More than a hundred complaints have been received about the pressure of law enforcement officers – Ombudsman

The Ombudsman has received 125 complaints about mental, psychological, physical pressure or other forms of pressure on persons detained in closed institutions with limited freedom by law enforcement agencies.  This was reported by the Human Rights Representative (Ombudsman) of the Oliy Majlis in a briefing on the work carried out in the first half of 2023 to identify and prevent cases of torture.

It is noted that out of 125 complaints received by the Ombudsman, 19 were received directly during individual receptions during monitoring visits, 18 were received through the “Ombudsman box”, 40 were received by the administration of penitentiary institutions and close relatives of prisoners (prisoners) through the mail service.  Also, 21 of the complaints were received by the Ombudsman and his responsible employees in person, 22 by electronic means, and 5 by the Ombudsman’s “Hotline”.

64 percent of these complaints were not confirmed according to the results of the investigation conducted by the prosecutor’s office and the investigation of the actions of the employees.

Based on the letter of the Ombudsman, the decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case against 8 of the complaints was annulled by the high-ranking prosecutors, and it was decided to carry out investigations until further investigation.

In addition, the investigation of 37 complaints is ongoing.

About 20 messages of this content published by the Ombudsman on social networks were immediately studied, and applications of the Ombudsman were submitted to the Prosecutor General’s Office.