Systematic use of torture continues - UN

Concern over the systematic use torture by the Uzbek government has again been raised by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak. “There is systematic torture and the general conditions in pre-trial detention facilities are worse than prison. There are even reports of electric shocks [administered in detention],” Nowak said from Vienna on Thursday. His comments came on the same day as Amnesty International (AI) published a statement criticising Uzbekistan’s judicial system. “The flawed criminal justice systems in Uzbekistan and Belarus provide fertile ground for judicial error. Executions in Uzbekistan often follow credible allegations of unfair trials, torture and ill-treatment to extract confessions,” the release said. But Tashkent has rejected comments made earlier by Nowak that the country's law enforcement officers and security agents continue to systematically practice torture. The rejection came from interior ministry spokesman Alisher Sharipov, in reaction to statements made by the UN rapporteur in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Uzbek Service earlier this month. Sharipov said Nowak did not have sufficient information to make such statements and had not even visited the country. He pointed out that Uzbekistan had implemented 20 of 22 recommendations made by Nowak's predecessor as special rapporteur, Theo Van Boven, and had also taken into consideration recommendations made by the UN's independent expert on human rights - Latif Huseynov - who visited Uzbekistan in October 2004. Nowak also expressed concern over Germany’s decision not to launch an investigation into Uzbekistan’s former interior minister, Zokirjon Almatov, for alleged crimes against humanity during an uprising in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan last May. Rights groups claim that upwards of 1,000 civilians may have been killed in the violent clampdown on dissent in the city, but the government claims the total number was 187. Almatov was in Germany for medical treatment following Andijan. German law allows prosecution of cases of torture and crimes against humanity regardless of where they were committed and the nationality of the perpetrators and victims. But federal prosecutors have refused to proceed on the basis that the Uzbek government would not cooperate with any investigation given its record of serious human rights abuses. “Germany has ratified the UN Convention Against Torture and is under obligation under the convention to arrest him if there is sufficient evidence – which there is. They should have started criminal investigations… We had enough evidence and Germany could have brought Almatov to justice or extradited him to another country, but they failed,” Nowak added. The European Union (EU) imposed a visa ban on 12 top Uzbek officials it considers responsible for the Andijan crackdown, with Almatov at the top of the list. But Almatov was exempted from the ban in order to undergo life-saving medical treatment in Germany. He reportedly quickly left hospital when the possibility of charges was raised. Human Rights Watch (HRW), a US-based rights organisation, has said it will challenge Berlin’s decision on behalf of eight Uzbeks seeking justice for human rights abuses.