lennart
03-12-03, 01:47
Uzbek Muslim Boiled To Death By US Ally Karimov
Dec 02, 2003
Source: Reuters
Muzafar Avazov's teeth were smashed and his fingernails ripped out by the time he died -- but the head of the Uzbek jail where he was killed says the prison is like a health farm.
"Prisoners live in comfort, eat scrumptious food and play soccer. All is great," said Colonel Alikhaidar Kolumbetov, sitting in a throne-like black and gold armchair. "With time, we want to make it all like in Europe here," he told Reuters journalists who were allowed to visit Jaslik prison in Uzbekistan's western desert.
But Avazov's mother, who lives in a leafy area of the capital Tashkent 1,000 km (620 miles) away, does not believe him. "Look what they did to my son in Jaslik. They tortured him in the basement and boiled him in hot water," said 61-year-old Fatima Mukadyrova, tears in her eyes, displaying photographs of a mutilated body with severe burns, cuts and bruises.
The pictures clearly showed that the 36-year-old Avazov had no nails on his hands and feet and nearly all of his teeth had been broken.
"Security officers wanted to bury the body quickly to avoid publicity. I said Muzafar's unborn son should see his father, in any shape. So his other son took these photos."
Uzbekistan enjoys warm ties with Washington in return for its support for the U.S.-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan. But human rights activists say repression and torture are rife.
Death
Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimates there are at least 6,000 political and religious prisoners in Uzbekistan. It has reported more than 10 deaths from torture in jails since November 2001.
"We document...torture of minors, of children, torture of people that has been repeated because they raised these issues in court," said Matilda Bogner, HRW office director in Uzbekistan. "Unfortunately, that continues to be systematic."
After visiting Uzbekistan and Jaslik prison last year, the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture, Theo van Boven, confirmed that the use of torture was "systematic".
Kolumbetov dismissed his findings. "Van Boven published a completely untrue report," he said. "He praised our cleanliness and order, and then published this balderdash. He was prejudiced."
Like a third of Jaslik's inmates, Muzafar Avazov was imprisoned on political charges -- that authorities said he was a religious extremist.
President Islam Karimov, who has led Uzbekistan since Soviet times, refuses to condemn torture, saying he must be tough to halt militant Islam in his Muslim nation.
And Kolumbetov angrily denied there had been any torture in his prison at all -- any injuries arose from fights between ordinary criminals and political prisoners, in which they threw hot tea at each other. "Then they died from the resulting illnesses," he said.
Tough Treatment
Kolumbetov prevented Reuters from meeting many of the prisoners, but Nodir Sarimsakov, an emaciated pious Muslim serving 16 years for "undermining the constitutional order" confirmed torture was commonplace.
"Until five or six months ago, beatings and even killings occurred in this prison," he said.
Torture seemed to be doing little to halt the appeal of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir party, which wants a pan-Islamic state run by religious law.
One group of Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters inside Jaslik could not be stopped from expressing their hatred of Karimov's friendly relations with U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"Are you from Reuters? Britain? Then tell Blair and Bush that when we build our Islamic state we will hold them accountable for Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and for their support of the killing of Muslims in Chechnya and Uzbekistan," said Akram Ikromov, a 29-year-old sentenced to 18 years.
"Allah Akbar! (God is Great!)," the group chanted, waving clenched fists in the air, and all an enraged Kolumbetov could do was look on.
Dec 02, 2003
Source: Reuters
Muzafar Avazov's teeth were smashed and his fingernails ripped out by the time he died -- but the head of the Uzbek jail where he was killed says the prison is like a health farm.
"Prisoners live in comfort, eat scrumptious food and play soccer. All is great," said Colonel Alikhaidar Kolumbetov, sitting in a throne-like black and gold armchair. "With time, we want to make it all like in Europe here," he told Reuters journalists who were allowed to visit Jaslik prison in Uzbekistan's western desert.
But Avazov's mother, who lives in a leafy area of the capital Tashkent 1,000 km (620 miles) away, does not believe him. "Look what they did to my son in Jaslik. They tortured him in the basement and boiled him in hot water," said 61-year-old Fatima Mukadyrova, tears in her eyes, displaying photographs of a mutilated body with severe burns, cuts and bruises.
The pictures clearly showed that the 36-year-old Avazov had no nails on his hands and feet and nearly all of his teeth had been broken.
"Security officers wanted to bury the body quickly to avoid publicity. I said Muzafar's unborn son should see his father, in any shape. So his other son took these photos."
Uzbekistan enjoys warm ties with Washington in return for its support for the U.S.-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan. But human rights activists say repression and torture are rife.
Death
Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimates there are at least 6,000 political and religious prisoners in Uzbekistan. It has reported more than 10 deaths from torture in jails since November 2001.
"We document...torture of minors, of children, torture of people that has been repeated because they raised these issues in court," said Matilda Bogner, HRW office director in Uzbekistan. "Unfortunately, that continues to be systematic."
After visiting Uzbekistan and Jaslik prison last year, the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture, Theo van Boven, confirmed that the use of torture was "systematic".
Kolumbetov dismissed his findings. "Van Boven published a completely untrue report," he said. "He praised our cleanliness and order, and then published this balderdash. He was prejudiced."
Like a third of Jaslik's inmates, Muzafar Avazov was imprisoned on political charges -- that authorities said he was a religious extremist.
President Islam Karimov, who has led Uzbekistan since Soviet times, refuses to condemn torture, saying he must be tough to halt militant Islam in his Muslim nation.
And Kolumbetov angrily denied there had been any torture in his prison at all -- any injuries arose from fights between ordinary criminals and political prisoners, in which they threw hot tea at each other. "Then they died from the resulting illnesses," he said.
Tough Treatment
Kolumbetov prevented Reuters from meeting many of the prisoners, but Nodir Sarimsakov, an emaciated pious Muslim serving 16 years for "undermining the constitutional order" confirmed torture was commonplace.
"Until five or six months ago, beatings and even killings occurred in this prison," he said.
Torture seemed to be doing little to halt the appeal of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir party, which wants a pan-Islamic state run by religious law.
One group of Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters inside Jaslik could not be stopped from expressing their hatred of Karimov's friendly relations with U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"Are you from Reuters? Britain? Then tell Blair and Bush that when we build our Islamic state we will hold them accountable for Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and for their support of the killing of Muslims in Chechnya and Uzbekistan," said Akram Ikromov, a 29-year-old sentenced to 18 years.
"Allah Akbar! (God is Great!)," the group chanted, waving clenched fists in the air, and all an enraged Kolumbetov could do was look on.