Aliboeva v. Tajikistan
Key Judgment
Legal Relevance
Keywords: Relatives as Victims | Right to Know the Truth | Refusal to Disclose Fate
Themes: Characteristics of the Crime | Memory and Reparations | Justice and Truth
The Committee made a finding of inhuman treatment with respect to the victim's wife, due to the fact that the authorities failed to inform her about her husband’s execution and burial place and instead continued to acknowledge her intercessions on his behalf following the execution. It also recalled that the secrecy surrounding the date of execution and place of burial, as well as the refusal to hand over the body for burial, have the effect of intimidating or punishing families by intentionally leaving them in a state of uncertainty and mental distress.
Judgment Date
October 18, 2005
Country
Tajikistan
Judicial Body
Human Rights Committee
Articles violated
Article 6(2) [ICCPR], Article 7 [ICCPR], Article 14(3)(d) [ICCPR], Article 14(3)(g) [ICCPR], Article 14(5)[ICCPR]
Articles not violated / not dealt with
Article 14(1) [ICCPR], Article 14(3)(g) [ICCPR]
Facts of the Case
Mr. Valichon Aliboev was arrested in May 2000 by officers of the Department for Fight Against Organized Crime of the Ministry of Interior on account of his participation in a criminal gang. He was kept incommunicado for a week, after which his sister was allowed to visit him and found him in a poor physical condition. Since his arrest, Mr. Aliboev was allegedly beaten and subjected to torture to make him confess guilt. Some days after his arrest, he was transferred to an Investigation Detention Centre. In November 2000, the gang in which Mr. Aliboev participated was found guilty of 15 criminal acts. In August 2001 Mr. Aliboev's wife was notified that he had been executed. In September 2001 she received a Certificate of Death, according to which her husband was executed by firing squad in July 2001.