Fatima Mukadirova (mother of man killed on death row) was released. Her 6 years sentence was reduced to a fine.

24 feb

Mother publicizing son's death by torture in prison -  Under strong international pressure, an Uzbek court on Tuesday ordered the release of a 62-year-old woman convicted of anti-constitutional activity after publicizing her son's death in prison from torture by being boiled alive.

Fatima Mukadirova's sentence was reduced from six years in prison to a 280,000 som (US$283) fine because of her age and gender, Judge Asror Sagatov said in Tashkent City Court.

Mukadirova wasn't present for the hearing, and was to be released from custody later Tuesday. Her lawyer said he wasn't sure if she would still appeal the sentence.

Mukadirova's family and human rights activists said her conviction earlier this month for possessing leaflets from a banned religious group and anti-constitutional activity _ charges typically leveled against Islamic extremists _ was motivated because she spoke out about her son's death.

Her son, Muzafar Avazov, and another prisoner were allegedly beaten and tortured to death by prison officers in 2002 for refusing to abandon their religious convictions and attempting to practice religious rites in a notorious prison housing imprisoned extremists. Avazov's body was found with scald marks, and a report by the U.N. special envoy for torture said an expert found the wounds were consistent with someone being immersed in a tub of boiling water.

Mukadirova had met with numerous journalists and displayed pictures of her son's body, also appealing to authorities to punish those involved.

Authorities claim Avazov died in a prison fight and was scalded when pots of tea were thrown at him. Several prison guards were fired for negligence and the prison terms of the alleged killers were extended.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday, Uzbek Foreign Minister Sadyk Safayev denied Mukadirova's case was motivated because she sought publicity about her son's death and called her an <active> member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a banned extremist group that seeks to create an Islamic state in Central Asia . Still, he had said she would likely go free because of the strong international pressure in the case.

Lazokat Avazova, Mukadirova's daughter-in-law, welcomed the court's decision Tuesday. <We were praying to God and thank God it happened,> she said outside the courtroom.

Western diplomats and human rights activists were also present at the hearing.

The decision comes the same day U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld  is set to arrive in Tashkent to meet with Uzbek President Islam Karimov. 

 Uzbekistan became  Washington's closest ally in the region after the  Sept. 11, 2001 attacks,   offering a key base for the campaign to oust the Taliban from power in   neighboring Afghanistan .   New York-based Human Rights Watch called Tuesday on Rumsfeld to call   attention to  Uzbekistan 's poor record on human rights during his meetings,  and to tell the Uzbeks that such policies will impede greater cooperation between the nations.

The Uzbek government has promoted itself as a partner in the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism,> Tom Malinowski,  Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. <Rumsfeld should tell Karimov that real partners in that fight abide by the rule of law, and give people peaceful avenues for expressing themselves.> 

Data : 24 feb

Jailed Uzbek mother freed before Rumsfeld visit

      By Shamil Baigin

TASHKENT, Feb 24 - An appeals court in   Uzbekistan freed the jailed mother of a Muslim dissident on Tuesday after criticism by human right groups and hours before a visit by U.S.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Fatima Mukadyrova, 62, was sentenced to six years in jail this month for possession of banned Muslim pamphlets police said they had found at the house she shares with 11 other relatives.

Human rights activists said the authorities were trying to silence her after she accused prison authorities of torturing her son to death.

"Taking into account the fact that she is a woman, as well as her old age, the court decided to mitigate the punishment and free her with a fine of 280,000 sums ($280)," Mukadyrova's lawyer Alisher Ergashev told reporters at the court.

"She may be released later today," he said.

Britain's ambassador to Uzbekistan called Mukadyrova's case "simply appalling".

The case had threatened to become an embarrassment for Rumsfeld, due in ex-Soviet  Uzbekistan later on Tuesday.

The authoritarian Central Asian state has become a close military ally of the United States in its "war on terror" in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Ergashev did not comment on the reasons for the abrupt change in his client's sentence.

European diplomats in Uzbekistan have been harshly critical of the country's lack of political freedoms.

Last year Mukadyrova showed diplomats and foreign journalists post-mortem photographs of her son Muzafar Avazov who had been jailed in the Jaslik prison because he refused to subscribe to state-sponsored Islam.

