To Mr.Claudio Grossman – Chairman of the UN Committee against Torture

Dear Mr.Claudio Grossmann,

On 18 November, 2013, the Uzbek Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) posted information about the death of 36-year-old Tavakkal Khozhiev, an inmate of penitentiary facility # 64/47 located in Navoi province as well as excerpt of his appeal to the authorities of the country written in early September. The appeal provides in detail facts of tortures and violence against prisoners executed by the prison administration. Systematic tortures resulting in fatalities, numerous cases of cruel and inhuman treatments urged the prisoner of the strict regime colony to appeal to the authorities of Uzbekistan.

In 1999, the UN General Assembly declared November 25 the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

This date was chosen in memory of the three Mirabal sisters who lived in the Dominican Republic, who were brutally murdered by the Military Intelligence for their resistance to the dictatorial regime of Rafael Trujillo on November 25, 1960. Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal were members of “June 14 Movement” and actively fought against the dictatorial regime in the country. Death of three sisters triggered mass protests across the country and on May 30, 1961, Trujillo regime was overthrown and the dictator himself was killed.

On November 16, prisoner Tavakkal Hodzhiev, 36 -year-old witness of the Andijan events, was tortured to death in Navoi prison. One month ago in Zarafshan prison, another prisoner, 35-year-old Samariddin Salokhiddinov, convicted on religious grounds, also died due to tortures.

On November 18, the public became aware of the fact that in Navoi colony 64/47 a 36 -year-old prisoner Tavakkal Hodzhiev, who was convicted on charges of involvement in the Andijan events, passed away.

“As for Mutabar Tadjibayeva: You know, when a person has nowhere to go and nobody to apply to, well, it is his or her nature to invent various legends. Tadjibayeva is no exception. When she was serving a sentence in a women’s prison in 2008, she was sick very much, she had cancer, female cancel, well, as they say, it was cancer. She asked for help with tears in her eyes. In such cases, we are obliged to provide [help] and get consent of the convicted or sentenced person to deliver certain medical care. A surgery on the person was successfully performed, for which she expressed appreciation several times, and she was released, as they say, on parole to get further treatment. Later on she started spreading all sorts of necessary-unnecessary talks saying what you want to hear.” (Shodiev’s words are provided unchanged – Jarayon’s note).

To President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach

Dear Mr.Thomas Bach,

Accelerated preparations are taken for XXII Winter Olympic and XI Paralympic Games in Sochi due in 2014. Despite the fact that there are only two months before the start of the games, construction works are taken in a frantic rush. Olympic venues and the adjacent infrastructure are created in a matter of several months, although the work of this scope requires a longer period of time.

In my opinion, Uzbekistan can be likened to a sleepy kingdom, the possibility and real aggregate resources of which will remain unclear to the outside world until it wakes up.

However, given globalization and taking into account many factors, Uzbekistan cannot remain sleepy for a long time. Uzbekistan is rapidly approaching the beginning of political transformations.

Often Uzbekistan is mentioned in connection with violation of human rights, as a difficult and/or inconsistent partner, as a country with complex socio-economic and political issues. But first of all, it seems rational to measure main aggregate resources of Uzbekistan in order to define and understand how Uzbekistan can be useful, or harmful to those with whom Uzbekistan is friendly or hostile.