Kyrgyzstan: the Supreme Court dismissed the complaint of the Ministry of Finance for the payment of compensation to the victim of torture
The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the first two instances to recover compensation in the amount of $ 590 (50,000 KGS) in favor of Ulan Nazaraliev, whom the UN Human Rights Committee recognized as a victim of torture. The court didn’t satisfy the appeal of the Ministry of Finance, which asked to cancel the payment of compensation. This was reported by the human rights organization “Spravedlivost” [“Justice”].
Nazaraliev became a victim of torture and bullying by police officers in 2012. While in the temporary detention center of the Department of Internal Affairs in Jalal-Abad, he was beaten, strangled and harassed. In response to his cries and complaints, the police gave him a razor with the words that “he can even cut himself, and no one will help him”. The man then, out of despair, in protest, inflicted cuts on his hands.
A criminal case against the police was not opened on the fact of torture. Nazaraliev’s lawyers were able to admit the fact of torture only at the international level – the UN Human Rights Committee admitted in its consideration a violation of the rights of Ulan Nazaraliev under two articles of the International Covenant.
“Taking into account the considerations of the UN Human Rights Committee, the court considers that as a result of illegal actions and inaction of officials, as well as unfair performance of their duties, negligence and improper performance of professional duties, the plaintiff suffered moral, psychological and physical suffering”, was noted in the court decision.
Nazaraliev’s representatives initially filed a lawsuit for $ 35.4 thousand (3 million KGS). However, torture and humiliation of human dignity, recognized by the UN Committee, were estimated by the courts of the first two instances at only $ 590 (50,000 KGS).
The Ministry of Finance didn’t even want to pay this money. Although the human rights activists consider compensation to be at all disproportionate to the torture and humiliation of human dignity to which Nazaraliev was subjected.
“When deciding on compensation, the courts of all three instances recognized human rights violations against Nazaraliev. In this case, we want to emphasize two points. First, the state, represented by the judiciary, has implemented the decision of the UN Human Rights Committee, in terms of the amount of compensation – this is the subject of a separate conversation. The second point, to date, no investigation has been carried out into the use of torture, and so far no one has been punished. And this, as we are constantly faced in practice, gives rise to impunity that generates permissiveness,” said the lawyer of “Spravedlivost” [“Justice”] Sardor Abdukhalilov.
