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Even in the s, when Russia was much weaker and poorer than it is today, our leverage was limited. Archived from the original on 23 March In practice judges granted arrest warrants in most cases, and authorities continued to hold suspects after the allowable period of time. After the country expelled almost all foreign NGOs during the s, independent civil society on the ground is practically nonexistent. Authorities have the right to suspend or prohibit rallies, meetings, and demonstrations for security reasons. Green tea is the national hot beverage consumed throughout the day; teahouses chaikhanas are of cultural importance. Some of the troubling aspects of the new law include that it reportedly doubles the number of grounds on which authorities may deny a media outlet registration; creates unduly restrictive registration procedures for new media outlets and re-registration procedures for existing media companies; and provides authorities with further opportunities to censor critical media.
Amanturdiev reportedly stated that in one incident, he was beaten unconscious. Also in April an independent news Web site reported that family members of Rustam Usmanov visited him in prison and observed extensive bruises on his body. According to the report, Usmanov told them that prison guards tortured and tried to kill him. The letter alleged that guards routinely raped the prisoners with a club, subjected prisoners to enemas with red pepper solutions, and beat their heels until they bled.
In December two sisters serving prison sentences alleged that officers raped and mistreated them in prison. One of the sisters subsequently gave birth to a child in prison. The Tashkent City Criminal Court initiated a criminal case and reportedly did DNA testing of several officers, but no formal charges resulted during the year. Authorities reportedly meted out harsher than typical treatment to individuals suspected of Islamist extremism throughout the year, especially to pretrial detainees who were allegedly members of banned religious extremist political organizations or to the Nur group, which is not officially banned.
Local human rights workers reported that authorities often offered payment or other inducements to inmates to beat other inmates suspected of religious extremism.
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During the year there were reports of politically motivated medical abuse. Victims could request, through legal counsel, to have an expert medical board review their cases. In practice, however, such bodies generally did not conduct impartial reviews and typically supported the decisions of law enforcement authorities.
Family members of several inmates whom the international community considers political prisoners asserted that officials did not grant prisoners' requests for medical evaluation and treatment. There was no update on the case of Jamshid Karimov, a journalist, human rights activist, and nephew of President Karimov, whom officials have forcibly detained at Samarkand Psychiatric Hospital since Prison conditions were in some circumstances life threatening.
Officials reported that the prison system is filled to only 74 percent of capacity, but reports of overcrowding were common, as were reports of severe abuse and shortages of medicine. Inmates and their families reported that food and water were of poor quality but generally available. There were reports of political prisoners being held in cells without proper ventilation, and prisoners occasionally were subjected to extreme temperatures.
Family members of inmates reported incidents of sexual abuse. Family members also reported that officials frequently withheld or delayed delivery of food and medicine intended for prisoners. Relatives of prisoners reported the deaths of several prisoners serving sentences, most of whom received sentences related to religious extremism. In some cases, family members reported that the body of the prisoner showed signs of beating or other abuse, but authorities pressured the family to bury the body before examination by a medical professional.
Reported cases that fit this pattern included those of Nurullo Musaev and Shavkat Alimhojaev. There were no updates to the reported cases in that fit this pattern, including the deaths of Abdulatif Ayupov, Ismat Hudoyberdiyev, Negmat Zufarov, and Golib Mullajonov. On June 17, Sunnatillo Zaripov died in prison, where he had been serving a year term.
Relatives reported to the press that he died as a result of torture. In November family members of inmates housed in the Jaslyk prison reported that several Jaslyk inmates participated in a hunger strike for three to four days after 14 fellow inmates were taken to a separate area in the prison and severely beaten. The family members reportedly died after being tortured in prison in According to family members and some NGOs, authorities failed to release prisoners, especially those convicted of religious extremism, at the end of their terms.
Prison authorities often extended inmates' terms by accusing them of additional crimes or claiming the prisoners represented a continuing danger to society. For example, on July 15, Habibullo Madmarov, the son of human rights activist Akhmadjan Madmarov, had his prison term extended for getting out of bed to pray before the prison's daily wake up call, in violation of internal prison regulations.
Trials for such offenses took place within the prisons, and defendants often were not given access to lawyers or relatives. Although it is technically possible for inmates to appeal such decisions, many inmates did not have the expertise to initiate an appeal. According to statistics, the government held approximately 42, inmates at 58 detention facilities.
Men, women, and juvenile offenders were held in separate facilities. There were reports that in some facilities inmates convicted of attempting to overturn the constitutional order were held separately, and prison officials did not allow inmates convicted under religious extremism charges to interact with other inmates. Officials also held former law enforcement officers in a separate facility. Prison officials generally allowed family members to visit prisoners for up to four hours two to four times per month.
Officials also permitted visits of one to three days duration, two to four times per year, depending on the type of prison facility. Family members of political prisoners reported that officials frequently delayed or severely shortened visits arbitrarily. The government stated that prisoners have the right to practice any religion or no religion, but prisoners frequently complained to family members that they were not able to observe religious rituals that conflicted with prison scheduling.
