Kazakhstan: political prisoner accused the Ombudsman of a lie

Political prisoner Aset Abishev, sentenced in 2018 to 4 years in prison for participating in the activities of the banned organization “Democratic choice of Kazakhstan”, accused Human Rights Ombudsman Elvira Azimova and members of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) who had visited him in the colony.

The NPM participants’ interest in Abishev arose after he cut his veins in protest against the alleged illegal search. This was reported on April 7 by Kazakh human rights activist Bakhytzhan Toregozhina.

“Urgently! In Zarechny, in the institution ЛA-155/14, Aset Abishev cut himself both veins in protest against the illegal humiliating search of personal belongings! Now he is in serious condition at the punishment cell! There is a real danger for his life! Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan, we demand you to visit him immediately!” Toregozhina wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, according to Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights, after providing first aid, Abishev was transferred to the punishment cell.

On April 8, the US Embassy in Kazakhstan posted on Twitter that it was monitoring the situation with Abishev.

“We are closely following reports of the hospitalization of internationally recognized political prisoner Aset Abishev and urge to provide him with immediate medical assistance. People should not be imprisoned for peaceful activism,” the Embassy wrote on Twitter.

On April 9, according to the lawyer of the Regional Bar Association of Almaty Gulbarshin Kudarova, recruited by the NGO Coalition against Torture of Kazakhstan on a one-off basis to clarify the situation with the prisoner, Abishev was already in an ordinary cell.

“The condition was satisfactory: I didn’t notice any visible injuries. In his words, he is periodically subjected to psychological pressure, and “not directly, but through someone; his personal belongings disappear,” Kudarova said.

The resonance, caused by the news that Abishev had inflicted cuts on himself, as well as the keen interest in the situation on the part of both the US Embassy and international human rights organizations, forced the Ombudsman of Kazakhstan Elvira Azimova to take action.

On April 9, that is, on the same day when the lawyer came to Abishev, information appeared on the official website of the Ombudsman of Kazakhstan that a group of the National Preventive Mechanism had visited the colony in Zarechny.

“The group of the National Preventive Mechanism spoke directly with Mr. Aset Abishev. He said that on April 7 he cut himself with a razor blade in the area of ​​the elbow joint of his left hand in protest against the search that was being carried out in the institution at that time and the search procedures in general. His appeal in this part will be transferred to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As Aset said, he has no complaints about the personnel of the medical unit. Employees of the institution explained to the group of the National Preventive Mechanism that conducting searches in penitentiary institutions is allowed by the Internal Regulations of penitentiary institutions, when information is received about the use of prohibited items by convicted citizens. Convicts are regularly informed about this, from the moment of their arrival at the institutions. During the search in this institution, no personal belongings were confiscated from Mr. Abishev. As a result of the visit, the NPM group found that on April 8, the appeal about this fact was registered in the Unified Register of pre-trial investigations. An investigation was launched; it is under the control of the Prosecutor’s Office. According to the received information, on the basis of the results of the forensic medical examination, the bodily injury inflicted by Aset is qualified as slight harm to health,” the Ombudsman said in her official statement.

Meanwhile, Aset Abishev himself, through his friends, appealed to Kazakh human rights defenders and his supporters with an appeal not to believe the false reports that are drawn up by the officials who visit him.

“There is no trust in them. I wrote in all my papers and told them that the reason for my action was a conflict with the administration of the colony, which has been pursuing me since April 2019. However, it all disappeared from their report. I ask everyone not to draw any conclusions regarding my actions based on the reports of those visiting me. All of them are sent, and their goal is not the truth, but only the desire to cover up risks and shield the administration,” his friends quote Abishev.

It should be clarified that the conflict between Abishev and the administration of the colony, which he mentions, began in April 2019, when the leadership of the institution ЛA-155/14 brought troops into the colony for the so-called “breaking of the prison camp”. During this operation, Abishev was severely beaten, his head was broken.

Lawyers of the political prisoner Abishev tried to make a criminal case. However, they were refused, since the Prosecutor’s Office denied the fact of beating, and the Department of the penitentiary system in Almaty region said that there was no entry of troops into the colony, but there were “planned search measures”.

After that, Abishev filed an official complaint with the requirement to investigate the fact of his beating. In response, according to him, the administration of the colony began to take revenge on him in every possible way, demanding to withdraw the complaint.

It’s worth recalling that Aset Abishev is included in the list of political prisoners in Kazakhstan.

Also, according to Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights, since the beginning of the year, the pressure on political activists behind bars has significantly increased in Kazakhstan.

“Several days ago, political prisoner Murat Baymagambetov was stabbed in the pre-trial detention center of Kyzylorda and was hospitalized. Another prisoner activist Askar Kayirbek was beaten by the employees of the detention center of the capital in January this year. And in the same colony, where Abishev is being held, a prisoner was killed on April 9,” Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights noted.