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Uzbekistan: UN Cites Concerns on Torture, Freedoms

Government Needs to Turn Reform Pledges into Action

(Berlin) – A United Nations Human Rights Committee review of Uzbekistan expressed concerns about persistent torture in detention, political prisoners, and limits on basic freedoms, Human Rights Watch said today. It was the…
Consideration of Uzbekistan, 128th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
News

Uzbekistan: Torture Widespread, Routine

UN Expert Body Says Judges Should Query All Defendants if Tortured

(Berlin) – Uzbekistan should carry out the United Nations Committee Against Torture’s recommendations to end the “widespread, routine torture and ill-treatment” in the country, Human Rights Watch said today. The committee’s…
Screenshot from a video showing a photo of a prisoner working at Uzbekistan's Jaslyk prison.
News

Iraq: Appeals Courts Ignoring Torture Claims

Overturning Acquittals in Terrorism Cases

(Beirut) – A close study of appeals court decisions in terrorism-related cases in Iraq shows that judges in close to two dozen cases in an 18-month period appeared to ignore torture allegations or to rely on uncorroborated…
Presidency of the Federal Court of Cassation of Baghdad
News

Iraq: Amputation Apparently Caused by Torture

Investigation, Police Accountability Needed

  (Beirut) – The amputation of a detainee’s arm in early 2019 following apparent torture in a Baghdad police station highlights mounting concerns around ill-treatment in Iraq’s prisons, Human Rights Watch said today. …
A police officer badly injured the detainee’s left arm while torturing him during an interrogation, leading eventually to an amputation following unsuccessful surgeries. © 2018 Private
News

Iraq: French Citizens Allege Torture, Coercion

Countries Should Ensure Their Nationals Can Return Home

  (Beirut) – Two French citizens tried in recent days in Iraq for affiliation with the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) have alleged that they were tortured or coerced to confess, Human Rights Watch said today.…
The entrance to the Karkh branch of Iraq’s Central Criminal Court.
News

Iraq: Torture Persists in Mosul Jail

No Apparent Action Months After Allegations

(Erbil, April 18, 2019) – Iraqi officers have committed torture at a detention facility in Mosul at least through early 2019, months after Human Rights Watch reported on the abuses and shared information about those responsible, Human…
In its August 2018 report on Faisaliya detention facility, Human Rights Watch interviewed Mahmoud who said he was hung in the “bazoona” position at least six times while in detention, for hours. He said that at least four of those times, he lost conscious
News

Iraq: Chilling Accounts of Torture, Deaths

Investigate Abuse During Interrogations in Mosul

(Beirut) – Two former detainees and the father of a man who died in detention have provided details of ill-treatment, torture, and death in facilities run by the Iraqi Interior Ministry in the Mosul area, Human Rights Watch said today…
Mahmoud said he was hung in the “bazoona” position at least six times while in detention, for hours. He said that at least four of those times, he lost consciousness before being taken down. Sometimes officers threw water at him before beating his back wi
News

Iraq: Judges Disregard Torture Allegations

Failure to Investigate, Punish Security Forces Implicated in Abuse

(Beirut) – Iraq’s judges routinely fail to investigate security forces credibly alleged to have tortured terrorism suspects, Human Rights Watch said today. Judges also frequently ignore allegations of torture and convict…
Risafa Central Criminal Court in Baghdad, where Human Rights Watch sat in on 18 felony trials in June and July, 2018.
News

Iraq: Intelligence Agency Admits Holding Hundreds Despite Previous Denials

Ex-Detainee Describes Degrading Conditions

(Beirut) – Iraq’s National Security Service (NSS), an Iraqi intelligence agency reporting to Iraq’s prime minister, has acknowledged for the first time that it is detaining individuals for prolonged periods of time, despite not having a clear mandate to…
A blank NSS arrest warrant provided to Human Rights Watch. © 2018 Private
News

