Covering events from January - December 2000

Republic of Uzbekistan

Head of state: Head of government: Otkir Sultanov Capital: Population: 24.3 million Official language: Uzbek Death penalty: retentionist 2000 treaty ratifications/signatures: Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

Reports of ill-treatment and torture by law enforcement officials of members of independent Islamic congregations or followers of independent imams (Islamic leaders) continued unabated. Hundreds of suspected members of the banned Islamic party Hizb-ut-Tahrir, including women, were reportedly arbitrarily arrested and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after unfair trials. Several prisoners died in custody, allegedly as a result of torture. There were at least 13 death sentences and eight executions, reportedly imposed after unfair trials.

Background In January Islam Karimov consolidated his power after being re-elected President with nearly 92 per cent of the vote. The Organization for Security and Co- operation in Europe (OSCE) refused to send an observation mission because there was no democratic competition. The only other candidate, a member of the pro-government People's Democratic Party, admitted to having voted for Islam Karimov.

In August violent clashes broke out between the Uzbek armed forces and armed units of the banned opposition Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) when they tried to enter southeastern Uzbekistan from neighbouring Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In November the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan sentenced Takhir Yuldash and Juma Namangani, the alleged leaders of the IMU, to death in their absence. They were convicted of terrorism and treason and of causing the death of 73 people in armed incursions and in the February 1999 bombings in Tashkent. Muhammad Salih, the exiled leader of the banned Erk Democratic Party, was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment on the same charges, also in his absence.

On 28 August President Karimov granted an amnesty to more than 10,000 prisoners in order to mark the country's ninth anniversary of independence. According to the chairman of the Supreme Court, there were no political or religious prisoners in Uzbekistan and the more than 2,000 prisoners convicted of anti-state crimes or membership of illegal organizations, mostly suspected members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir who did not qualify for the amnesty, were criminals.

Torture/ill-treatment

Reports of ill-treatment and torture by law enforcement officials of members of independent Islamic congregations or followers of independent imams continued. Hundreds of suspected members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, including women, were reportedly arbitrarily arrested and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment after trials that fell far short of international fair trial standards. The courts were reported to have systematically failed to investigate or take into account allegations of torture.

Defendants accused of non-political criminal activities were also reported to have been tortured and ill-treated in detention in order to make them confess.

● In July the presiding judge at Tashkent Regional Court reportedly dismissed allegations of torture by 15 members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir charged with distributing leaflets and calling for the overthrow of the constitutional order, even after one of the accused took off his shirt to show the court the injuries and bruises he had suffered. He was also said to have shown a hole in his foot which he had received as a result of being beaten with a nail fixed to a plank of wood. Other co-accused claimed to have been raped, tortured with electric shocks, violently beaten and threatened with murder in order to force them to confess.

Deaths in custody Human rights groups reported several cases of deaths in custody as a result of torture or ill-treatment by law enforcement personnel.

● In March, the family of 33-year-old Nemat Karimov, who was serving a 20- year sentence in Navoy prison camp in connection with the February 1999 Tashkent bombings, was informed of his death. The prison authorities reportedly did not disclose the cause of death. When the body was prepared for burial, it was allegedly discovered that the left-hand side of Nemat Karimov's face was disfigured, his nose twisted, his upper lip broken, and there was a hole in the middle of his skull. There were reportedly also injuries to his legs.

Prisoner of conscience Makhbuba Kasymova Makhbuba Kasymova, a member of the Independent Human Rights Organization of Uzbekistan (NOPCHU), was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in July 1999 for ''concealing a crime'' and ''misappropriation of funds'' after a grossly unfair three-hour trial described by human rights monitors as a ''farce''. In August 1999 Tashkent City Court turned down Makhbuba Kasymova's appeal against her sentence after a hearing lasting 14 minutes, at which she was not present. An appeal lodged by her lawyer with the Supreme Court was still pending at the end of 2000.

Makhbuba Kasymova, who was held in Tashkent City Prison, was reported to be suffering from heart problems. In August NOPCHU reported that she qualified for release under the presidential independence anniversary amnesty, and would probably be released at the end of September. On 6 October Makhbuba Kasymova's daughter was told by the director of Tashkent Women's Colony that her mother had committed three offences against prison rules which was enough to disqualify her from the amnesty. Makhbuba Kasymova claimed that the offences had been fabricated in order to prevent her from being released. On 22 December Makhbuba Kasymova was unexpectedly released from prison.

Possible prisoners of conscience Mamadali Makhmudov, a writer, and Muhammad Bekzhon, a brother of Erk Democratic Party leader Muhammad Salih, were reported to have been secretly transferred to Yaslik prison in April. AI had previously expressed concern at reports of prison camps in remote areas of Uzbekistan where the overwhelming majority of prisoners were members of independent Islamic congregations accused of supporting the banned Islamic opposition. The existence of one of these prison camps - Yaslik - located in former Soviet army barracks in the Karakalpakstan Autonomous Republic (a desert area southwest of the Aral Sea), was independently confirmed in 1999. Conditions were said to be cruel, inhuman and degrading, with prisoners being denied adequate drinking water while doing forced labour. The camp may also be situated in a chemically or biologically contaminated area. Unofficial sources estimated that at least 20 , and possibly as many as 38, prisoners died in Yaslik in 1999 and 2000 as a result of torture and poor conditions.

