EuropaWorld2 6/10/2001 Torture Allegations as Uzbekistan Lines Up with Coalition

The official explanation for Ruzimuradov's death was suicide by hanging, but the Uzbeks can be inventive when in comes to explaining deaths in police custody, especially when those involved are human rights defenders. Whatever, three months ago Shovrik Ruzimuradov died in highly suspicious circumstances, suggesting he was the victim of torture.

So say the reputable NGO, Human Rights Watch, which alleges that at least fifteen people have died from torture in Uzbek custody during the past three years. The latest case came to light just last week. 'He suffered a heart attack,' said the Uzbek policeman in charge of returning the body to his family in Tashkent.

Well, perhaps he did, but nor before suffering a catalogue of injuries not usually associated with a weak heart. The body was covered in bruises, said those who viewed it, and for some reason one of the man's legs seemed to have been broken below the knee. His upper back was also injured and his neck was broken.

Aged 32, Ravshan Haidov had been a father of two, and was the latest victim in what Human Rights Watch term Uzbekistan's vicious crackdown on Muslims who practice their faith outside state controls. Haidov had been arrested with his brother on suspicion of affiliation with the banned Islamic group, Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation). The brother is reported to have been hospitalised following his own 'interrogation.'

The Tashkent city prosecutor's office is since said to have opened a criminal case against four police officers but the death "follows a distinct pattern in Uzbekistan of police torture of religious detainees and dissidents," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of the Europe and Central Asia Division of Human Rights Watch.

The agency report that local rights activists estimate that at least 7,000 independent Muslims are now imprisoned in Uzbekistan for their religious practices or affiliations, and that some 4,000 of these were convicted for affiliation with Hizb ut-Tahrir. They say that the government has justified their arrests by claiming they support terrorism, though the vast majority are not charged for acts of violence.

Uzbekistan has emerged as one of the most active in support of the global alliance against terrorism. It has offered the use of airbases and there are now believed to be more than 1,000 American troops stationed in the country.

"It's never been more important to urge the Uzbek government to clean up its act," said Elizabeth Andersen. "Otherwise the U.S. and its allies could be seen as aligning itself with a government that tortures non-violent Muslims to death in the name of fighting terrorism."