Uzbek authorities sent their remarksin regard to the case of convicted military man Sanzhar Ismailov to the UN Committee on Human Rights,and stated that he was convicted fairly.

Natalia Bondar, Sanzhar Ismailov’sspouse, told “Jarayon” that recently her husband, sentenced to long prison terms on charges of espionage, was isolated in solitary confinement.

“My husband was put into solitary confinement “for a reason”. He took someone’s phone to call home, and someone reported about that, and the telephone was found during a search. He said that the phone was his not to set up his fellow, and was punished by isolation in solitary confinement for one month”, said Natalia Bondar.

First time “Jarayon”reported about the situation of 44-year-old Uzbek military man Sanzhar Ismailov at the end of May 2014after his wife Natalia Bondar appealed to Mutabar Tadjibayeva, the head of Fiery Hearts Club International Human Rights Organization,asking for legal protection of her husband. Sanzhar Ismailovwas convicted on charges of spying for another country after the tragic Andizhan 2005events (see more at http://jarayon.com/en/index.php/human-rights/item/248-sanzhar-ismailov%E2%80%99s-case).

Sanzhar Ismailov was found guilty of committing crimes under article 157 (High treason) and Article 248 (Illegal possession of ammunition) of the Uzbekistan Criminal Code.On January 26, 2006 he was convicted to 20 years of imprisonment according to verdict of the Military Court of Uzbekistan. Later, his sentence was reduced to 15 years. According to the investigation, Ismailov passed state secrets, in particular military secrets, to a representative of the Russian Embassy in Uzbekistan.

However, Sanzhar Ismailov’s family members and human rights activists assert that the Uzbek military was sentencedillegally. According to them, all the charges against him were based only on the denunciation of some interested colleagues of his as well as on the testimony of the defendant, which was obtained through application of psychological and physical pressure and threats against his family members.

Currently Sanzhar Ismailov is serving his prison sentence in colony № 64/21 in the town of Bekabad, Tashkent province.

According to his mother and wife, Natalia Bondar, they visited dozens of government bodies in Uzbekistan for the last eight years in search of justice. But not having had any positive response from the Uzbek authorities, Natalia Bondar appealed on behalf of her husband with an individual petition to the UN Committee on Human Rights; her complaint was registered and approved for consideration by the Committee on 12 March 2008.

The Committee made a decision in April 2011, and admitted that the Uzbek government violated Sanzhar Ismailov’s rights. The Committee also addressed the Uzbek authorities a number of specific recommendations for restoration of justice in the case of Sanzhar Ismailov, including urgent review of his case and his release.

Meanwhile, recently the Uzbekistan Government sent its written comment to the UN Committee on Human Rightsin response to the appeal of Sanzhar Ismailov’s wifeNatalia Bondar submitted to the Committee at the beginning of February 2014.

In particular, the Uzbek authorities wrote in the comment that Sanzhar Ismailov’s wife Natalia Bondar intentionally provides biased assessment of the correspondence between the applicant and the State party of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (meaning Uzbekistan – Jarayon’s note) in regard to Sanzhar Ismailov’s case.

“N.Bondar again, without giving any specific reasoned arguments about the unfounded conviction of her husband, does not take into account the objective and proven facts of the crimes committed by her husband S.Ismailov – high treason, illegal possession of ammunition and abuse of power,” says the remark of the Uzbek side.

This remark of the Uzbek authorities said that the military court ruled a correct verdict against Sanzhar Ismailov, and therefore there are no grounds to review his case.

“The investigation found out that Interim Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Uzbekistan Sanzhar Ismailov passed intelligence data obtained during radio intercept communications sessions between military units in Afghanistan to a representative of the Russian side. The information was passed on a floppy information carrierin the period from March to August 2003without obtaining authorization in the established order from the competent authorities of Uzbekistan to Colonel “Ivanov”,a military attaché of the Russian Embassy in Tashkentnot identified by the investigation.

The remark of the Uzbek authorities said that according to the statement of the operational headquarters of the Armed Forces of Uzbekistan dated June 23, 2005, the information passed by Sanzhar Ismailov to employees of the Russian Embassy in Uzbekistan contains confidential information that constitutes a military secret.

The written comment of the Uzbek authorities made for the UN Committee on Human Rights also states that Sanzhar Ismailov’s wife Natalia Bondar interacted with the lawyers provided by the government from the very beginning, that the investigative actions involving S.Ismailov were conducted in the presence of the lawyers, therefore the authorities did not permit any violations of his rights and legitimate interests.

