Torture and ill-treatment continue to be of widespread concern in all Central Asian countries. Methods of torture which were recorded in Central Asia in 2018 and 2019 include reports of law enforcement officers pushing needles or nails under the victim’s finger nails, twisting a person’s arms behind their back and attaching them to their feet, applying electric shocks to fingers, the mouth, the back and male genitals, attaching heavy bottles to male genitals, slipping a gas mask over the victim’s head squeezing tight the air supply, covering the victim’s mouth with tape; rape and threats of rape including with regard to close family members, particularly wives; cigarette burns; forcing the victim to stand under cold water on a cold day; forcing detainees to brutalize each other; beatings with fists, truncheons and other objects; intimidation and threats of violence directed at the victim’s relatives.
Each case is a tragedy in the lives of the victim and his/her loved ones.
This document was prepared for the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (Working Session 11, Rule of Law II), on 23 September 2019.
Read the full document here.