Kazakhstan responds to Human Rights Watch’s claim about torture
Published
Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international non-governmental organization has sent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan a written letter with information about excessive force applied by law enforcement agencies during the crackdown on participants of the January events in the country.
According to the foreign ministry, Kazakhstan «condemns any possible cases of disproportionate use of force, illegal detention, torture and mistreatment of detainees in custody» while the president said many times that an investigation into the riots must be unbiased and fully comply with the law.
«Any information about illegal detention and mistreatment in custody will be a subject for scrupulous investigation. The law enforcement bodies have been checking all complaints they’ve received,» the ministry said.
Right after the unrest, the government established a hotline. People who suffered from police brutality or mistreatment can give a call and complain. So far the police have been conducting the investigation of 98 cases.
