Kazakhstan: Visits & Communications
Correspondence from 2005
The record of correspondence for 2005 is excerpted from the official United Nations report, E/CN.4/2005/7/Add.1.
Country: Kazakhstan
Type, date and summary of communication: Urgent appeal, 11 December 2003, Mr. Michael Vershinin, aged 28 of Almaty, was reported to be currently at risk of imminent execution following a death sentence imposed on 28 September 2001, reportedly on the basis of a confession extracted under torture. He was allegedly beaten, suffocated with a plastic bag, kept in a metal box and subjected to other forms of torture and ill-treatment during the first three days of his detention in August 1999. According to new information received, the death sentence was likely to be carried out on or soon after 18 December 2003.
Government reply: No response.
Correspondence from 2003
The record of correspondence for 2003 is excerpted from the official United Nations report, E/CN.4/2003/Add.1.
Urgent appeal
On 15 March 2002, the Special Rapporteur, jointly with the Special Rapporteur on torture, sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Kazakhstan regarding Mikhail Vershinin, a 26-year-old Russian citizen and member of the Jehovah Witnesses community in Almaty, who was reportedly arrested by plain-clothes police officers at his home in Almaty on 2 August 1999. No arrest or search warrant was reportedly produced, and no reason given. First, he was allegedly accused of attacking a police officer in public. Then he was reportedly accused of the murder of a young girl. Mr. Vershinin and two former colleagues arrested at the same time, his half-brother, Jevgeny Turochnik, and a former police officer, Kopaï (who was said to have been arrested on 31 July 1999), were subjected to torture and ill-treatment, as a result of which the three reportedly confessed that they had killed 42 prostitutes. On 5 August 1999, Mr. Vershinin’s family was informed that he had been arrested for murder and cannibalism. Mr. Vershinin was reportedly sentenced to death on 28 September 2001. During court appearances, his face was covered with bruises, allegedly as a result of severe beatings. He is said to have been convicted solely on the basis of his confessions extracted during his pre-trial detention. At the trial, the members of the jury were reportedly not informed about the testimonies of more than 10 witnesses who said that Mr. Vershinin was working in the clinic at the time the murders were committed. Different searches carried out at his home are said not to have produced any material proof. Furthermore, his lawyers are believed to have been working for the police and to have pushed him to admit to the murders. As a result of the treatment he was allegedly subjected to during his pre-trial detention and the prison conditions, Mr. Vershinin is said to have developed diabetes with neurodermatological complications. The prison administration is said to refuse to provide him with medical treatment. In the summer of 2000, he reportedly tried to commit suicide, but was reportedly not given any medical assistance. His family has reportedly been denied access to him since his arrest, and has been barred from providing him with medication, food and books. He is said to have been, and continues to be, subjected to severe beatings on a regular basis. In view of his current conditions of detention, fears were expressed that his health may be seriously impaired if he does not receive adequate medical treatment.
Correspondence from 1983-2002
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has been corresponding with Governments regarding alleged violations since the mandate was established over two decades ago. While the Project on Extrajudicial Executions is making efforts to provide easily browsed versions of as many years as possible, much of the earlier correspondence is available only in the PDF versions of reports from 1983 to the present.