ACTIVIST REPORTS ON DEATH PENALTY COMMUTATIONS AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 000701 SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/CEN AND DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2018 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL UZ SUBJECT: ACTIVIST REPORTS ON DEATH PENALTY COMMUTATIONS AND PRISON CONDITIONS REF: TASHKENT 609 Classified By: POLOFF R. FITZMAURICE FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) Summary: On June 12, Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture Chairwoman Tamara Chikunova reported that Uzbekistan's Supreme Court had completed its review of more than forty death penalty cases following the abolishment of the death penalty on January 1, 2008. The Supreme Court commuted approximately 12 of the death sentences to life imprisonment and the rest to 25 years' imprisonment. While Chikunova recognized the abolishment of the death penalty as a positive phenomenon, she criticized the lack of transparency around the Supreme Court's review of the cases. She also reported that all individuals given life imprisonment will serve their sentences at a newly constructed facility in Jaslyk in Karakalpakstan (which stands alongside an older prison),where conditions are reportedly better than what was previously the case on death row. What Chikunova reported on the implementation of the law abolishing the death penalty generally tracked with what we have heard from other human rights activists. End summary. SUPREME COURT COMPLETES REVIEW OF DEATH PENALTY CASES -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) On June 12, poloff met with Mothers Against the Death Penalty and Torture Chairwoman Tamara Chikunova, who reported that Uzbekistan's Supreme Court had completed its review of death penalty cases following the abolishment of the death penalty on January 1, 2008. Between January and April, the Supreme Court reviewed more than forty individual death penalty cases. Chikunova reported that the Supreme Court commuted approximately 12 death sentences to life imprisonment, while it commuted the rest to 25 years' imprisonment. She noted that the Supreme Court also had the option of commuting death sentences to 20 years' imprisonment, but it did not exercise that option any of the cases. Chikunova confirmed that the last known execution in Uzbekistan occurred in March 2005. SUPREME COURT'S REVIEW LACKS TRANSPARENCY -------------- ¶3. (C) Chikunova recognized that the abolishment of the death penalty was an overall positive step by the government, but she was also critical of how the abolishment was implemented in practice, particularly the lack of transparency around the Supreme Court's review of the cases. She reported that neither lawyers nor family members were allowed to attend the Supreme Court's review sessions. Afterwards, they reportedly received little more than a document stating that the Supreme Court had reviewed a particular case and commuted the death sentence to either life imprisonment or 25 years' imprisonment. ¶4. (C) Chikunova also showed poloff an Uzbek government publication containing opinions of Supreme Court judges on how the abolishment of the death penalty was to be implemented in practice. The publication was originally published in November 2007, but was only made publicly available after the Supreme Court had completed its review of death penalty cases. Chikunova reported that the government never spelled out what criteria would be used to determine whether death sentences would be commuted to life or a fixed-term of imprisonment. In the publication, Chikunova found one reference stating that the Supreme Court could only commute death sentences to life imprisonment "under extraordinary circumstances," but it is unclear what constituted "extraordinary circumstances." Given everything she knew about the forty-odd cases, which she had followed closely over the years, Chikunova said that she could divine little reason why the sentences of some individuals were commuted to life imprisonment, while others received a 25 year sentence. OTHER NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF DEATH PENALTY ABOLISHMENT LAW -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Chikunova pointed out other negative aspects of the law abolishing the death penalty. In particular, she noted that under the new law, individuals sentenced to life in prison may be visited by relatives only once a year. Previously, family members could visit their relatives on death row once a month. Furthermore, the law specifies that individuals with life sentences can only have one ten-minute phone with their relatives a year. PARDON AND PAROLE POSSIBILITIES -------------- ¶6. (C) Chikunova reported that prisoners serving a life sentence in Uzbekistan may be pardoned or paroled after serving 15 years. However, a pardon in Uzbekistan does not necessarily mean an individual is released from prison, but instead can result in a life sentence being converted to a fixed-term sentence. In theory, an individual with a life sentence could serve 15 years in prison, receive a "pardon," and then serve another 25 years in prison under a fixed-sentence. CHIKUNOVA REPORTS BETTER CONDITIONS AT NEW JASLYK PRISON -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) Chikunova reported that all individuals given life sentences would be housed at a new prison constructed in Jaslyk, alongside the older Jaslyk prison (which gained notoriety for housing many of Uzbekistan's political and religious prisons and its poor conditions). Chikunova reported that individuals previously on death row have already been transferred to the new prison. Family members have reported that conditions there were better than at most other Uzbek prisons. In contrast to the time they were on death row, inmates at the new prison are granted three hot meals a day, as well as new uniforms and linen. Family members are also able to deliver care packages to their relatives, whereas before prison authorities prevented them from doing so. She noted speaking to one father who reported that for the first time in six years, he was able to provide his son with new underwear and toiletries. However, family members are reportedly only allowed to provide care packages once a year. CRITICISM OF OTHER ACTIVISTS -------------- ¶8. (C) Chikunova was critical of human rights activists who reported only on negative developments in Uzbekistan. Instead, she argued that the human rights picture in Uzbekistan continued to be mixed, with both improvements and some setbacks. She believed that the new law abolishing the death penalty was a perfect case in point, with both positive and negative aspects. Furthermore, Chikunova pointed out that the large majority of individuals in Uzbek prisons were not political prisoners. She feared that ordinary prisoners were neglected by human rights activists. In contrast, Chikunova said that she personally avoided covering the cases of political prisoners, instead preferring to focus on the cases of ordinary citizens. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) We are glad to hear that conditions at the new prison in Jaslyk appear to be an improvement over the conditions that existed on death row. What Chikunova reported to us about the Supreme Court commuting death penalty cases and sending individuals with life sentences to a new prison in Jaslyk also generally tracks with what we have heard recently from other human rights activists (reftel). We have now heard from several unconnected groups of human rights activists over the past year that conditions are improving at Uzbek prisons, which suggests that the government is making an effort to improve the situation. Our primary policy tool to further this process should remain our support for the continuation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) prison visits. However, we will need to track the procedures that could result in meaningless "pardons." NORLAND