GENEVA/ BISHKEK - The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) is dismayed at Kyrgyzstan's decision to abolish its independent torture prevention monitoring body, the National Centre for the Prevention of Torture (NCPT), without public consultation or transparency.
The Kyrgyz Parliament has renewed its decision to abolish the National Centre for the Prevention of Torture, the country's independent torture prevention body, and transfer its mandate to the Ombuds Institution under the new Constitutional Law "On Akyikatchy (the Ombudsperson) of the Kyrgyz Republic". Despite prior assurances that the authorities would engage in consultation with the SPT during the High-Level Talks, which took place last week, the legislature proceeded in an unprecedented manner to adopt the law through a combined second and third reading on 25 June, without such consultation.
"The NCPT is a well-established Kyrgyz national preventive mechanism (NPM), created over a decade ago in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), following four years of extensive and inclusive national consultations with the executive, administrative and legislative branches as well as other stakeholders in the Kyrgyz Republic," said Maria Luísa Romero, the SPT Chairperson.
"Dismantling this independent torture prevention institution and transferring the NPM mandate to the Ombuds Institution, which still falls short of meeting the Paris Principles, and doing so without any clear provision for how the Ombuds Institution will carry out this mandate, is a serious setback," she stated, adding that "Most concerningly, this is now happening through a completely opaque process, with no public consultation, no engagement with stakeholders, and not even the text of the amendments made publicly available. This is plainly incompatible with the requirements of the OPCAT."
The NCPT was established in 2012 through national legislation to implement the obligations the Kyrgyz Republic undertook when it became a State Party to the OPCAT in 2008 and has since been working as its national preventive mechanism.
"Notably, it is not only the SPT that recognizes the importance of the NCPT, including its work in preventing torture and ill-treatment, its contribution to human rights in the Kyrgyz Republic, and its influence across the region. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visited the Kyrgyz Republic in March 2025 and emphasized that 'the National Centre for the Prevention of Torture is a model for the Central Asia region, as the only independent national human rights institution that meets international standards,'" she recalled.
"We urge all Kyrgyz authorities to halt this course of action and to engage with the SPT on constructive ways to support and strengthen the NCPT's work for the benefit of all people in Kyrgyzstan," she said.
The SPT's delegation for the High-Level Talks, was composed of Elina Steinerte (Head of Delegation and Vice-Chair for National Preventive Mechanisms) and Nika Kvaratskhelia (Country Rapporteur for Kyrgyzstan). They visited Bishkek from 25 to 27 June.
