Mongolian Human Rights Commission Claims Widespread Abuse

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ULAANBAATAR 000858 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV MG SUBJECT: Mongolian Human Rights Commission Claims Widespread Abuse of Suspects, Poor Conditions for Pre-Trial Detainees ¶1. SUMMARY: The Mongolia's National Human Rights Commission annual report devotes 29 pages to chronicling the widespread abuse of pre-trial detainees and the poor conditions under which they are imprisoned. It's grim reading, with case after case of deaths caused due to beatings, reportedly often by cellmates instructed by investigators to coerce confessions. The Commission notes that a legal system dependent on confessions and investigators whose pay is tied to the number of cases they solve provide strong inducements to abuses. A climate of impunity exists since legal provisions contain loopholes and prosecutors fail to prosecute even well-grounded cases. The Commission declared that no pre-trial detention facility in Mongolia meets national standards, with most lacking heating, sanitation, or ventilation. Overcrowding, abysmal food and the real risk of catching tuberculosis add to the miseries of those awaiting trial, according to the report. The Commission hopes that its report, along with the 2005 criticism of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, will prompt adoption of at least some of its recommendations. The government's working group convened in the wake of the Rapporteur's criticism has drafted some helpful changes to the criminal code, and the Cabinet has submitted these to the parliament. END SUMMARY. Following Up on the Special Rapporteur -------------- ¶2. Mongolia's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) released its annual report on human rights conditions in May. For the first time in the body's five year history, the report was discussed in parliament. The National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) consists of three senior civil servants nominated by the president, the Supreme Court, and the parliament for terms of six years. It began operations in 2001. Police abuse of suspects and poor prison conditions have been recurrent major themes in the NHRC's annual reports. This year's report contained an even lengthier -- and grimmer -- expose of these problems, frequently citing the June 2005 visit to Mongolia of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (the report on that visit was released in December, and is available at: http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G05/ 167/32/PDF/G0516732.pdf?OpenElement). The head of the NHRC noted to Poloff that the NHRC invited the Rapporteur to Mongolia in the hopes that external attention to the situation would aid in bringing about corrective action. Beating Out Confessions -------------- ¶3. The NHRC found widespread prisoner allegations of coercion, and cited many example cases where abuses had been proven or were credible. The Commission noted that the UN Special Rapporteur had found that, "The criminal justice system, which relies heavily on obtaining confessions for instituting prosecutions, makes the risk of torture and ill-treatment very real." Among the 1,338 detainees the Commission surveyed at eight pre-trial detention facilities, over 70% said they had confessed after either duress or actual force. The situation was especially dire in Gants Khudag and Tuv Aimag detention facilities (note: both near Ulaanbaatar),where 80% of detainees made such claims. ¶4. The NHRC cited many credible cases where suspects were placed in cells with violent convicts who had been instructed by investigators to coerce confessions. The Commission noted that cases have become even more widespread despite a 2002 State Great Hural report condemning the practice. The NHRC reported that it had investigated an April 2005 case in Tuv aimag where a suspect in a homicide case had died 12 days after arrest; he had been released with severe bruising over his body and breathing problems, and died from liver failure. According to the NHRC, the man's cellmate for nine days admitted he had beaten the deceased, but said he had done so under the instruction of an investigator who wanted the homicide suspect to confess. The NHRC found evidence which corroborated these allegations. While the case was referred to the prosecutor's office, no charges were filed against the investigator. In a June 2005 case, police in an Ulaanbaatar district detained a homicide suspect for three days without informing his relatives. On the third day, he was returned to his family, beaten with bruises all over his body, and incoherent. He died shortly after being delivered to a trauma unit. The NHRC concluded that, "The circumstances of his death would suggest that he was tortured in order to extract testimony." ¶5. The NHRC found that confessing to what one actually did is not necessarily enough for investigators; in fact, the NHRC claimed there is an increasing tendency among investigators to get such persons to confess to other crimes. The Commission cited the case ULAANBAATA 00000858 002 OF 004 of a man detained at Darkhan-Uul Aimag police apprehension facility in May 2005, after which he genuinely confessed to the theft of three horses. However, the investigator demanded the man include in his statement a confession of the theft of other livestock including three cattle and twenty-six more horses. The man refused and was beaten with a baton on his arms, legs, and ear, resulting in serious trauma. ¶6. The NHRC expressed particular concern about the poorly-monitored actions of short-staffed police stations in rural soums (counties). "The public inquiry revealed that operations