Information about the use of torture was disseminated by the press service of the Commissioner for Human Rights under the Oliy Majlis [the Senate]. “One employee of law enforcement agencies was detained for torture, 11 were brought to disciplinary responsibility. According to the results of the inspection of the Prosecutor General’s Office, 4 criminal cases were initiated against the torturers in uniform over eight months.”
The figures of the agencies contrast sharply with the information of human rights activist Abdurakhman Tashanov, who claims that the number of tortures in prisons in Uzbekistan has increased significantly. He told this to journalists of Qalampir.uz online media, commenting on the death of a prisoner in one of the colonies of Navoi region. The family of the deceased claimed that he was tortured, beaten and died from severe injuries.
As the head of the registered human rights organization “Ezgulik”, Tashanov aroused the displeasure of Ombudsman Feruza Eshmatova. She accused the human rights activist of disseminating messages aimed at humiliating the dignity of prisoners and disclosing personal information without their permission.
The Ombudsman allegedly received appeals from convicts and their relatives. The Commissioner for Human Rights accuses the activists of using ‘social networks to spread various unfounded news in order to arouse public distrust in the institution of the Ombudsman’.
Tashanov is no longer involved in monitoring in penitentiary institutions. Access there is also closed to independent human rights activists who, based on personal messages, report violations of the rights of prisoners. This is detailed in the ACCA section on Torture.
The ACCA expert notes that ‘Tashanov is a member of the Ombudsman Commission for the Observance of Constitutional Rights and Freedoms. The persecution of the human rights activist discredits the status of Feruza Eshmatova and strongly resembles the persecution of activists from the era of Karimov.’
“For the first time in 2020-2021, the President initiated and implemented a system of torture prevention mechanisms. This task was entrusted to the Commission headed by the Ombudsman. As members of this Commission, we also organized direct monitoring of prisons. While observing the process, we have witnessed that many tortures have been prevented due to increased control. But since the beginning of this year, our paths with the Ombudsman have diverged on this issue. More precisely, we couldn’t [didn’t want to] join their chorus. Therefore, now they don’t allow us to monitor observations,” the leader of Ezgulik said, recalling the saying that an animal with a noose around its neck is not suitable for hunting.
This is the second attack on Tashanov this year. In July, another scandal erupted involving 45-year-old religious preacher Abror Abduazimov (a successful pro-government blogger known under the pseudonym Abror Mukhtar Ali), a popular mentor among radicals on the ‘correct’ beating of women. He became furious after Tashanov’s post on the social network. The latter said that the person, who distributed the recording of Abror Mukhtar Ali’s public speech, is now threatened with criminal prosecution. According to Tashanov, Abror Mukhtar Ali insulted him in a conversation, calling him a ‘LGBT supporter’.
The accusatory testimony of the official-blogger has already helped the Uzbek Themis to convict two bloggers. Abror Abduazimov worked at the Center for Islamic Civilization under the Cabinet of Ministers during the period of denunciations. Now the institution has received a different status, becoming the Scientific and Educational Center with the task of promoting the idea of Third Renaissance – New Uzbekistan.
