Torture Common in Uzbekistan’s Prisons, U.N. Envoy Reports

A U.N. envoy wrapped up a two-week inspection of Uzbekistan’s prisons Friday by saying he found widespread signs of torture, even though he was denied full access to two of the country’s most notorious jails.

“Torture, as far as I can see, it is my impression, is not just incidental but ... is systemic,” Theo van Boven told a news briefing. There was no immediate reaction from President Islam Karimov’s government.

Van Boven, who was allowed to visit Uzbekistan only after intense Western pressure, was denied access to the jail at the National Security Service, the country’s intelligence agency, and was given only two hours for his visit to remote Zhaslyk prison in northwestern Uzbekistan -- far shorter than the six he had requested.

Nevertheless, he visited six facilities and interviewed dozens of torture victims, members of their families and other relatives. He said the forms of torture used by authorities included beatings, electric shocks, immersion of the victim’s head in water and suffocation with plastic bags.

Van Boven said he found that families and relatives of those arrested often were threatened with torture and rape.