KYRGYZ SUPREME COURT REDUCES SENTENCES AMID CLAIMS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000511 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/28/2019 TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL KIRF PHUM KG SUBJECT: KYRGYZ SUPREME COURT REDUCES SENTENCES AMID CLAIMS OF TORTURE REF: BISHKEK 154 BISHKEK 00000511 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller for Reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On May 20, the Kyrgyz Supreme Court reduced the sentences of 32 citizens convicted of numerous charges, to include the spreading of ethnic and religious hatred, arising from an October 1 melee in the southern Kyrgyz city of Nookat. A Kyrgyz Ombudsman's office commission documented claims of torture and coercion against local officials who allegedly sought additional names and confessions from the detainees. The Supreme Court decision is the final stage of the appeals process for this case within the Kyrgyz judicial system. End Summary. NOOKAT OROZO AIT CELEBRATIONS TURN UGLY -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The decision by authorities in the southern Kyrgyz city of Nookat to cancel the Islamic holiday Orozo Ait (Eid al-Fitr) celebration in early October 2008 prompted a violent backlash (reftel). Clashes between protestors and riot police ended with teargas and injuries sustained by both sides, but no deaths. Within two weeks of the event, the authorities rounded up 32 Nookat residents, who officials claimed were affiliated with Hizb-ut Tahrir (HT),and charged them with incitement of mass disorder, attempted disruption of the constitutional order, attempted spread of ethnic and religious hatred and other crimes. The Osh Oblast court convicted all 32 defendants on November 27 and sentenced them to terms of nine to twenty years. OMBUDSMAN COMMISSION INVESTIGATES ALLEGATIONS OF TORTURE -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) In response to the Nookat detainees' claims of torture and mistreatment, Kyrgyz Ombudsman Tursunbek Akun established an independent commission that subsequently published its investigation of the allegations in a February report. The commission, led by human rights activist Aziza Abdurasulova, interviewed many detainees and witnesses who detailed abuses. Abdurasulova told Poloff that she saw evidence of physical abuse and heard numerous stories of torture methods, to include the use of stress positions on detainees, physical beatings, suffocation, and the tearing of fingernails and hair/beards. ¶4. (C) A second report, published in January by the Russian human rights organization Memorial, featured similar narratives of torture and mistreatment. On February 26, Kyrgyz authorities refused the report's author, Vitaly Ponomarev, entry into Kyrgyzstan. Ponomarev, who is also Memorial's Central Asia program director, learned that he has been banned from entering Kyrgyzstan for five years. SUPREME COURT CUTS SENTENCES BUT DISREGARDS TORTURE CLAIMS -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) On May 14, the Kyrgyz Supreme Court reduced the length of the prison sentences to terms of five to seventeen years, but dismissed the torture and mistreatment claims. According to Abdurasulova, the Supreme Court dropped all charges in connection with Article 156 of the criminal code (the involvement of minors in criminal activity) for thirteen defendants and reduced charges stemming from Article 174 (the destruction or damage of property) for all defendants. ¶6. (C) Dmitriy Kabak, human rights activist and public defender for the Nookat detainees, deemed the government's accusations groundless and the punishments severe. In a press interview, he said that the melee had been a spontaneous reaction to the decision to cancel the Orozo Ait BISHKEK 00000511 002.2 OF 002 events. Kabak labeled as absurd the prosecutor's statement that the convicteds' shouts of "Allahu Akhbar" meant they were HT members. He claimed that some of the accused were not even in Nookat at the time, and noted that others had limited or no education. Kabak complained that while some detainees only spoke Uzbek, all materials were in Russian or Kyrgyz and no interpreters were provided. COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) Given the Bakiyev Administration's ongoing apprehension about Islamic fundamentalism, particularly in the south, it is no surprise that the sentences were only marginally reduced. While the decision to reduce sentences may be in response to international and domestic outcries about the harsh sentences, activists insist that the punishments still do not fit the crime. The Supreme Court ruling is the final step of the appeals process. However, Abdurasulova claimed that the case could be reconsidered if new evidence surfaced. Also, she said that she was investigating the possibility of taking the case to the International Court of Justice at The Hague. GFOELLER