UZBEKISTAN: POLICE OFFICERS ON TRIAL FOR DEATH IN

UNCLAS TASHKENT 001258 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI UZ SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: POLICE OFFICERS ON TRIAL FOR DEATH IN CUSTODY REF: TASHKENT 1226 ¶1. (U) In two recent articles from October 20 and October 27, the independent Uznews.net website reported that a trial has begun at the Tashkent regional criminal court for four police officers charged with beating and killing Muzaffar Tuychiyev, a 30-year resident of the town of Angren in Tashkent province. According to relatives, Tuychiyev was detained by police officers in Angren in March and taken to a local police station, where he was reportedly beaten to death. The chief suspect - police officer Aziz Ahmedov - was subsequently charged under five articles of Uzbekistan's Criminal Code, including deliberately causing injuries leading to death (article 104),abuse of office (articles 205, 206, 208),and forging evidence (article 235). The other defendants, police officers Jahongir Ganiyev, Dilmurad Peysenov, and Abdukasym Ismailov, were charged with similar violations. In addition, the head of Angren's police department, S. Asilhoayev, and the head of its investigatory unit, R. Talipov, were reportedly removed from their positions as a result of the case. The trial is ongoing. 48 OFFICIALS CONVICTED ON CRIMINAL CHARGES IN 2008 -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) On October 27, the Uzbekistan National News Agency (UzA) reported that in a meeting chaired by Minister Muhitdinov, the Justice Ministry announced that 48 government officials were convicted on various criminal charges and 793 officials were convicted of various administrative charges during the first nine months of 2008. In addition, disciplinary charges were reportedly brought against 4,863 officials, and 327 officials were removed from their posts. The article also reported that in line with President Karimov's May 2008 decree on the 60th Anniversary on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Ministry engaged in "wide-scale activities" to raise the population's awareness about their legal rights. The Justice Ministry's meeting shortly follows the October 17 release of a major report on trafficking-in-persons by the Prosecutor General's Office (reftel). COMMENT -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The Uznews.net reports are credible. While such cases are still brought to court too infrequently, the trial of the four police officers demonstrates that Uzbek officials are occasionally held responsible for their misdeeds. We will follow the rest of the case closely and report any results. We also appreciate the apparent growing willingness of the government to publicly release information from its internal reports - including the number of officials convicted of crimes and on trafficking cases - although we must continue to seek independent verification of their statistics. NORLAND