Uzbekistan: Man’s 13-Year Detention Revealed

Reports of Ill-Treatment Show Need for Transparency, Monitoring

(Paris) – Uzbek authorities should immediately and unconditionally release an Afghan citizen whose 13-year imprisonment and alleged torture in custody have only recently become known, the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, International…
A guard in a solitary confinement block at an unidentified prison in Uzbekistan. Prisoners in solitary confinement in Uzbekistan’s prisons experience cramped cells without bedding—some in total darkness, others with permanent bright lights
News

Uzbekistan: Investigate Torture of Journalist

12 Human Rights Groups Call for Journalist’s, Others’ Immediate Release

(Bishkek) – Uzbek authorities should ensure a thorough, impartial, and independent investigation into the alleged torture and other ill-treatment of a detained independent journalist, 12 human rights groups said today. Uzbek authorities should…
Akrom Malikov
News

Middle East Conflicts Spur Disastrous New Trends for Region

(Beirut) – Lawless armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) morphed into disastrous trends for the region in 2017, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its 2018 World Report. “Failed leadership, failed…
Smoke billows behind a building in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on December 3, 2017, during clashes between Houthi rebels and supporters of Yemeni ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. © 2017 Getty Images
News

Iraq: Flawed Prosecution of ISIS Suspects

Undermines Justice for Victims

(Baghdad) – The Iraqi government and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are conducting thousands of trials of Islamic State suspects without a strategy to prioritize the worst abuses under Iraqi and international law, Human Rights…
An ISIS suspect held for questioning by Iraqi forces near Mosul.
News

Uzbekistan: A Year into New Presidency, Cautious Hope for Change

Government Needs to Secure Steps Taken to Support Rights

(Bishkek) – The Uzbek government during President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s first year in office has taken some positive steps to improve the human rights situation, but should now transform them into institutional change and sustainable improvements,…
201710eca_uzbekistan_bekjanovmemoir
News

Uzbekistan: UN Staffer Free After 11 Years

Release All Peaceful Activists

(Bishkek) – Erkin Musaev, a United Nations employee and former government official, tortured and unjustly jailed for 11 years in Uzbekistan, was finally freed on August 11, 2017, according to his family, Human Rights Watch said today. Musaev…
erkin musaev
News

Russia: Journalist Faces Expulsion to Uzbekistan

Risk of Torture, Ill-Treatment

  UPDATE: On August 4, the European Court of Human Rights issued a preliminary injunction ordering Russia not to deport Khodoberdi Nurmatov to Uzbekistan, until the court can review his case.   (Moscow) – An Uzbek…
Ali Feruz at Basmanny district court in Moscow waiting for his hearing in the evening of August 1, 2017.
News

Iraq: New Abuse, Execution Reports of Men Fleeing Mosul

Investigate, Punish Any War Crimes

  (Beirut) – Allegations are emerging of Iraqi forces beating and unlawfully killing men and boys fleeing Mosul in the final phase of the battle against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), Human Rights Watch said today.…
A member of Iraqi security forces stands on the turret of an armoured vehicle along a highway near west of Mosul, Iraq, June 22, 2017.
News

Uzbekistan: Political Prisoner Free After 19 Years

Release All Imprisoned Peaceful Activists

(Bishkek) – Rustam Usmanov, a peaceful political activist imprisoned arbitrarily in Uzbekistan for 19 years and brutally tortured, was finally freed on February 13, 2017, at the end of his prison term, Human Rights Watch said today. Usmanov, 69, a founder…
Rustam Usmanov.
News

Iraq: Sunni Women Tell of ISIS Detention, Torture

Describe Forced Marriage, Rape

(Baghdad) – Fighters from the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) are arbitrarily detaining, ill-treating, torturing, and forcibly marrying Sunni Arab women and girls in areas under their control in Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today. …
A woman fleeing the fighting between the Islamic State and Iraqi Security Forces in Intisar neighbourhood in eastern Mosul on November 7, 2016.
News

Central Asia: Make Improving Rights a Priority

End Torture; Respect Basic Freedoms

(Berlin) – Central Asia's political leaders should focus on urgently needed improvements to basic human rights protections for their populations, as they deal with leadership succession and internal politics, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its…
2016-10-7-eca-kazakhstan-bokaev-protest

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