HRW, 7 Nov 07: Nowhere to Turn: Torture and Ill-Treatment in Uzbekistan
Torture and ill-treatment—and impunity for perpetrators—are part of a wide-ranging problem of human rights in Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government has a poor record across a spectrum of violations. It does not tolerate dissent, severely restricts media freedoms, has persecuted and imprisoned a number of human rights defenders, and does not in practice permit public demonstrations that express criticism of the authorities. Individuals whose Islamic beliefs, practices and affiliations are at odds with official Islam are branded “fundamentalists” or “extremists” and are sentenced to lengthy prison sentences. Great numbers of people in Uzbekistan face barriers to lifting themselves from staggering poverty due to corruption and human rights violations.

Torture and ill-treatment is an enduring problem in Uzbekistan. In the past decade a number of reports by Uzbek and international human rights organizations have documented ill-treatment, including torture, in Uzbek police and security facilities, remand prisons, and post-conviction facilities. Three things, however, have distinguished the discussion of torture in the past few years from previous years. First, Uzbekistan’s engagement with the United Nations anti-torture machinery, which resulted in several legal reforms. Secondly, the government’s strenuous efforts to convince the international community that it is committed to torture reform, while acknowledging neither the scale of the problem or the impunity for it. Thirdly, the government’s fierce crackdown on civil society following the May 2005 Andijan uprising and massacre.....