Conditions at temporary detention facilities grim

A group of NGOs and representatives of local authorities in Kyrgyzstan's southern Jalal-Abad province have appealed to the country's leadership to create a public commission to investigate conditions at temporary detention facilities (TDFs). The appeal followed a discussion of the monitoring of detention facilities conducted by a local NGO - 'Spravedlivost' or 'Justice'. "Starvation, cold, lack of basic conveniences, poor sanitation and torture are just some of the characteristics of TDFs," Abdumalik Sharipov, one of the researchers who compiled the report, told IRIN in Jalal-Abad. TDFs are the first stage of the corrections system, administered by the interior ministry, where suspects are kept until charges are brought or they are released. The Ministry of Justice maintains prisons and other institutions of the penitentiary system. Sopubek, 27, looks like an old sick man. He was released from a local detention facility a couple of months ago when his case was dropped. After 15 days confinement, he had lost almost 5 kg. "There was intolerable heat in summer with a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius, not enough room and one bed is shared by two people," he told IRIN. "I caught scabies. I cough and I am afraid that I have tuberculosis ." Sopubek claimed that he was always hungry while he was in detention. "The so-called hot meal there was water and occasional potatoes," he said. Local centres of the Kyrgyz state sanitation and epidemiological control department confirmed that TDFs fail to adhere to basic sanitation and hygiene standards. Because of hunger and heat in the cell, Sopubek said he fainted and suffered awful headaches. "If I had known the laws, I would have demanded observance of my rights," he told IRIN. "However, those cellmates of mine who knew the laws achieved nothing. They say these are the conditions at all TDFs in the country." His friend Kadyraly told IRIN that ill-treatment in TDFs was not unusual. "Torture used for proving detainees' guilt are hallmarks of our detention facilities," he said. "Threats and disdain are nothing compared with what is happening there." "The diet of meat, fish and several types of bakery foods authorised by the governmental decree for penitentiaries is out of the question," Aisuluu Kalnazarova, a doctor from a local health NGO who has investigated conditions in TDFs, told IRIN. "We do not demand abundance of food, but enough calories for physical strength and health of detained people should be provided." According a report by the 'Justice' NGO, ambulances were called almost 100 times to TDFs in the Jalal-Abad police department over the past three months. In almost in every third case doctors diagnosed various traumas, including craniocerebral damage. "So many calls for ambulances indirectly confirm there are hard conditions in the TDFs as well as suggesting that torture is common," Sharipov maintained. TDFs are financed by cash-strapped local authorities. In Jalal-Abad, just a little 25 US cents a day was allocated this year for feeding a prisoner, although the minimum official figure is three or four times this amount. Local authorities admit that conditions in the TDFs failed to meet minimum international standards, citing poor funding. "The local budget funds approximately only one-third of our needs to maintain the TDFs," Ravshan Abdukarimov, deputy chief of the internal affairs department of the southern Osh province, told IRIN. "By the highest standards, we have to create decent conditions for those detained here right up to the delivery of newspapers. But where is this money to come from?" Meanwhile, local authorities say law enforcement bodies should take responsibility for the detention facilities and encourage donors to get involved in supporting reform in the justice system. "Why indeed don't our police take initiatives?" Asiyat Barkitova, a senior official at the Jalal-Abad city administration, told IRIN. "Why don't they develop projects and look for sponsors and donors?" In neighbouring Osh province, the local governor, Naken Kasiev has asked district heads to monitor the TDFs in his province, by inspecting such facilities once every three months. However, local NGO activists say the governor's orders are not fully implemented. But those calling for reform say the best solution is the construction of new, more humane detention facilities, but resources remain the main hurdle. "I am good at many trades. I am a carpenter, I am ready to work for free if they start building a normal detention facility. I will contribute my savings if needed to not have people under such inhuman conditions. God protect anybody from such a punishment," Sopubek said.