The courts of Kyrgyzstan found guilty of torture and convicted 15 law enforcement officials. The head of the Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office Baktybek Ketirenov said at the conference «Protection of Rights and Legal Interests of Victims of Torture and Violence».
According to him, 11 people from this number are policemen. They were sentenced to 7 to 11 years in prison.
In 2017, at least 418 citizens filed complaints about torture and ill-treatment. This is 17 cases less than in 2016.
«Torture in 96 percent of cases is used by police officers with a certain degree of cruelty and represents a public danger as it infringes on the health, psyche and human life, protected by law, does colossal harm to the interests of the state, reduces the level of public confidence in law enforcement bodies, spreads hatred to those, who must stand guard over the law and order,» Baktybek Ketirenov said.
The court found two policemen guilty of torturing minors. They were sentenced to 10 and 11 years in prison.
There are 43 criminal cases against 95 police officers in courts now. At least 26 cases of them are related to torture. 57 policemen were brought to justice within them.
«This indicates that insufficient attention is paid to torture and ill-treatment by police officers and their legal education in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic, or they work according to the old criteria, without using modern technical capabilities,» added the head of the Prosecutor General’s Office department.
