imprisonment, and he became severely ill in the days before his death. Despite repeated requests from Askarov’s lawyers, the prison authorities refused to release Askarov on humanitarian grounds.

On June 10, 2022, a well-known political analyst, Marat Kazakpaev, charged with high treason in April 2021, died in detention in Bishkek in somewhat similar circumstances.

His wife had raised concerns about his health since April. On June 9, after he had a stroke, the Kyrgyz National Center for the Prevention of Torture submitted a request for Kazakpaev’s discharge on health grounds. He was transferred to a medical facility that day, already in a coma, and died on June 10.

Kazakpaev’s wife maintains he died from negligence by the detention center officers and alleged that he had been tortured.

On June 18, 2022, Bakyt Asanbaev, a bank official held in the security agency pretrial detention center in Bishkek on corruption charges since April 30, was found hanged in a jail cell. He died sometime after midnight, as his three cellmates were praying in an adjoining cell. They said they returned to find him dead.

Asanbaev was due in court on June 20, when his lawyers intended to ask to have him moved to house arrest pending trial. Asanbaev’s brother told the media that the autopsy showed that he had a fractured collarbone and ribs as well as hematomas and bruises above the elbow, consistent with ill-treatment.

Following Asanbaev’s death, Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov established a commission to study the circumstances of these two deaths in security agency pretrial detention centers. The commission consists of government representatives, members of parliament, and relatives of the deceased. The commission has yet to issue any conclusive opinions on the two deaths.

Torture remains a widespread practice in Kyrgyzstan detention facilities, the Kyrgyz Coalition Against Torture has reported. Negligence and low-quality medical care for those serving prison sentences often leads to deaths in detention. During the Covid-19 pandemic the Kyrgyz authorities refused to release prisoners to help curb the risk of transmission despite numerous requests by local and international organizations, also concealing information about the real rates of the infection’s spread within the detention system.

The Kyrgyz authorities should comply with their international human rights obligations and promptly complete an effective, independent, and impartial investigation into Askarov’s death, granting compensation to his family and posthumously ensuring his legal rehabilitation. The authorities should also ensure a similarly effective and impartial investigation into the deaths in custody of Kazakpaev and Asanbaev, with a view to holding to account those responsible for these deaths.

“Askarov’s death, compounded by the recent deaths of two more prisoners, will continue to mar Kyrgyzstan’s human rights record until the country’s authorities can fairly investigate and respond to these cases,” Sultanalieva said. “Institutions of law enforcement are subject to the rule of law, not beyond the reach of justice.”

The latest IGAD Regional Focus on Food Crises report sounds the alarm on escalating food insecurity and malnutrition in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan.

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The testimonies of mothers of people with disabilities depicting hostility and hate behavior against them are displayed at a demonstration before Jalisco’s state representation building in Mexico City on March 21, 2022.
© 2022 Libertad Hernández

Most people who have a disability or who are closely related to someone with a disability have felt hostility, or open rejection, based on disability at some point in their lives. “Disability hate” exists on a spectrum that ranges from giving dirty looks – for occupying too much space in public transportation or for looking and acting differently from others – to committing criminal acts against someone because they have a disability, are perceived as having a disability, or are associated with someone with a disability.

Luz Raquel Padilla Gutiérrez, 35, was burned alive after a group of people doused her with alcohol and lit her on fire at a park near her home in Zapopan, Jalisco state, Mexico. Her brutal murder appears to be a horrific example at the extreme end of the disability hate spectrum. Statements by her colleagues indicate that one factor in her murder may have been disability hate toward her and her son, an 11-year-old with autism.

Weeks before she was murdered, media reports indicate, Luz reported being threatened by a neighbor because he didn’t like the noises her son made during crises. She also said the neighbor had attacked her with industrial bleach. Her friends say she went to the police and asked for a panic button (pulso de vida), which the authorities give people in their protection system. In May, she tweeted a photo showing that someone had painted “I’m going to burn you alive” on the walls of the building where she and her son lived. Despite the reported threats, physical violence, and signs of escalation, the Zapopan authorities denied her request.

In Jalisco state, an individual prosecuted for murder can face aggravated charges if the crime was motivated by disability hate or discrimination based on disability. However, Jalisco only applies that aggravating factor to homicides and assaults, not to threats.

Jalisco authorities should address this gap in their legislation. They should ensure crimes potentially motivated by disability hate are thoroughly investigated and perpetrators are brought to justice. And authorities should put in place policies and practices to effectively respond to people with disabilities, as well as those close to them, who report threats or violence.

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A resident waves a white sheet in protest and to ask for peace after a police operation that resulted in multiple deaths, in the Complexo do Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 21, 2022. 

 
©2022 AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo

An operation by civil and military police in Complexo do Alemão on July 21, 2022, with the support of the federal highway police, was one of the deadliest in Rio de Janeiro’s history.

Police authorities confirmed at least 18 deaths, though media reports suggest that the number of victims could be higher. The ombudsman for the Public Defender’s Office in Rio de Janeiro said that there are reports of serious human rights violations, including home invasions, beatings, torture, threats, and failure to rescue injured people.

“We are deeply concerned that once again Rio de Janeiro has witnessed a police operation with a high death toll and serious impacts on communities, this time in Complexo do Alemão,” said Maria Laura Canineu, Brazil director at Human Rights Watch. “The state and federal prosecutor’s offices should immediately conduct a thorough and independent investigation to establish those responsible and the circumstances of the deaths and injuries, in accordance with the constitutional mandate to exercise external control over the police.”

In June 2020, Brazil’s Supreme Court prohibited police from conducting operations in low-income neighborhoods in Rio, except in “absolutely exceptional cases.” Police have failed to properly abide by the ruling. Rio de Janeiro registered 628 killings by police in the first half of 2022.

“The state government of Rio de Janeiro should immediately implement an adequate plan, in consultation with civil society, to curb police killings – as ordered by the Supreme Court,” Canineu said. “Investigating and holding accountable those responsible in cases of police abuse are key to stop the cycle of violence that endangers residents and the police, with disastrous consequences for public security.”