Muzafar Avazov
Encyclopedia
Muzafar Avazov,a 35-year-old father of four, was a Uzbekistan
torture
victim executed in 2002.
Human Rights Watch
recorded his death as "suspicious" with evidence of torture, citing Uzbekistan's repression of independent Muslims. Individuals who had seen the body told Human Rights Watch that it showed clear signs of torture. Avazov, a political dissident affiliated with Hizb-ut-Tahrir, was imprisoned at Jaslyk Prison
, said by the same organization to be "well known for its harsh conditions and ill-treatment and torture of religious prisoners."
Medical examiners found severe burns on Avazov's legs, buttocks, lower back and arms, covering 60–70% of his body, which they believed to be the result of immersion in boiling water
. Eyewitnesses also report a "large, bloody wound on the back of the head, heavy bruising on the forehead and side of the neck, and that his hands had no fingernails
."
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
victim executed in 2002.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
recorded his death as "suspicious" with evidence of torture, citing Uzbekistan's repression of independent Muslims. Individuals who had seen the body told Human Rights Watch that it showed clear signs of torture. Avazov, a political dissident affiliated with Hizb-ut-Tahrir, was imprisoned at Jaslyk Prison
Jaslyk Prison
Jaslyk Prison is a notorious detention facility in Karakalpakstan in north-west Uzbekistan where human rights activists and ex-inmates allege that torture is widespread...
, said by the same organization to be "well known for its harsh conditions and ill-treatment and torture of religious prisoners."
Medical examiners found severe burns on Avazov's legs, buttocks, lower back and arms, covering 60–70% of his body, which they believed to be the result of immersion in boiling water
Boiling to death
Death by boiling is a method of execution in which a person is killed by being immersed in a boiling liquid such as water or oil. While not as common as other methods of execution, boiling to death has been used in many parts of Europe and Asia...
. Eyewitnesses also report a "large, bloody wound on the back of the head, heavy bruising on the forehead and side of the neck, and that his hands had no fingernails
Denailing
Denailing—the forcible extraction of the fingernails or toenails—was a favorite method of medieval torture that retains its popularity in the 21st century...
."
See also
- Uses of torture in recent timesUses of torture in recent timesTorture, the infliction of severe physical or psychological pain upon an individual to extract information or a confession, or as an illicit extrajudicial punishment, is prohibited by international law and is illegal in most countries. However, it is still used by many governments...
- Craig MurrayCraig MurrayCraig John Murray is a British political activist, former ambassador to Uzbekistan and former Rector of the University of Dundee....
- Islam Karimov