Mamadali Makhmudov was reported to have faced punitive treatment, including being forced to sit crouching for extended periods with his hands behind his head. He was said to have lost a lot of weight and to be suffering from pain in his chest, sides and back. He had apparently not been given access to appropriate food or medical care and had fainted on several occasions. In early July the Ministry of Internal Affairs denied that Mamadali Makhmudov had suffered ill-treatment and that his health was deteriorating. However, later that month he was reportedly urgently transferred to the medical wing of Tashkent prison. His relatives were not informed of his whereabouts until September. He was reported to be in a critical condition.

On 18 August 1999, after a trial which fell far short of international standards, Tashkent Regional Court sentenced Muhammad Bekzhon, Mamadali Makhmudov and their co-accused, Yusif Ruzimuradov, Rashid Bekzhon, Kobil Diyarov and Negmat Sharipov, to prison terms of between eight and 15 years. All six men were reportedly tortured in pre-trial detention, in order to force them to confess to fabricated charges and to incriminate Muhammad Salih.

The death penalty AI learned of at least 13 death sentences and eight executions during 2000, but believed the actual number to be much higher. Many of these sentences were handed down in connection with the February 1999 bomb explosions in Tashkent and subsequent armed clashes between law enforcement forces and alleged members of the IMU. AI was concerned at the number of allegations that international fair trial standards were violated in capital punishment cases. In particular, victims claimed that they were convicted on the basis of confessions made as a result of torture.

In July the general procuracy confirmed that 19 death sentences handed down in 1999 for alleged involvement in the Tashkent bombings had been carried out.

In 2000 at least four death sentences were commuted. The death sentences passed in November 1999 on two young musicians, Arsen Arutyunyan and Danis Sirazhev, were commuted to 15 years' imprisonment on 31 March by the Presidium of the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan.

New death sentences

● In June AI learned that the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan had upheld the death sentences of Oybek and Uygun Ruzmetov, Shikhnozor Yakubov, Sardor Allayarov and Utkir Yusupov. The five men had been sentenced to death by Tashkent Regional Court in July 1999 for planning to blow up a water reservoir, attempting to overthrow the constitutional order and setting up an Islamic state. According to the mother of Oybek and Uygun Ruzmetov, law enforcement officers planted cartridges in Oybek Ruzmetov's room the day before they arrested the brothers in December 1998. In February 1999 the police were reported to have briefly detained their mother and father and humiliated them by forcing them to undress and taking them handcuffed and in their underwear to see their sons. Oybek and Uygun Ruzmetov reportedly told their parents that they had been tortured in detention and that law enforcement officers had threatened to arrest their parents and rape Uygun Ruzmetov's wife. AI also received unconfirmed reports that Shikhnozor Yakubov had died of beatings in prison in October 1999. ● On 14 May Polvonnazar Khodzhayev was sentenced to death by Tashkent Regional Court for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order of Uzbekistan in order to create an Islamic state. According to the non-governmental international organization , his trial did not meet international fair trial standards. The co-accused were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 to 24 years' imprisonment. In September the Supreme Court turned down his appeal against his death sentence. A petition for clemency was believed to be still pending with the President at the end of the year. Polvonnazar Khodzhayev had been detained in the Russian town of Samara on 5 April by Russian officials and handed over to Uzbek law enforcement officers.

Reportedly, in the first quarter of 1999 officers of the Khorezm Internal Affairs Department had frequently questioned Polvonnazar Khodzhayev's parents about the whereabouts of their sons, who were suspected of links with Islamist armed groups. In April 1999 Polvonnazar Khodzhayev's father, Azimboy Khodzhayev, was arrested, allegedly in place of his sons. Three days earlier President Karimov had reportedly said that he would issue a decree allowing for the arrest of a suspect's father if a son involved in extremism'' could not be found. In June 1999 Azimboy Khodzhayev was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment on reportedly fabricated charges of ''illegal possession of narcotics''. Only two weeks after the trial he was said to have died in custody in Yaslik prison camp. The family reportedly received a death certificate but was not allowed to see his body.

Executions ● Dmitry Chikunov was sentenced to death for premeditated, aggravated murder by Tashkent Regional Court on 11 November 1999. He alleged that in pre-trial detention he had been beaten unconscious, nearly asphyxiated with a gas mask over his head and that police had threatened to rape his mother unless he confessed. AI was not aware of any investigation of these allegations. His appeal against his death sentence was rejected by the Supreme Court on 24 January and he was executed on 10 July. The news was given to his mother when she went to visit him in Tashkent prison on 12 July. ● Six men sentenced to death by the Supreme Court on 28 June 1999 for their part in the February 1999 bombings in Tashkent were reportedly executed at the beginning of January. The defendants had been accused of belonging to extremist religious organizations which advocated a jihad (holy war) to overthrow the constitutional order in Uzbekistan and the assassination of President Karimov. There were reports that the defendants had been beaten or otherwise ill-treated in pre-trial detention and forced under duress to give false evidence. Human rights monitors had expressed concern that fair trial standards, although promised by the authorities, had not been respected. The defendants had reportedly been denied the right to a lawyer of their own choice and there were allegations that the defence lawyers did not represent the defendants' interests. According to Human Rights Watch, there was no presumption of innocence and the prosecution failed to present any solid evidence to prove the defendants guilty. The European Union condemned the executions and urged Uzbekistan to introduce a moratorium on the death penalty.

AI country reports

● Uzbekistan: Ismail Adylov - Human rights defender and prisoner of conscience (AI Index: EUR 62/002/2000) ● Uzbekistan: Makhbuba Kasymova - Human rights defender and prisoner of conscience (AI Index: EUR 62/004/2000)