Tajik Rights Activists Demand Impartial Probe Into Convict's Death

Hamza Ikromzoda

Tajik human rights organizations have urged the government to thoroughly investigate the recent death of a convict.

Relatives of Hamza Ikromzoda, who died in a detention center in Dushanbe in mid-September, say his body carried traces of torture, including burns caused by a heated iron.

Ikromzoda’s relatives on October 1 handed the Prosecutor-General’s Office a statement by eight human rights organizations demanding independent investigations into Ikromzoda's death.

The statement lists six other suspicious deaths in custody.

Under a recent amendment to the Criminal Code, torture is a crime punishable by up to 15 years in jail.

Only one former policeman has been convicted of torture since the Criminal Code was amended in March 2012.


Based on reporting by Interfax and RFE/RL's Tajik Service