18.01.2005 16:51 msk

Andrei Kudryashov (Tashkent)

Photo ©, Ferghana.Ru

Freedom House mission in Uzbekistan arranged a news conference on January 17 to discuss findings of international expertsand independent human rights activists who had investigated the death of prisoner Samandar Umarov.

Umarov, 35, died in Colony UYa 64/29 (the town of Navoi) on January 2, 2005. Resident of the Shaikhantokhur district ofTashkent, Umarov was tried under several articles of the criminal code (including Article 159 - encroachment on theconstitutional regime) for involvement in the terrorist acts in Tashkent in February 1999. He was sentenced to 17 yearsimprisonment in 2000. Umarov spent between September and November 2004 at hospital and was sent back to the colony whenthe treatment was complete. On January 2, 2005, the Umarovs were informed of his death at hospital in Navoi. Umarov's bodywas returned to the family by the hospital. It was interred the following day.

The Navoi regional prosecutor's office and police ran an investigation and decided that Umarov had died of cerebralhemorrhage. Several human rights organizations meanwhile released statements claiming that Umarov's death was suspicious.His family was quoted as saying that traces of tortures were seen on the body. Human Rights Society Ezgulik announced thatUmarov must have died of inhuman treatment and his family was bullied by law enforcement agencies not to delay with theinterment. Ezgulik and the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Activists (Group) encouraged foreign media andinternational organizations to help uncover the truth.

Freedom House got the consent of the government of Uzbekistan last week. A thorough investigation was run byinternational experts and Uzbek human rights activists invited by Freedom House. Their findings were presented to generalpublic at the news conference on January 17.

Dr. Ronald Victor Suarez, Senior Forensic Expert (Morris County, New Jersey, USA): My participation in the investigationbegan on January 12 when I was given protocols of postmortem examination carried out by Uzbek forensic specialists. I hadfree and unrestricted access to all documents of investigation and medical documents. I could interview everyone who Ithought could shed some light on the matter, the Umarovs included. On January 13, the Umarovs informed Freedom House thatpersonal and religious considerations did not permit them to consent to exhumation and another postmortem examination ofthe body. Consultations were arranged with specialists in different fields to answer two vital questions. Number One: isthe information already available (including findings of the investigation, medical documents, and results of postmortemcarried out by Uzbek forensic experts) sufficient to determine the cause of death without question, in accordance withinternational forensic standards? Number Two: will another postmortem examination provide any new information importantenough to insist on exhumation over the family's protestations? My personal observations convince me that the postmortemexamination carried out by Uzbek specialists answered requirements of international standards. Umarov, 35, had a longhistory of a cardiovascular collapse with complications. I accept the conclusion that death was caused by a spontaneouscerebral hemorrhage, i.e. a stroke because of high blood pressure. Death on January 2 should be chalked off to naturalcauses. Exhumation and another postmortem are unlikely to shed any more light on the cause of the death.

Vakhid Karimov, independent human rights activist and a professional surgeon, agrees with Suarez. Karimov participated inthe investigation too.

Karimov: Umarov's medical history as told by the documents predating imprisonment and other information indicate that thedeath was caused by a stroke and cerebral hemorrhage. It was not a result of a trauma or violence.

Asked by Ferghana.Ru if it is possible to hit a person in the head to cause cerebral hemorrhage without leaving a trace,Karimov replied that he had never heard of it. As for the claims of the family reported by Ezgulik that "the head,abdomen, and other parts of the body were scarred", the surgeon explained that it is the markings left by postmortemexamination that usually horrify the family. Karimov pointed out that he had talked to the Umarovs and they had never saida word about any traces of torture.

Karimov: I was shown photos of the body before postmortem examination. I could see scars on the legs but they were old.NOChPU leader Mikhail Ardzinov addressed foreign journalists and said that even though Umarov convicted under severalarticles of the Criminal Code had drawn too heavy a sentence that cost him his health, he did not fall victim of violence.Ardzinov is convinced that leaders of human rights organization deliberately encourage families of the convicts who die inprison to make groundless complaints. Ardzinov warmed up to the subject and was about to attack Group and Ezgulik leadersSurat Ikramov and Vasila Inoyatova when he discovered that his eternal antagonists were not present. His critical theseswere never aired therefore.

Dr. Drago Kos, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Group of the Council of Europe, also addressed journalists. Kos was deputydirector of the Slovenian Criminal Police before 1999.

"I talked to 15 people including representatives of Uzbek security structures on all levels, the Umarovs, and inmates ofColony UYa 64/29," he said. "I visited the penitentiary to see with my own eyes everything that could be related toUmarov's death on the night on January 2. My conclusion is that Umarov's death was not caused by actions of any thirdparties. I discovered in the days preceding the tragic event no external factors that could pose a threat to his life.There was no malicious intent in the treatment on January 2 morning either in the colony or in the hospital. There was nodereliction of duty involved. I do not see any reasons to instigate criminal proceedings on Umarov's death."

Independent human rights activist Abdusalom Ergashev corroborated Kos' conclusions. Ergashev specializes in defense ofthe people harassed for religious convictions.

Ergashev: I visited the colony in Navoi and saw the cell there. Conversations with inmates persuaded me that inhumantreatment I knew had occurred in UYa 64/29 stopped in approximately late 2003 because of the frequent visits of foreignobservers.

M. Sever, head of the Freedom House mission in Tashkent, praised cooperativeness of the authorities of Uzbekistan indealing with international experts.

This was the second investigation Freedom House ran in Uzbekistan. Viktor Jakovic (former US ambassador to Bosnia), Dr.Michael Pollanen (office of Senior Investigator of Ontario, Canada), and James M. Gannon (division of investigations ofthe attorney's office, Morris County, New Jersey, USA) investigated the death of Andrei Shelkovenko in the detention cellin Gazalkent, Tashkent region, in May 2004. Experts enlisted by Freedom House did not confirm death of torture then.