Mass beatings in Tashkent pre-trial detention center
In pre-trial detention center No1, otherwise known as Tashturma [Tash prison], mass beatings in cells began. The prisoner Sanjar Islamov told this to his wife during a date. At different times of the day, electricity is selectively turned off and masked people burst into the cells of the so-called “youngsters”. They beat with batons young detainees and prisoners with the aim of breaking them physically and mentally. At this time, all cameras don’t work.
What exactly caused the mass torture is unclear. Communication between prisoners is absent. The most likely version is poor conditions. “In Tashturma, prisoners are now poorly fed, food is often given sour. During the period of abnormal heat, even by Tashkent standards, gastrointestinal diseases became widespread,” Sanjar’s wife Gulbahor Karimbekova told ACCA’s journalist.
Sanjar Islamov himself was helpless for three days due to food poisoning. He and other sick prisoners are not provided with appropriate medical assistance. At high air temperatures, the prisoners are not taken for a walk, and there is no ventilation in the cells. At the same time, the situation with drinking water worsened; it is of very poor quality.
Last year, in January, prisoners and convicts were transferred to the new buildings of Tashturma. Then the Uzbek media reported that “when designing the new pre-trial detention center, climatic conditions, sanitary requirements, safety and other features related to serving the sentence were taken into account. The octagonal shape of the structure, the only one of its kind in the CIS, ensures equal light into the cells”.
Human rights activist Tatyana Dovlatova, on August 25, received reports of torture, called the number of an employee of the Main Directorate for the Execution of Sentences of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In a conversation with an employee, she asked to meet with Sanjar Islamov as a witness of tortures. Later, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Head of the Main Directorate for the Execution of Sentences, Bakhrombek Adilov, called her back. He categorically rejected the allegations, telling the human rights activist that this could not be. “Turning off the lights in pre-trial detention center is very difficult. The food is good, I checked it myself. But, I’ll call you back after verification,” the Deputy Minister promised. He didn’t get in touch anymore, no one demanded any explanation from Sanjar Islamov, there was no official check.
The wife of Sanjar Islamov told ACCA that about 70 statements from her husband to various authorities have been left without consideration for eight months. In the case of Sanjar Islamov, human rights defenders counted eight violations of the law.
Recall that in November 2018, during the interrogation in the pre-trial detention center of Tashkent, businessman Dilshod Abdullaev died. The Prosecutor General said that it was suicide.
