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B. Central Asia
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B. Central Asia




  1. In Central Asia, the Experts gathered information on cases of secret detention in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.


Turkmenistan

  1. As documented by a range of international organizations (including the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and non-governmental organizations, there are persistent allegations that several persons accused of an assassination attempt on former President Niyazov in November 2002 have since then been held in secret detention . On 12 March 2003, Emmanuel Decaux, the OSCE Rapporteur, reported: “The fact that their relatives remain up to this time with no news from some prisoners in secret detention, as M. Nazarov or M. Shikhmuradov, nourishes rumours according to which these individuals – considered as too compromising for the regime – are said to have already died in prison”.428 The case of Mr. Boris Shikhmuradov is currently under the consideration of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.429



  1. On 7 October 2005, the Special Rapporteur on torture sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Turkmenistan concerning the situation of a number of individuals convicted in December 2002 and January 2003 to prison terms ranging from five years to life for their alleged involvement in the assassination attempt.430 The Rapporteur noted these prisoners continued to be held incommunicado, without access to families, lawyers, or independent bodies such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. On 23 September 2009, Amnesty International issued a “postcard” calling upon the President to shed light on the disappeared in Turkmenistan with reference to the group arrested after the alleged attack on the former President in late 2002.431


Uzbekistan

  1. In its most recent report on Uzbekistan, the Committee Against Torture expressed concern “at the numerous allegations of excessive use of force and ill-treatment by Uzbek military and security forces in the May 2005 events at Andijan which resulted, according to the State party, in 187 deaths and according to other sources, 700 or more, and in hundreds of others being detained thereafter. Notwithstanding the State party’s persistent response to all allegations that the measures taken were in fact appropriate, the Committee noted with concern the State party’s failure to conduct full and effective investigations into all claims of excessive force by officials.” The Committee also expressed concern about the fact “that the State party has limited and obstructed independent monitoring of human rights in the aftermath of these events, thereby further impairing the ability to obtain a reliable or credible assessment of the reported abuses, including ascertaining information on the whereabouts and reported torture or ill-treatment of persons detained and/or missing. The Committee has also received credible reports that some persons who sought refuge abroad and were returned to the country have been kept in detention in unknown places and possibly subjected to breaches of the Convention […]” In this direction, the Committee recommended Uzbekistan to: “provide information to family members on the whereabouts and charges against all persons arrested or detained in connection with the Andijan events.”432


  1. On 31 January 2006, Mr. Musaev, an Uzbek national and a UNDP local staff member in Uzbekistan, was reportedly arrested by the Uzbek National Security Service, and his family was not informed about his whereabouts for more than 10 days. During his detention, he was subjected to various forms of pressure, including threats by the interrogators who forced him to sign a confession. On 13 June 2006, following a reportedly secret and flawed trial, Mr. Musaev was found guilty of high treason, disclosure of state secrets, abuse of office and negligence by a Military Court in Tashkent. The verdict indicated that the information he provided was utilized by unfriendly forces to organize the disturbances in Andijan. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared his detention arbitrary in its Opinion No. 14/2008 of 9 May 2008.433 By note verbales dated 27 September 2007 and 25 April 2008, the Government of Uzbekistan had provided the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention with information about the detention and trials of Mr. Erkin Musaev. On 9 March 2007, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the Special Rapporteur on torture sent an urgent appeal summarizing this case and expressing serious concern for Mr Musaev’s physical and mental integrity following his alleged transfer to a different prison.434 On 23 February 2009, the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and the Special Rapporteur on torture sent another urgent appeal to the Government of Uzbekistan. It was reported that, on 26 July 2008, Mr. Musaev had been threatened by two officers from the National Security Service (SNB) that, if he or his family did not withdraw their petitions or continued to make complaints to international human rights mechanisms or to spread news about the above decision, they would face reprisals.435