UZBEKISTAN: RECENT ALLEGATIONS OF PRISONER ABUSE AND DEATHS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TASHKENT 000361

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019-03-26
TAGS: PHUM ICRC KIRF PGOV PREL SOCI UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: RECENT ALLEGATIONS OF PRISONER ABUSE AND DEATHS
IN CUSTODY

REF: TAHSKENT 127; TASHKENT 3; 07 TASHKENT 2181; 08 TASHKENT 1351;
TASHKENT 55

CLASSIFIED BY: Richard Fitzmaurice, Poloff; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)


1. (C) Summary: In the past few months, independent human rights
activists and websites have reported on several serious human
rights issues at Uzbek prisons, including deaths in custody.
Activists also provided updates on the condition of political
prisoners Alisher Karamatov and Sanjar Umarov. Though conditions
appear to have improved at some prisons in the past year, these
reports (not all of which have been confirmed) highlight the need
for further improvements. We believe that the most effective way
to promote prison reform is to continue to urge the government to
reach agreement with the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) allowing prison visits to continue this year (Ref A). At
the same time, reports from the Uzbek Ministry of Interior indicate
that the government has made some progress in using amnesties to
reduce the prison population in Uzbekistan, whose incarceration
rate is relatively low. End summary.



UPDATE ON PRISONER REPORTEDLY BEATEN TO DEATH

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2. (C) On January 22, the independent Uznews.net website reported
on the death of Khoshimjon Kadirov, an Andijon resident who was
beaten in police custody in Tashkent (ref B). On March 24,
Andijon-based human rights activist Saidjahon Zaynibbidinov
reported to poloff being told by an Andijon police officer that
Kadirov was interrogated as part of an investigation into what
happened to more than 70 firearms that disappeared from law
enforcement offices during the violent Andijon events in 2005 and
were never recovered. According to the police officer, the
investigation was being led by officials in Tashkent, who feared
that the weapons could still be in the hand of anti-governmental
forces. Zaynibbidinov believed that the police officer's story was
credible, but speculated that the firearms were taken by Andijon
residents who participated in the events and then later sold the
weapons after fleeing to Kyrgyzstan.



REPORTS OF DEATHS FROM TB, OTHER UNKNOWN ILLNESSES

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3. (U) On February 27, the independent Uznews.net and Muslim
Uzbekistan websites reported that Sohib Sidikov, who was sentenced
to 17 years' imprisonment in 1999 on religious extremism charges,
died of tuberculosis at the Sangorod prison hospital in Tashkent,
where he was receiving treatment after being transferred from
prison 64/36 in Navoi province. His body was delivered to his
family in Kokand on February 23.




4. (U) On January 30, independent activist Surat Ikramov reported
that Abdulatif Ayupov, who was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment
for membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) in 2000, died of TB at the
Sangorod prison hospital in Tashkent. Ayupov reportedly was
amnestied in 2004 after contracting TB in prison, but was
rearrested in 2006 for HT membership and sentenced to 11 years'
imprisonment. In September, he was transferred from prison 64/36
in Navoi province to Sangorod for treatment. According to family

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members, Ayupov was forced to work at the Navoi prison despite
suffering from TB.




5. (U) On January 22, the independent Uznews.net website reported
the recent deaths of inmates Muhammad Artykov, who was allegedly
one of the 23 businessmen involved in the trial that sparked the
2005 Andijon events, and Abdurahmon Kuchkarov, an allegedly
participant in the Andijon events. Though Artykov appeared to have
died from an unspecified illness, the website quoted family members
as stating that prison officers had caused Artykov's "disability."
Kuchkarov reportedly died at a prison hospital of an unknown
illness, despite allegedly being healthy when his family last saw
him a few months previously.




6. (U) In December 2007, an official at the Ministry of Interior's
Prison Directorate (GUIN) estimated that approximately 1,000
inmates at Uzbek prisons suffered from TB, including its active and
inactive forms. The official noted that this number had steadily
declined since GUIN instituted the DOTS (Directly Observed
Treatment, Short-course) treatment program, widely recognized as
the most effective strategy for controlling TB, for inmates in 2004
(ref C).



REPORTS OF SENTENCES BEING ARBITRARILY EXTENDED

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7. (U) On January 28, Uznews.net reported that prison authorities
arbitrarily extended the sentence of Ibrohimjon Umarov, who was
imprisoned for religious extremism charges in 1999 and was set to
complete his sentence at the end of 2008, by an additional two
years. He was then transferred from the Tavaksay prison in
Tashkent province to a prison in Qarshi.




8. (U) On March 22, Ikramov reported that Ruslan Jubathanov, who
was sentenced to 9 years' imprisonment for disseminating HT
literature in 2000, had his sentence extended by another three and
a half years after being convicted by the Navoi criminal court of
"insubordination in prison" (Criminal Code Article 221) shortly
before he was due to be released. Jubathanov's lawyer Rustam
Tulyganov was only informed about the lengthening of his client's
sentence in March. Tulyganov was not present for any proceedings
against his client and has not been provided yet with any
indictment or court ruling. During his original trial in 2000,
Jubathanov reportedly admitted to distributing HT literature, but
denied that he was a HT member. While imprisoned in the town of
Kagan in Bukhara province, he allegedly contracted TB.



