The UN Working group on arbitrary detention (UN WGAD) has urged the authorities of Uzbekistan to immediately release 69-year-old Kadyr Yusupov with adequate compensation.
Concerned about Yusupov’s continued imprisonment, the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA), the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC), the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland), Freedom Now and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) joined the UN calls.
Former diplomat in Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Kadyr Yusupov has been in prison since December 2018. He suffers from serious heart and mental illness and is being held in the colony No. 4 (Navoi region) in conditions that pose a threat to his health and life.
Kadyr Yusupov was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in January 2020 after the Military court of Uzbekistan found him guilty of high treason under article 157 of the Criminal Code in the trial that didn’t meet international standards of legality. Yusupov declared his innocence. The case was based on self-incrimination during a mental breakdown in December 2018 following a failed suicide attempt in the metro of Tashkent. While in the hospital with a concussion of the brain and really confused, Yusupov confessed to spying for the West.
After his arrest on December 10, 2018, Yusupov was in pre-trial detention for more than a year. All this time, the law enforcement officers subjected him to cruel treatment. Psychological torture was practiced; threats of rape of him and those close to him were used. Yusupov wasn’t allowed to communicate with a lawyer for more than five months. The authorities refused him to take essential medicines needed to treat a long-term mental illness.
On July 5, 2019, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, as well as the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, asked the authorities of Uzbekistan to provide information about the case. They considered it necessary to take measures to end the alleged violations and prevent their recurrence.
“The conclusion of the UN working group that Yusupov has been arbitrarily detained since December 2018 deserves serious attention, and we join its calls for the immediate release of Yusupov. Our fears are aggravated by the fact that the way, he is treated in custody, is alarming and threatens his health and life,” says IPHR Director Brigitte Dufour.
Six human rights organizations outraged the situation in the penitentiary institution. On April 26, 2020, the head of the colony gathered a group of about 80 prisoners, including Yusupov, and asked if they had any complaints. Yusupov replied that the wages of prisoners at the brick factory are insufficient, at less than $ 0.15 per day. He complained that prisoners, wishing to fast for religious reasons, were not allowed to do it.
Then, according to IPHR, the head of the colony shouted and scolded Yusupov, “I am the master of this “zone” [colony], and while I am here, no one will pray or fast. I will break you. I broke others much stronger than you. You will hold your tongue, or I will sew up your mouth.”
Shortly thereafter, the administration of the colony sent Yusupov to a punishment cell, where there were two more prisoners. The next day, he went on a hunger strike. On the third day of torture, Yusupov was transferred to a solitary prison cell measuring 1.5 x 2 meters, which contained a metal chair, a metal bed with a torn lice-infested mattress and an open toilet. During the day, his mattress was taken away so that he couldn’t lie down. There were insects in the cell, including small scorpions and snakes, and the light was too dim to read. Yusupov spent 14 days in these conditions.
Prison authorities alleged that Yusupov was placed in the solitary cell for violating prison rules. They pressured other prisoners to testify against him.
In February 2021, Kadyr Yusupov was again punished for violating prison rules and, therefore, he was again denied transfer to a colony-settlement. This is a common practice with regard to prisoners under investigation by the State Security Service (formerly it was the National Security Service under the leadership of Rustam Inoyatov, the current presidential adviser on control over law enforcement agencies – ed.).
Therefore, the international community’s concerns about unfair trial, torture and cruel treatment have reached their highs.
“If the authorities of Uzbekistan are serious about reform, they must ensure that the absolute prohibition of torture is respected as the priority,” said Geir Hönneland, the Secretary General of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. “They must effectively investigate the statements of Kadyr Yusupov concerning the torture, as well as other cases of torture, and publicize the results.”
Geoffrey Robertson, a UK lawyer, referred the case to WGAD on behalf of Yusupov and his family. He is categorical in his opinion, calling the behavior of law enforcement agencies disgusting, as officers tried to get a confession from a person recovering from a mental disorder. “The judges behaved like legalists, refusing to investigate the torture he was subjected to. According to these conclusions, the Prosecutor General should resign, since he is clearly guilty of non-performance of official duties,” the lawyer assessed the situation.
“After 919 days in prison, my father Kadyr Yusupov finally met justice, but not at home in Uzbekistan, but in Geneva. The UN, having considered the legal arguments of both parties, came to the conclusion that my father was arbitrarily detained and convicted in violation of articles 3, 8, 9, 10, 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 2 (3), 9, 14 of the International Covenant on civil and political rights,” said the convict’s son, Babur Yusupov.
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