of these police stations would constantly breach human rights in the community." The Commission cited cases uncovered during its inquiry in Uvs aimag, including one soum where a police officer routinely beat intoxicated persons and handcuffed them to poles barefoot in winter (Note: winter temperatures in Mongolia routinely reach -40F degrees). Sixty persons petitioned the aimag prosecutor to take action; the prosecutor declined for "lack of substantial evidence," after which the officer became even more violent. Pay for Performance -------------- ¶7. The NHRC found that "pay for performance" agreements with investigators closely tie salaries to cases solved, and thus are a direct contributor to human rights violations. The Commission cited the agreement for an investigator in one Ulaanbaatar district which ties 45% of pay to clearing a stated number of cases within time limits and uncovering specific numbers of crimes; failures to meet the marks result in deductions from pay. The NHRC concluded that, given the many factors which affect criminal investigations other than police ardor, including resources and technology, agreements tying pay to cases cleared lead to violations of rights by investigators. A Climate of Impunity -------------- ¶8. The Commission noted, "In the past three years, the Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor's Office received 2,100 complaints and petitions on alleged crimes by law enforcement officers, 4.2% of which were in relation to cases of self-incrimination under coercion, duress, threat, and other illegal means. Statistical analysis of data revealed that such complaints had increased annually by 4.2% and 5.6% respectively. During this period (2003-2005) investigation proceedings were conducted on 11 cases of alleged forced confessions; three cases were dismissed. Even though torture victims are discouraged from filing complaints, despite remedial efforts, these statistics prove that such violations of human rights are persistent in the system." ¶9. The UN Special Rapporteur told the UN Human Rights Council in September 2006 that, "I found that impunity goes unimpeded (in Mongolia) because of the absence of a definition of torture in line with the Convention, the lack of effective mechanisms to receive and investigate allegations, and a basic lack of awareness of the standards relating to the prohibition against torture on the part of prosecutors, lawyers and the judiciary." In its May report, the NHRC found that, "Loopholes in the legislation maintain depraved practices where cases relating to abuse of authority, torture, and ill-treatment by law enforcement officers are dismissed on the grounds of insufficient evidence, mutual settlement between the offender and the complainant, or that the offender had compensated damages. In 2005, more than 256 police officers were investigated in relation to alleged crimes, and half of the cases were dismissed on the above grounds. The percentage of cases dismissed is well above average when compared to other types of cases and disputes." Rather than independent investigations of credible allegations of torture, the Commission found that, "the entire response mechanism (is) limited to the production of referrals and letters by organizations and their officials." (Note: The USAID-funded Judicial Reform Project helped equip a Special Investigative Unit, which investigates crimes alleged to be committed by police. The unit has investigated hundreds of alleged crimes. While the unit has passed its finding to prosecutors, the number of convictions has been disappointing, and in two cases, police officers were promoted after their convictions.) ¶10. Among other problems, the Commission noted that Mongolia's criminal law does not define inflicting mental pain as torture, and only makes infliction of physical torture an offense for investigators and inquiry officers; ordinary police and other officials cannot be punished for torture. No language in the criminal code allows prosecution for complicity in torture, which ULAANBAATA 00000858 003 OF 004 the Commission noted is a glaring fault given that, "acts of torture are not administered directly by a criminal investigation official but rather, with his consent, investigation or acquiescence, by other persons, including inmates." Civil damages for torture can only be pursued for actual material damages, not mental pain or other damages. ¶11. The Commission cited a case in which a man genuinely confessed to stealing 26 horses, but initially refused to add on other unsolved thefts to his confession. He was ultimately induced to do so after undergoing imprisonment during which his weight dropped from 130 to 98 pounds. The man died after release due to tuberculosis contracted in prison, where he had received only limited and substandard medical care. In 2003, a court dismissed a suit for damages brought by his relatives, ruling that nothing illegal had been done. "In other words," wrote the Commission, "the courts decided that prolonged detention, leading to health detriment and subsequent death, could be justified by investigation requirements." Throwing Away the Key -------------- ¶12. The Commission noted that Mongolian legal provisions allowing prolonged pre-trial detention -- 30 months for "serious crimes" and 24 months for other offenses -- had been criticized by the UN Special Rapporteur as a violation of international standards. In its own survey of inmates in eight detention facilities, the Commission found 26.4% who had been in detention longer than six months, including 8.1% for more than a year, and 1.2% for over two years. The Commission noted that during a November 2005 inspection visit to Gants Khudag it found four detainees