Torture in Central Asia

The Project

The aim of the project is to coordinate with and assist the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) in litigating torture cases before the Human Rights Committee (HRC) and the Committee against Torture (CAT). OSJI’s litigation will focus on the five Central Asian Countries as defined by the United Nations, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The project team prepared a digest compiling recent decisions on torture, in particular those from central Asia, in order to assist the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and human rights lawyers in litigating cases and ensure that legal submissions are fully up to date. The Essex HR Clinic will also assist OSJI in preparing cases for submission to the UN Human Rights Committee and the Committee against Torture against Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and in filing evidence in support. The project helps students sharpen their skills in legal research, classifying and compiling legal decisions, litigation before UN human rights mechanisms, and enhance their knowledge of UN human rights mechanisms dealing with torture cases.

Progress

The project comprises three main elements:

• prepare a digest of recent views from both the HRC and the CAT, with a specific focus on the countries and articles of the relevant treaties mentioned above

• Prepare a report of the human rights record of the countries mentioned above

• Assist OSJI in litigating allegations of torture before both the HRC and the CAT

The digest reviews jurisprudence from the Human Rights Committee (HRC) and the Committee against Torture (CAT). The specific treaties addressed in this digest are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture (CAT). The articles addressed in this digest are Articles 6(1) and 7 of the ICCPR and Articles 1 and 16 of the CAT.

Thus far, the team has completed the first stage of the project and is preparing to start the second.

Partner Organisation

• Open Society Justice Initiative

Supervisor

Ms. Lorna McGregor

Coordinator

Francis Mo Roberts