In the Kazakh colonies, torture continues. This was reported by the famous human rights activist Elena Semenova. According to her, in the colony-settlement in the village of Zarechny, the on-duty assistant to the head of the colony, in the presence of the on-duty inspector and the head of the security department, beat the convict M. Sanin, who had previously been a victim in a criminal case on torture in correctional institution AП-1621, located in the city of Pavlodar.
“The institution’s employees sent a special message as they had no choice, because the injuries could not be hidden. In the materials of the violation case, which were made by the institution’s employees, they indicated that the convict “attacked the employee and rent shoulder straps”, etc., but “forgot” to indicate the presence of injuries on the body of the convict, hematoma of the head, face, hands, marks from shoelaces on his hands (they tied his hands with boots’ shoelaces), possibly a nose fracture. The assistant prison superintendent continued to beat the lying convict,” the human rights activist said.
At the same time, Semenova noted that the beaten prisoner was not provided with medical assistance; on the contrary, the colony officers closed him in a disciplinary detention center.
“The employees were well insured. When compiling the protocol of violation, they indicated “facts” that show the allegedly unlawful actions of the convict, but they didn’t indicate the facts of unlawful actions of the institution’s employees and the presence of bodily harm. I believe that to date, bodily injuries are not written in his medical card. The convict is kept in a pre-trial detention center so that all injuries come off and, as always, once again violence and ill-treatment will be unpunished. It is only in other countries that prisoners are released in connection with an emergency. And what happens in our institutions when people cannot see their relatives?”, the human rights activist summarizes.
Recall that correctional facilities in the village of Zarechny are not the first time appearing in scandals related to torture of prisoners. So, in July 2019, in the ЛA-155/8 institution, the colony officers beat several prisoners. A video of the brutal mockery of the convicts hit the net. It was a big scandal. The Minister of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, Erlan Turgumbaev, stated that “this incident is one of the shameful facts of the Kazakh penal system.” In February 2020, seven prison staff, who participated in torture, were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
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