Avazov's teeth were smashed, his body scalded, bruised and cut and his nails removed. Officials at Jaslik said he had died after other inmates threw hot tea at him.

  Rights groups say there are 6,000 religious and political prisoners in Uzbekistan.

24 feb

Liberation pour la mere d'un prisonnier ouzbek mort ebouillante

TACHKENT, 24 fev  - Une sexagenaire ouzbeke, dont le fils est probablement mort apres avoir ete torture et plonge dans l'eau bouillante dans une prison en Ouzbekistan, a vu sa condamnation a la prison remplacee par une amende sur decision d'une cour d'appel mardi.

Fatima Moukhadirova avait ete condamnee le 12 fevrier dernier a six ans de prison pour "extremisme religieux et complot contre l'Etat". Elle avait soutenu que son proces resultait de ses appels a enqueter sur la mort de son fils, Mouzafar Avazov, dans un camp de detention pour prisonniers politiques en 2002.

La cour d'appel de Tachkent a "allege la sentence" de Mme Moukhadirova, en substituant a la peine de prison une amende equivalente a 225 euros, soit vingt fois sa retraite mensuelle, a declare a l'AFP l'avocat de la defense Alicher Ergachev.

Les autorites de l'ancienne republique sovietique avaient lance des poursuites contre Mme Moukhadirova apres avoir pretendument decouvert a son domicile des tracts du Hizbi Tahrir, une organisation islamique radicale qui s'affirme non-violente et qui jouit d'une certaine audience en Ouzbekistan.

Depuis la chute de l'URSS, le gouvernement du president Islam Karimov cherche a reprimer les mouvements islamiques, meme moderes, craignant une destabilisation encouragee depuis l'Afghanistan voisin.

La decision de la cour d'appel coincide avec la visite mardi a Tachkent du secretaire americain a la Defense Donald Rumsfeld, alors que des organisations internationales de defense des droits de l'Homme demandent a l'administration americaine de revoir sa cooperation avec le regime ouzbek.

Le sort d'Avazov et d'un autre prisonnier, Houssnidine Alimov, presume lui aussi mort ebouillante, avait attire l'attention l'an dernier grace a l'ambassadeur britannique a Tachkent, Craig Murray.

  Le diplomate avait commande une expertise menee par un specialiste occidental, qui avait constate que des photographies des deux corps semblaient confirmer effectivement qu'ils avaient ete battus et jetes dans vun liquide bouillant au camp de Jaslyk

IL GIOVANE ERA STATO PERCOSSO E GETTATO IN UN LIQUIDO BOLLENTE

TASHKENT, 24 FEB - Una donna uzbeka, il cui figlio e' deceduto dopo essere stato torturato e immerso in acqua bollente in una prigione e che era stata a sua volta accusata di estremismo religioso e complotto contro lo stato, ha ottenuto oggi dalla corte d' appello la commutazione delle pena detentiva in una multa.

La donna era stata condannata il 12 febbraio scorso a sei anni di prigione e aveva sostenuto di essere stata arrestata a causa dei suoi numerosi inviti a indagare sulla morte del figlio Mouzafar Avazov, in un campo destinato ai prigionieri politici nel 2002.

La corte d'Appello di Tashkent ha sostituito la condanna di primo grado con una multa di 225 euro, equivalenti a venti volte la pensione mensile della donna.

Le autorita' della ex Repubblica Sovietica avevano arrestato la donna sostenendo di aver trovato nella sua abitazione i manifesti del Hizbi Tahrir, una organizzazione islamica radicale che si dichiara non-violenta e che ha un certo seguito nel paese.

La decisione della corte d'Appello coincide con la visita oggi a Tashkent del segretario americano alla difesa Donald Rumsfeld, in un momento in cui le organizzazioni internazionali di difesa dei diritti dell'uomo chiedono all'amministrazione statunitense di riconsiderare la sua cooperazione con il regime uzbeko.

La sorte di Avazov e di un altro prigioniero, ucciso presumibilmente nello stesso modo, era stata l'anno scorso al centro dell' attenzione, dopo che l'ambasciatore britannico a Tashkent aveva chiesto una perizia da parte di uno specialista occidentale il quale aveva affermato che le foto dei cadaveri sembravano confermare che i due giovani erano stati percossi e gettati in un liquido bollente.