Uzbekistan
20.08.04
Urgent Interventions
Uzbekistan: incommunicado detention and torture of Mr. Bahtier Muminov
Case UZB 200804
Incommunicado detention / Torture
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Uzbekistan.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights, a member of the OMCT network, of the incommunicado detention and alleged torture of Mr. Bahtier Muminov in Uzbekistan.
According to the information received, Mr. Muminov was arrested at his home in the Tashkent district at about 10pm on 29 March 2004, by six members of the National Security Services (NSS). The whereabouts of Mr. Muminov were kept from his family for four months and he was denied access to his lawyer, Mr. Abror Yusupov. On 12 August 2004, his wife, Mrs. Shohida Muminova, found out that he was being held at the SI-1 “Tashturma” detention centre and was granted permission to visit him the following day.
Mr. Muminov reportedly told his wife that after his arrest, he was submitted to interrogation and tortured by an NSS officer named Rasul. His whole body was said to be covered with bruises. He was later taken to MIA where he was once again tortured and was forced into signing some documents while he was half unconscious.
The victim was reportedly held in a basement of the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) of the Tashkent district for a period of two month. During this time he was under investigation and tortured by inspector Otabek Muminov. One week before being able to see his wife and his lawyer, Mr. Muminov was allegedly tortured with electric current.
Two investigators of the DIA, Mr. Sagdulla and Mr. Mirza Mustafoev, reportedly summoned Mrs. Muminova to the DIA offices and forced her to write a note certifying that she would not file a complaint regarding the ill-treatment her husband was subjected to.
Although Mr. Muminov’s apartment was searched and that no material evidence was found, he is now being prosecuted for terrorism, sabotage and organisation of criminal group (article 155, 161 and 242 respectively of the Criminal Code).
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Muminov, given the reported ill-treatment and torture which he has been subjected to, and the risk of further treatment of this type that he faces while in detention. OMCT calls on the authorities of Uzbekistan to guarantee the personal integrity of Mr. Muminov, and to immediately release him in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. Finally, OMCT wishes to reiterates its grave concern over the use of incommunicado detention as such methods put detainees’ physical and psychological integrity at great risk.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Uzbekistan urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Muminov;
ii. guarantee that he is granted regular and adequate access to legal representation and family visits;
iii. order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, to ensure that he is given a prompt and fair trial, in which his procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, notably the allegations of torture, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
Please also write to the embassies of Uzbekistan in your respective country.
Geneva, 20 August 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Incommunicado detention / Torture
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Uzbekistan.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a Kyrgyz Committee for Human Rights, a member of the OMCT network, of the incommunicado detention and alleged torture of Mr. Bahtier Muminov in Uzbekistan.
According to the information received, Mr. Muminov was arrested at his home in the Tashkent district at about 10pm on 29 March 2004, by six members of the National Security Services (NSS). The whereabouts of Mr. Muminov were kept from his family for four months and he was denied access to his lawyer, Mr. Abror Yusupov. On 12 August 2004, his wife, Mrs. Shohida Muminova, found out that he was being held at the SI-1 “Tashturma” detention centre and was granted permission to visit him the following day.
Mr. Muminov reportedly told his wife that after his arrest, he was submitted to interrogation and tortured by an NSS officer named Rasul. His whole body was said to be covered with bruises. He was later taken to MIA where he was once again tortured and was forced into signing some documents while he was half unconscious.
The victim was reportedly held in a basement of the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) of the Tashkent district for a period of two month. During this time he was under investigation and tortured by inspector Otabek Muminov. One week before being able to see his wife and his lawyer, Mr. Muminov was allegedly tortured with electric current.
Two investigators of the DIA, Mr. Sagdulla and Mr. Mirza Mustafoev, reportedly summoned Mrs. Muminova to the DIA offices and forced her to write a note certifying that she would not file a complaint regarding the ill-treatment her husband was subjected to.
Although Mr. Muminov’s apartment was searched and that no material evidence was found, he is now being prosecuted for terrorism, sabotage and organisation of criminal group (article 155, 161 and 242 respectively of the Criminal Code).
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Muminov, given the reported ill-treatment and torture which he has been subjected to, and the risk of further treatment of this type that he faces while in detention. OMCT calls on the authorities of Uzbekistan to guarantee the personal integrity of Mr. Muminov, and to immediately release him in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. Finally, OMCT wishes to reiterates its grave concern over the use of incommunicado detention as such methods put detainees’ physical and psychological integrity at great risk.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Uzbekistan urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Muminov;
ii. guarantee that he is granted regular and adequate access to legal representation and family visits;
iii. order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, to ensure that he is given a prompt and fair trial, in which his procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, notably the allegations of torture, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
- President of Uzbekistan, Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov, ul. Uzbekistanskaya 43, Rezidentsia prezidenta, 700163 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan, Fax: +998 71 133 7258, E-mail: presidents_office@press-service.uz
- Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sodiq Solihovich Safoyev, Respublika Uzbekistan; 700029 g. Tashkent; pl. Mustakillik, 5; Ministerstvo inostrannykh del RU, S.S., Uzbekistan, Fax: + 998 71 139 15 17
- Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, Sayora Rashidova, ul. Xalqlar Dostligi 1, 700035 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan, Fax: +998 71 139 85 55, E-mail: office@ombudsman.gov.uz
- Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Ubaydulla Mingbaev, Respublika Uzbekistan; 700183 g. Tashkent; ul. Abdulla Kodiri, 1; Verkhovny Sud Respubliki Uzbekistan
- General Procurator of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Rashidjon Hamidovich Kodirov, ul. Gulyamova 66, 700047 Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan, Fax: +998 71 133 39 17, E-mail: prokuratura@lawyer.com
- Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 1853, 1215 Geneva 15, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 799 43 02, E-mail: uzbekistan@bluewin.ch
Please also write to the embassies of Uzbekistan in your respective country.
Geneva, 20 August 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.