Such rituals included engaging in traditional Islamic morning prayers. Prisoners also were not allowed access to religious materials. According to a law, authorities at pretrial detention facilities are required to arrange a meeting between a detainee and a representative from the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office upon a detainee's request. Officials allowed detainees in prison facilities to submit confidential complaints to the Ombudsman's Office and to the Prosecutor General's Office, and both offices were authorized to initiate investigations into complaints. In its report, the Ombudsman's Office reported it received 48 prisoner complaints during the year and considered 31 of those cases, representing an increase from the 29 complaints it considered in The Ombudsman's Office reported it was able to intervene successfully in four of the 29 cases.
The Ombudsman's Office is empowered to make recommendations on behalf of prisoners, including requesting changes to sentences to make them more appropriate to nonviolent offenders. The Ministry of Interior MOI performs regular inspections of all prison facilities, and representatives of other state bodies, including the parliament, the National Human Rights Center, and the Cabinet of Ministers also are allowed to access the prison system upon request.
The International Committee of the Red Cross ICRC monitors all facilities under the responsibility of the prison administration, assessing the conditions of detention and the treatment of detainees. Between January and September, the ICRC carried out 37 humanitarian visits, visiting 19, detainees held in 17 places of detention. During these visits, ICRC representatives monitored the cases of detainees, including women and 67 minors.
The ICRC kept its findings confidential and shared them only with the government. The government also allowed limited independent prison monitoring by a local group in Bukhara. Officials reported that hepatitis was not present in high numbers, and hepatitis patients are treated in existing medical facilities and programs. On May 11 and 12, the prison administration in conjunction with the OSCE trained 50 prison administration employees on the maintenance of human rights in the prison system.
On May 20, the prison administration trained 20 medical personnel on identifying physical torture or banned cruel treatment. The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention; however, authorities continued to engage in such practices. The government authorizes three different organizations to investigate criminal activity. The Ministry of Internal Affairs MIA controls the police, who are responsible for law enforcement and maintenance of order and investigate general crime.
The National Security Service NSS , headed by a chairman who reports directly to the president, deals with a broad range of national security and intelligence issues, including terrorism, corruption, organized crime, and narcotics. Prosecutors investigate violent crimes such as murder, as well as corruption by officials and abuse of power.
Where jurisdictions overlap, the agencies determine among themselves which should take the lead. The MIA's main investigations directorate maintained internal procedures to investigate abuses and discipline officers accused of human rights violations, but in practice the government rarely punished officials who committed human rights abuses. A human rights and legal education department within the Ministry of Interior investigated some police brutality cases.
The Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, affiliated with the parliament, also had the power to investigate cases, although its decisions on such investigations had no binding authority. In July the MIA trained 52 employees from various agencies and departments on fulfillment of the Convention Against Torture with respect to law enforcement bodies.
Under the law, a judge must review any decision to arrest accused individuals or suspects, and defendants have the right to legal counsel from the time of arrest, although officials do not always grant that right in practice. According to judicial reforms made in , detainees have the right to request hearings before a judge to determine whether they remain incarcerated or are released. The arresting authority is required to notify a relative of the detainee about the detention and to question the detainee within 24 hours of being taken into custody.
Suspects have the right to remain silent. Detention without formal charges is limited to 72 hours, although a prosecutor can request an additional 48 hours, after which time the person must be charged or released. Implementation of these reforms has been slow. In practice judges granted arrest warrants in most cases, and authorities continued to hold suspects after the allowable period of time. The judge conducting the arrest hearing was allowed to sit on the panel of judges during the individual's trial.
There were complaints that authorities tortured suspects before notifying either family members or attorneys of their arrests. Once authorities file charges, suspects can be held in pretrial detention for as long as three months while investigations proceed. The law permits an extension of the investigation period for up to one year at the discretion of the appropriate court upon a motion by the investigating authority.
A prosecutor may release a prisoner on bond pending trial, although in practice authorities frequently ignored these legal protections. Those arrested and charged with a crime may be released without bail until trial on the condition that they provide assurance that they will appear at trial and register each day at a local police station.
State-appointed attorneys are available for those who do not hire private counsel. In March the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a decree requiring that all defense attorneys pass a comprehensive relicensing examination. Several experienced and knowledgeable defense lawyers who had represented human rights activists and independent journalists lost their licenses in the process. As a result, several other activists and defendants faced difficulties in finding attorneys to represent them. Amendments to the criminal procedure code in abolished provisions that allowed unlicensed advocates to represent individuals in criminal and civil hearings; however, a court has the discretion to allow such an advocate if the advocate belongs to a registered organization.
There were reports that police arrested persons on false charges of extortion, drug possession, or tax evasion as an intimidation tactic to prevent them or their family members from exposing corruption or interfering in local criminal activities. Authorities continued to arrest persons arbitrarily on charges of extremist sentiments or activities and association with banned religious groups. Local human rights activists reported that police and security service officers, acting under pressure to break up extremist cells, frequently detained and mistreated family members and close associates of suspected members of religious extremist groups.
Coerced confessions and testimony in such cases were commonplace.