The head of the Ezgulik Human Rights Society Abdurakhmon Tashanov spoke about the visit, together with the Ombudsman Feruza Eshmatova, to colony No. 22 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where he met with two former prosecutors general Rashitjon Kadirov and Ikhtiyor Abdullaev (the latter was also the chairman of the State Security Service, DXX).
The visit took place within the framework of the National Preventive Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture under the Oliy Majlis Commissioner for Human Rights. The colony visited by the ombudsman commission is intended for former law enforcement officers. It is designed for 1200 prisoners, and now hosts 273 people.
The colony is virtually no different from other institutions in terms of the facilities. Here, according to the standards established for the colonies, medical, educational, food and production departments are set up. There are amenities for playing sports, the human rights activist said.
The visit to the colony was of particular interest to him, Abdurakhmon Tashanov admitted, since, in addition to the two former prosecutors general, there are also former DXX colonel Javdat Sharifkhodjaev and deputy prosecutor generals Ulugbek Sunnatov and Ulugbek Khurramov.
In a conversation with Abdurahmon Tashanov, Rashitjon Kadirov, who held the post of prosecutor general for three terms, said that in the next month he would be transferred to a colony-settlement. He said that he had no complaints and did not address to the UN structures about torture, his health was all right. “Previously, he had his heart treated in medical facility, now everything is fine,” the ex-prosecutor general told him.
“Currently Rashitjon Kadirov works in a sewing workshop. he is neating dresses, trousers and other products, sewn by his hands from colorful fabrics, are pleasing to the eye ", - he noted.
“I met General Abdullaev in the porcelain shop, where he painted dishes with patterns. Before that, I visited the medical department, where I got acquainted with his medical record,” he said.
According to the documents, Ikhtiyor Abdullaev recently passed tests for COVID-19 twice, the result was negative. He complained of pain in the cervical spine. The index of vision is +1 in one eye and +2.58 in the other. A letter from Abdullayev to the president, published by the BBC Uzbek, spoke of sight problems. He also asked for forgiveness from the president.
The optometrist said that the ex-head of the State Security Service had an operation to replace the lens of the eye in 2017 in Germany, which means that vision problems did not emerge during the investigation or in the colony, the human rights activist noted.
Abdurakhmon Tashanov asked Ikhtiyor Abdullayev if he knew about the appeal of his father and son to the public and the president about the use of torture, a ban on meeting with relatives and being held in isolation. The former prosecutor general, he said, replied: “Everything will be fine. If these words reach the president, he will restore justice. "
The head of "Ezgulik" stressed that both former prosecutors general communicated "with extreme caution." “At least that's how it seemed to me,” he said.
Leaving the shop, Abdurahmon Tashanov met the former colonel of the State Security Service Javdat Sharifkhodzhaev. He said that there were no complaints and left, the human rights activist said.
He also said that the former colonel of the State Security Service Nodir Turakulov (his name appeared in the trial of journalist Bobomurod Abdullayev) was also here until recently, after which he was transferred to life imprisonment in the Jaslyk colony. There is also "his companion" Shukhrat Gulomov, he noted.
“In general, what I saw in the colony satisfied me. For example, there is no courtesy to [former] attorney generals because of their political importance or oversight. There is no separate power supply for them either. As for the majority, so for them,” summed up Abdurakhmon Tashanov, adding that he returned from the colony with“ a strange feeling ”.
Rashitjon Kadirov, who was the prosecutor general from 2000 to 2015, was sentenced in the summer of 2019 to 10 years in prison and a fine of 500 minimum wages. He was found guilty of accepting bribes, soliciting bribes, fraud, tax evasion, interfering with the investigation or resolution of court cases, money laundering and other crimes. Ulugbek Sunnatov and Ulugbek Khurramov were also involved in the same criminal case.
Ikhtiyor Abdullaev, a former state adviser to the president, who replaced Rashitjon Kadirov as Prosecutor General and was appointed head of the State Security Service in early 2018, was sentenced to 19 years in prison in February 2020 on charges of organizing a criminal community, taking bribes, concluding deals contrary to the interests of Uzbekistan. extortion, theft of other people's property and the commission of other crimes.