“Moreover, on 4, 18 and 22 July 2005 S.Ismailov voluntarily submitted an application of frank confession of guilt. On the basis of these statements, S.Ismailov was questioned with the participation of the lawyers as a defendant. The protocols made during S.Ismailov’s interrogations reflected that he testified voluntarily, there were no measures of physical and psychological impact applied on him,” wrote the Uzbek authorities in their comments in response to Natalia Bondar, the spouse of Uzbek military man Sanzhar Ismailov, addressed to the UN Committee on Human Rights.

Commenting on the current situation of Sanzhar Ismailov, Mutabar Tadjibayeva, the head of “Fiery Hearts Club” International Human Rights Organization,says that the only reason that Ismailov was “punished” by the Uzbek authorities and thrown into solitary confinement is the position of his wife Natalia Bondar, who continues to fight for the rights of her spouse and tells international human rights organizations on the current offense against Sanzhar Ismailov in prison.

“Often prison administrations in Uzbekistan make fraudulent statements on prisoners for alleged violations of the established prison procedures. This group of prisoners includes people convicted for political and religious reasons, and those who do not stop writing complaints to various authorities defending their rights.

“To registerstatements against such prisoners, prison authorities use services of prisoners,‘snitches’, who later play the role of either victims or witnesses.

“After making such a fabricated document,corrective penalties are applied against the prisoner according to Article 105 of the Criminal Executive Code of Uzbekistan. According to article 111 of the Criminal Executive Code, “storage, distribution, consumption and use of things and items prohibited by the internal regulationsare flagrant violation of the prison punishment.”

“The list includes such forbidden things, for instance, as scissors, knives… There are many cases, when ‘snitches’in prisonspurposefully plant such prohibited items on prisoners using their personal belongings – bags, pillows or mattresses.

“In general, such falsified documents are composed a few days before the announcement of the amnesty in the country following instructions from the above against certain prisoners whose names are on special lists. Prison administration registers lots of such violations within 2-3 days for special prisoners. Sometimes it takes them one day to register several violations against an “objectionable prisoner”. In prison slang, this is called ‘terror’.When several violations are registered, a prisoner becomes a “malicious offender”.

“According to article 107 of the Criminal Executive Code of Uzbekistan, “the convicted has the right to appeal the disciplinary action to a superior officer, prosecutor or the court at his/her discretion. Filing the appeal does not suspend the execution of the disciplinary sanction. A superior officer, prosecutor or the court has the right to cancel or mitigate the disciplinary sanction”. But in fact, this article is aimed at protecting the prisoner’s rights does not function in the realities of Uzbekistan.

“Until today, neither a single prisoner nor his/her lawyer or family members have had a possibility to familiarize with decisions and documents about disciplinary sanctions to ensure their legality. Even if the prisoner requires a counsel when disciplinary sanctions against him/her are processed, the prison administration do not provide him/her with a counsel. Subsequently, later on a lawyer is not given an opportunity to review these documents to appeal against them.

“As a result of such penalties, the prisoner is thrown into solitary confinement, a punishment cell, torturesare applied to him/her, depriving him/her of the right to amnesty, the right to replace the outstanding part of the punishment with a milder form of punishment, the right to conditional release. Subsequently,new criminal cases are filed against “malicious offenders”.

“Representatives of the special prosecutor’s office to oversee compliance with the laws in penal institutions never conduct inspections in order to verify the legality of disciplinary rules violation documents registered by the prison administration against prisoners,” said Tadjibayeva.

According to Tadjibayeva, the Uzbek authoritiespurposely registered a violation against military man Sanzhar Ismailov in order to break the spirit of his family members, who do not stop fighting for his rights and in order to subsequently extend his jail term.

Earlier, we reported about another Uzbek military man Erkin Musaev, who like Sanzhar Ismailov was convicted by the Uzbek court for spying for another country after the Andizhan events.

The relatives and human rights groups assert that Musaev denied all charges against him, and said that he gave all the confessions under torture.

In 2012, the UN ruled that the trial against Erkin Musaev was unfair and stated about the need to re-review his case in the court. Also the experts of this authoritative body asked the Uzbek authorities to thoroughly examine cases of brutal torturesinflicted on Erkin Musaev during the investigative activities.

However, the Uzbek authorities continue to insist that Erkin Musaev is guiltyand putpressure on his family members in order to silence them and have them stop fighting for his rights.

Jarayon will continue to monitor the fates of convicted military men Sanzhar Ismailov and Erkin Musaev.

The full text of the written comments of the authorities of Uzbekistan addressed to the UN Committee on Human Rightsis available here.

Mubina SAFAROVA