Kyrgyzstan: Human rights activist fights for release of insulin-dependent prisoner

Human rights activist Indira Sautova told ACCA that she has been unsuccessfully fighting for the release of her client, who suffers from type II diabetes, for several months.

Last week, the lawyer applied to the Special Prosecutor’s Office with a request to conduct a prosecutor’s check on the observance of the rights and freedoms of her client, Muzafarjon Abdulkhamidov.

“He suffers from type 2 diabetes. In order to examine and clarify the diagnosis, on 10/07/2021, Abdulkhamidov was transferred to the medical correctional facility No.47. During his stay in the MCF No.47, with the assistance of his relatives, Abdulkhamidov was taken out for examination by narrow specialists to the diagnostic center “URFA”. […] Based on the results of the examination by civil health specialists, the convict was given the final clinical diagnosis: diabetic sensory polyneuropathy of the lower extremities, diabetic non-proliferative retinopathy of both eyes,” the appeal says.

According to the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, convicts suffering from severe incurable diseases listed in the List of diseases that impede detention, which include diabetes mellitus, can be exempted from further stay in prison.

However, as Indira Sautova writes in her appeal, the administration of the institution, where Abdulkhamidov is serving his term, hasn’t yet independently initiated the issue of providing the necessary medical documents for their consideration by a specialized medical commission (SMC).

It should be noted that according to the laws, if the health of a seriously ill prisoner deteriorates or the course of treatment is ineffective, then the attending physician submits the necessary medical documents for consideration by the SMC. If diseases listed in the List of diseases that impede detention are detected, then the SMC should submit materials for consideration by a special medical commission (Commission of the Penitentiary Service). The SMC conducts a medical examination and submits its conclusion to the administration of the institution where the convicted person is serving his/her term. Further, the officials of the Penitentiary Service, in accordance with the established procedure, send the conclusion of the SMC, the personal file of the convict and his/her medical history to the court, and the court decides whether to release the seriously ill person or leave him/her in prison. For all this, according to the law, 15 days are allotted.

“My appeal to the Special Prosecutor’s Office hasn’t yet yielded any results. The Penitentiary Service promised that they would admit Abdulkhamidov to the hospital, but so far they haven’t done so,” says Sautova.

As the lawyer said, her client didn’t receive insulin for some time being in a closed institution, since he is a citizen of the Russian Federation (he is a native of the Kyrgyz Republic, but was in labor migration and changed citizenship several years ago).

Sautova sent a request to the Ministry of Public Health and received the response, which actually confirms that insulin-dependent prisoners in the Kyrgyz Republic don’t have access to insulin in prisons.

“For patients with diabetes mellitus who have citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic and are at the institutions of the State Penitentiary Service of the Kyrgyz Republic, according to the State Guarantee Program, medical care and the issuance of medicines are also provided free of charge if there is a referral from the attending physician. These drugs can be obtained by relatives at the place of dispensary observation of the patient or after a written request from the medical service of the State Penitentiary Service of the Kyrgyz Republic to the Ministry of Public Health of the Kyrgyz Republic. […] For foreign citizens, who are at the institutions of the State Penitentiary Service, the provision of medical services currently causes a number of difficulties due to the lack of regulatory legal acts and intergovernmental agreements in the field of providing medical services for diabetes.”

After Sautova’s appeal to the media, Abdulkhamidov was given insulin at the place of serving his sentence. However, his health has already been seriously damaged, and today, according to the lawyer, it’s very difficult for the man to move around and his eyesight has deteriorated.

“I am afraid that my client will die waiting for the officials to fulfill the law, because this has already happened in the facilities of the Penitentiary Service,” the human rights activist says.

On February 18, 2022, it became known that a 60-year-old prisoner suffering from diabetes died in colony No.47.

The press service of the Penitentiary Service confirmed this information, noting that the preliminary cause of death was “heart failure and sugar”, explaining that the deceased didn’t have time to be presented for medical examination of seriously ill prisoners.

Earlier, in January 2020, Bahadir Juraev died in prison at the age of 45. According to the certificate, the cause of death was chronic coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus.

He was serving his sentence at the colony after being found guilty of participating in mass riots and sentenced to 25 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Human rights activists fought for the restoration of his rights, recognition of him as a victim of torture and a review of his case. In 2012, a complaint was sent to the UN Human Rights Committee, and in April 2019, the lawyers succeeded in reducing the sentence to 18 years.

In conclusion, Juraev underwent two operations, he developed gangrene of his toes, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. In the last year of his life, he moved with difficulty, suffered from constant pain. He died without waiting for the decision of the UN Committee to review his case.