The another amendment to the legislation of Tajikistan should formally improve the situation in the pre-trial detention facilities in Tajikistan, however, according to experts, the real situation proves the opposite.
The lower house of the Parliament of Tajikistan adopted amendments to the law “On the procedure and conditions for the detention of suspects, accused and defendants”. According to changes in the law, in detention centers (pre-trial detention centers) and temporary detention centers (temporary detention facilities) it will not be possible to keep minors and adults detained or arrested in one cell.
Also, juvenile detainees may appeal to the administration of a pre-trial detention center or temporary detention facility with a complaint in case of torture. According to the new amendments, the administration of the law enforcement agency is obliged to immediately organize an independent medical examination for a minor.
However, experts are skeptical about the implementation of this law. The problem is that often it’s the staff of the detention center and the pre-trial detention center, including the heads of these institutions, who use torture to extort confession from the defendants.
“The employees of detention centers do this at the request of investigators, who need to receive a confession from the people under investigation, or if the accused refuse their earlier confession of guilt,” a source in law enforcement told ACCA.
According to him, the use of torture in the isolation wards is a daily affair and this is done with the instructions and even participation of the heads of these institutions.
“The employees of the isolation cells work closely with the investigating authorities on mutually beneficial conditions,” the ACCA source said. “Investigators receive the testimonies of the detainees they need, and employees of the isolation wards receive remuneration from the investigators and rapid career growth for participation in uncovering of crimes.
The source also emphasized that almost 80% of all, who go to jail, are subjected to torture and mockery by staff. “There are many cases when a dozen other unsolved cases of theft are wanted to be hanged on the person, who committed the theft, after being taken to the pre-trial detention center; and the pre-trial detention center employees are directly involved in this,” the source notes. “Daily, systematic beatings that last for weeks, months lead to the fact that the defendants take the guilt for many crimes that they did not commit. Thus, the investigating authorities increase the crime detection rate.”
The ACCA source also said that in the detention centers transactions are being made on those accused of drug trafficking. “Again, through torture, some are forced to take on the crimes of others, and those, in turn, also being investigated, having paid huge sums, are released. And not only investigators, but also prosecutors, judges and the administration of pre-trial detention centers participate in these transactions”.
As it turned out, in the pre-trial detention centers, VIP services are being provided to the people under investigation. “In order to live in good conditions, where there are practically no restrictions, for the duration of the investigation, you need to pay well to the management of the pre-trial detention center,” the source said. “Then a person can be placed in a VIP cell, where the number of people is less than sleeping places, they are more often taken out for walks, they can sleep for days, which is absolutely forbidden in other cells, there are no restrictions on the variety of food products that relatives bring them, and most importantly, there is no systematic mockery of them, but not everyone can afford such a luxury.”
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