The Special Rapporteur concluded that torture persists, particularly in police stations and pretrial detention facilities. He expressed concern at the secrecy surrounding the application of the death penalty and the cruel treatment of prisoners on death row.

Nowak especially expressed concerns about the situation of prisoners subjected to the special isolation regime at Prison No. 405 (Takhir Soyot).

“In the view of the Special Rapporteur the special isolation regime, where prisoners serve 30-year terms in virtual total isolation, is contrary to article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and amounts to cruel and inhuman treatment.”

Seded Bataa (name as it was appeared in the report) died on July 22, 2005, in custody in Prison No. 405 (Tahir Soyot), following his transfer from Zuunmod Pretrial Detention Centre on July 5, 2005.

On his arrival, Seded Bataa was bloated, unable to speak, and in very poor health. His family was not informed of his poor health, and he did not receive treatment nor was he seen by any doctor. Although the postmortem listed the cause of death as tuberculosis, his corpse did not present the normal indications for this disease such as appearing gaunt or emaciated. Rather, his corpse presented, among other things, welts and bruising around the wrists and ankles consistent with accounts of being continuously handcuffed and shackled in his cell.

When he was last seen by family members in May 2005, Seded Bataa did not complain of tuberculosis and did not request any need for treatment in this regard. Following his death, the police warned Seded Bataa’s family that if they registered a complaint, his body would not be returned for burial as the investigation would be protracted. The family reluctantly complied and the body was cremated on 29 July. His personal effects, including a diary have not been returned. (report excerpt)

The Special Rapporteur expressed his strongest concerns about this case. First, he was denied access to Bataa when he visited Zuunmod Detention Centre and later he received convincing evidence that Bataa had been tortured to death.

According to the 1992 Constitution, no one shall be subjected to torture, inhuman, cruel or degrading treatment.

The report said that respect for basic safeguards for detainees such as notification of lawyers and families were routinely disregarded.

“The methods of torture described in the vast majority of cases that the Special Rapporteur came across involved beatings with fists and truncheons to extract confessions. Other methods cited included: ‘flying to space’ (where a person is made to stand on a stool, which is kicked away from underneath), needles pushed under fingernails, electroshock (i.e. wires attached to a ceiling light bulb socket and connected to a puddle of water), burning with cigarettes, prolonged periods of being handcuffed and shackled (in one case three years), coercing confessions by putting suspects in cells with convicted prisoners who are encouraged by guards to be abusive, and detaining suspects in distant facilities which, given the geography of the country, is intended to isolate detainees from lawyers and families.”

The Special Rapporteur found Prison No. 421 (Amgalan), ordinary securit, and Prison No. 413 (Zuunkharaa), strict security, to be generally in line with international standards. “They were open, dormitory-type prisons, relatively well maintained.”

He said he lacked support from certain parts of the government and his requests to all information related to the death penalty and access to prisoners on death row were repeatedly denied. Nowak was deeply concerned about all the circumstances surrounding the death penalty in Mongolia as they are considered a State secret. He was not provided with any official information, names or statistics concerning persons who have been sentenced to death, pardoned or executed, nor with any information regarding the times and places of execution.

“Even the families are notified of the exact date or place of execution and they do not receive the bodies of executed persons for burial.”

“His conclusions on the conditions on death row therefore have to be based on well-substantiated allegations of witnesses, family members and NGOs.”

At the Gants Khudag Detention Centre No. 461 and Zuunmod Detention Centre, Nowak expressed concern about overcrowded cells, but more particularly at the mixing of convicted prisoners and pre-trial detainees, contrary to article 10.2(a) of the Covenant.

The main purposes of the visit, according to the Special Rapporteur, were to assess the prevailing situation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; to promote preventive mechanisms to eradicate torture and ill-treatment; and to begin a process of long-term cooperation with the Government.

He met with a number of high-profile government officials, ministries, police department, court decision enforcement agency, prosecution office, legislators of the parliament, lawyers, representatives from NGOs, and foreign diplomatic missions.