Aidzhon Musayev, the father of former Uzbekistan Defense Ministry employee Erkin Musayev, applied to “Fiery Hearts Club” International Human Rights Organization with a complaint asserting that in fact UN decisions made regarding his son’s case do not work.

“There are two UN decisions made regarding the case of my son. These decisions of the Working Group of the UN Committee on Human Rights were made in May 2008 and March 2012. The local authorities still ignore these two documents. On the basis of these UN resolutions, we appealed to the Presidential Administration, the Prosecutor General, the Supreme Court and other relevant authorities of Uzbekistan to reconsider my son’s case and bring a fair verdict. However, unfortunately there is nothing substantial in the responses we received from these bodies,” Aidzhon Musayev told “Jarayon”.

Since 1993, Colonel Erkin Musaev worked in a senior position in the Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan. In 2004, he retired and began working for the UN Tashkent office as the BOMCA manager – the joint UNDP and European Union Border Management Programme in Central Asia.

Aidzhon Musayev says that his son Erkin Musayev was arrested at Tashkent airport on January 31, 2006, when he was going to Kyrgyzstan to attend a regional conference.

According to Uzbek investigators, while checking Erkin Musayev’s suitcase, they found a CD with secret materials for the U.S. Defense Department.

On June 13, 2006, the Military Court of Uzbekistan found Erkin Musayev guilty under Article 157 (planning or preparation of an aggressive war as well as participation in a conspiracy to carry out such actions), Article 301 (excess of authority, abuse or omission of power), Article 162 (divulging of state secrets) and Article 302 (military service negligence) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan, and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

Then the Uzbekistan pro-government press reported that the country’s defense ministry official Erkin Musayev sold military secrets of Uzbekistan and Russia to the U.S. Defense Department and the Pentagon. Erkin Musayev denied all charges against him. His father Aidzhon Musayev says that his son gave all the confessions under torture.

According to the UN Working Group in Geneva, many evidences of Erkin Musayev’s case were fabricated in the remand prison, and his constitutional and procedural rights were grossly violated.

On March 21, 2012, the UN made a resolution that Erkin Musayev’s trial was unfair, and his case must be reconsidered in the court. Also experts from this authoritative body asked the authorities to thoroughly scrutinize cases of brutal torture applied against Erkin Musayev during investigative activities.

“It has been more than two years since these decisions were made, but no positive changes have happened. Currently, there is useless correspondence between Uzbekistan and the United Nations. The Uzbek side expressed its dissatisfaction with UN resolutions and sends the UN all sorts of letters and statements with only slander and fabrication. In turn, the UN Committee on Human Rights rather acts as a postman instead of demanding that Uzbekistan execute its decisions.

Perhaps this is a procedure, but it is only a delay. UN must show its seriousness in order to have its decisions executed. We applied to the United Nations not for nothing, putting our lives in danger, right? Perhaps the UN takes some actions in regard to my son’s case, because we receive information that his case has been reviewed at some sessions and meetings. However, the main thing is that there are not any positive changes in his case,” said Aidzhon Musayev, who keeps visiting various instances for the past eight years to protect the rights of his son Erkin Musayev.

According to Aidzhon Musayev, after his family appealed to the UN for legal assistance, the Uzbek authorities have begun putting pressure on them.

“However, the biggest pressure is put on Erkin. So, sometimes we are afraid to even take any extra steps. The situation in the prison is very bad. Prisoners are not treated as human beings, they are cruelly treated there. For instance, due to the overcrowded prison, Erkin was given only one mattress to sleep on. It turns out that during bitter frost, those mattresses are taken out; so Erkin warms his mattress with his body for two or three hours before sleeping. Once, when we were visiting him in the prison, we had to sleep on those mattresses, but we couldn’t tolerate the dampness, so we couldn’t sleep all night long. Particularly Erkin is badly treated in the prison. I believe that this is done on purpose,” said Aidzhon Musayev.

He added that often his son Erkin Musaev is put into solitary confinement, and prison officials impose different penalties against him for nothing.

“I couldn’t tolerate these, and applied to all the bodies saying that Sergeant Erkin Nabiyev puts pressure on my son, beats and intimidates him, and takes his money. After that, a quick check was conducted in the prison, and I received an empty bureaucratic letter. However, my letters angered the prison staff, and they started taking revenge on my son,” said Aidzhon Musayev.

According to Aidzhon Musayev, at present his son’s health status is very alarming.

“As for his health, he needs serious medical examination. In the prison, if he has pain, the doctor gives him either an aspirin or drives him away. Because of the dampness in the prison, my son’s legs started aching; sometimes it is very difficult for him to walk. He suffers blood pressure, headaches, and pain in the stomach. He often asks for sedatives or pain killers,” anxiously said Aidzhon Musayev.

Erkin Musayev, who used to work in the Uzbek representative of NATO, is currently serving sentences in the prison in Bekabad.

It should be noted that in response to the UN decisions, the Uzbekistan Government stated that the trial of Erkin Musayev was fair, and not any tortures and inhuman treatment were applied during the investigation.

Reputable human rights organizations have put Erkin Musayev onto the list of political prisoners serving prison terms in Uzbekistan.

In late 2013, on the eve of the 21st anniversary of the Constitution of Uzbekistan, International human rights organization “Human Rights Watch” called the authorities of the country to grant amnesty to political prisoners and stop the practice of tortures. However, the Uzbek authorities still ignore such appeals of influential international human rights organizations.

Gulnora RAVSHAN