REPORTS OF PRISONERS BEING ABUSED

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9. (U) On January 31, Ikramov reported being informed by family
members that Alim Boymatov, who was imprisoned for membership in HT

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in 2006, was routinely abused at prison 64/33 in Qarshi by several
guards. When his mother met with him in mid-January, Boymatov
complained of mistreatment, poor conditions, and a lack of adequate
food and medicine. His mother has appealed to the Human Rights
Ombudsman, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the Prison
Directorate, but has yet to receive a response.



UPDATE ON CONDITION OF POLITICAL PRISONER KARAMATOV

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10. (U) In January, Jizzakh-based human rights activist Bakhtiyor
Hamroyev reported that guards at Sangorod had abused political
prisoner Alisher Karamatov. Hamroyev was told by Karamatov's wife
Namuna that a prison lieutenant had attempted to force her husband
to sign a document stating that he had violated internal prison
regulations by praying (Note: Prison officials have accused
political prisoners of violating internal prison regulations as a
means of denying them amnesty. We know of no formal prison
regulations prohibiting praying, but prisoners reportedly have been
punished for praying before. End note) After Karamatov refused
and threatened to complain to authorities, the lieutenant
reportedly forced him to stand outside without his clothes for
several hours in freezing temperatures on December 31. Namuna
visited Karamatov at the prison on January 16 and reported that he
looked thin and was spitting blood. Karamatov contracted TB while
imprisoned at prison 64/36 in Qarshi and was transferred to the
Sangorod prison hospital in Tashkent for treatment in November

2008. The incident was also cited by Human Rights Watch in a
February 6 press release.




11. (U) Hamroyev recently reported that Namuna was able to visit
Karamatov again on March 16 and found that his condition had
improved since their last meeting in January. However, Namuna was
told that her husband would be transferred soon back to prison
64/36 in Qarshi, and she was afraid that his condition would worsen
there again. On January 27, the administration of Sangorod
rejected a motion filed by Karamatov's lawyer Giyas Namazov for his
client to be released on health grounds, noting that his condition
had improved. On March 9, the lawyer submitted another appeal to
release Karamatov at the Syrdarya regional court, but has not yet
received a response. If that appeal is rejected, Namazov plans to
appeal next to Uzbekistan's Supreme Court.



UPDATE ON POLITICAL PRISONER UMAROV

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12. (C) On March 12, Free Farmers opposition party leader Nigara
Khidoyatova reported to poloff that political prisoner Sanjar
Umarov's sister-in-law had visited him in prison again in February
and found that his condition was still poor and had not improved
since October (ref D). The sister-in-law reported that Umarov
could barely stand and spent most of their meeting lying down.
According to Khidoyatova, Umarov's AmCit wife had applied recently
for an Uzbek visa from the Uzbek Embassy in Washington, but has not
yet received a response. On a more positive note, Khidoyatova
reported that her sister Nadira had completed her suspended

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sentence and could now apply for an exit visa to travel abroad.
Nadira is a Sunshine Coalition co-founder who was convicted of tax
evasion around the same time as Umarov in 2006. Her prison
sentence was commuted to a suspended sentence upon appeal. Nigara
Khidoyatova also expressed interest in traveling abroad, but noted
that Uzbek authorities have so far refused to grant her an exit
visa.



UZBEK GOVERNMENT REPORTS LATEST PRISON AMNESTY FIGURES

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13. (U) Authorities announced in January that 10,000 prisoners had
been amnestied in 2008, reducing the current prison population to
38,000, an incarceration rate of about 138 prisoners per 100,000
persons (Note: In previous years, some prisoners were released
after amnesty, while others have had their prison sentences
reduced. It is thus unclear how many of the 10,000 prisoners were
actually released from prison in 2008. End note.) At a recent
workshop hosted by the Uzbek Human Rights Ombudsman, the Minister
of Internal Affairs reported that authorities have amnestied more
than 200,000 prisoners since 1997 and had reduced the prison
population by 30 percent over the last five years. The MIA also
reported that Uzbekistan currently has 47 correctional facilities,
including 36 prisons and prison colonies and 11 pre-trial detention
facilities, which, in total, have a capacity to hold approximately
56,000 prisoners.



COMMENT

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14. (C) Without direct access to Uzbek prisons, it is impossible
for us to determine the extent to which these cases are the tip of
the iceberg or isolated incidents (notably, though, most the
reports involved individuals imprisoned on religious extremism
charges, who routinely face worse treatment than other prisoners).
Reporting by Ikramov and Uznews.net in the past also has not always
been fully reliable (ref E). We will continue to follow such cases
as closely as possible. These reports highlight the need for
greater prison reform, though there have been some improvements in
the past year. We continue to believe that the most effective way
to spur additional reform is to urge the government to reach
agreement with the ICRC allowing prison visits to continue this
year (Ref A).
NORLAND