who had been held longer than the 24-month detention limit by virtue of letters from the prosecutor's office. The letters incorrectly asserted that certain periods of detention should not be counted against the limit, which led the Commission to express alarm that such tactics "illustrate how far illegal actions could be undertaken." ¶13. The Commission also expressed concern about the fact that prisoners frequently lack legal representation, and often are unable to meet with either lawyers or family members. The Commission commented that the lack of regular, confidential access by outsiders to prisoners reduces the likelihood torture can be prevented or detected. The Commission noted that, "In practice, the provision in the executive decree (issued in 2005 by the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs) empowers the inquiry officer to approve either a visit or meeting to the detainee, depending on the 'progress' of the investigation." The Commission noted that conditions at many detention centers, and especially at Gants Khudag, make private meetings effectively impossible. Of the 1338 detainees surveyed by the Commssion, 63.6% were receiving visits, and 36.4% were not; in Gants Khudag, 44.2% were not receiving visits. Moreover, 31.1% of the detainees were not receiving legal assistance, and 22.3% had never had any individual meetings with their lawyer. In one aimag detention center, 61.2% of the respondents had never received any legal assistance. Appalling Conditions in Detention Facilities -------------- ¶14. The NHRC noted that in 2004 it conducted a joint inspection of all detention facilities with the Ministry of Justice. During its inquiries in the year before the new report, it examined what corrective action had been taken at various facilities. Its conclusion: "From the results of both inspections, it became apparent that no single detention facility meets national standards. Cells at the facilities are built without external windows ... (and have a) total absence of ventilation and sanitation systems. ... Most cells are without heating systems and with extremely low temperatures during the winter cold." ¶15. The NHRC also found that overcrowding was routine. The Gants Khudag detention facility in Ulaanbaatar held 1009 persons in July 2005; its rated capacity was no more than 670 persons. Some cells held 10-12 detainees, with the result that prisoners had less than 9 square feet each. The NHRC commented that, "Overcrowding at aimag detention cells is even worse, and poor ventilation and sanitation systems further worsen the conditions." (Note: Officials told the Embassy that in late November Gants Khudag held 694 inmates, only slightly more than capacity. This is a welcome improvement, but may be the short-term result of an amnesty passed by Parliament in June which not only pardoned convicted inmates but exempted some persons from punishment who had committed crimes but had not yet been convicted or even charged, thus lowering the number of persons in ULAANBAATA 00000858 004 OF 004 pre-trial custody.) ¶16. The NHRC stated that, "Contrary to international standards, conditions at pre-trial detention centers are inferior to those at penitentiary facilities. ...most cells at pre-trial detention facilities do not have clean water supply... The food ration of the detainees is limited to meals based on intestines and millet... the cheapest food stock available in the market." During its July 2005 visit to Gants Khudag, the NHRC found 43 undernourished detainees, some of whom had lost more than 30 pounds. The Commission also noted that prisoners not infrequently contracted tuberculosis in pre-trial detention facilities; at least 32 detainees in Gants Khudag in 2004 had done so, and 8 in 2005. NHRC's Recommendations -------------- ¶17. The NHRC concluded the 29 pages chronicling the situation with 13 broad recommendations, ranging from ensuring that Mongolia's criminal code fully covers all offenses envisioned in the Convention Against Torture to reducing allowable pre-trial detention and strictly enforcing limits, to ensuring regular private visits to detainees by family and lawyers to replacement of detention facilities on a phased basis. Changes Presented to Parliament -------------- ¶18. As a result of the Rapporteur's report, the government convened a working group. The USAID-funded Judicial Reform Project worked with this group on amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code. Draft amendments to the Code have been approved by the Cabinet and submitted to Parliament. The draft amendments reduce the time allowed in pretrial detention for less serious crimes, which improve the access of lawyers to suspects and people questioned about a crime and other areas relevant to arrestees and detainees. The working group also considered what improvements might be made in conditions at pre-trial detention centers. The Benefit of Public Attention -------------- ¶19. Even before those legal changes, the UN Special Rapporteur's visit and the NHRC's sustained attention to the issue may be having positive effects. A lawyer active in human rights cases told emboffs on December 6 that there have been fewer major prison abuse cases this year than last year. She had not heard of any 2006 cases of investigators coercing one inmate into torturing another to induce a forced confession. Moreover, she said, fewer people have died from tuberculosis because measures were finally taken to establish decent hospitals for prisoners, as the specific result of a case highlighted by the UN official. She also cited the helpful effect which the U.S. Human Rights Report has in highlighting human rights problems, and therefore helping to spur improvements. Minton