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FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0647
INFO CIS COLLECTIVE
NATO EU COLLECTIVE
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 TASHKENT 000361 
 
SIPDIS SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR SCA AND DRL 
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 
AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 
 
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 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶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 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
 
 
¶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 
 
TASHKENT 00000361  002 OF 004 
 
 
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 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
 
¶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 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9.  (U) On January 31, Ikramov reported being informed by family 
members that Alim Boymatov, who was imprisoned for membership in HT 
 
TASHKENT 00000361  003 OF 004 
 
 
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 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
 
 
¶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 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶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 
 
TASHKENT 00000361  004 OF 004 
 
 
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 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
 
 
¶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 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶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