Uzbek Prison Amnesty Less Than it Seems

NBCentralAsia observers suspect the Uzbek authorities’ announcement of a prison amnesty is an attempt to curry favour with the West. In reality, few prisoners are likely to benefit.



On November 30, the upper house of the Oli Majlis or parliament signed off on a proposal by President Islam Karimov to amnesty certain categories of prisoner to mark the 14th anniversary of Uzbekistan’s constitution, December 8.



The amnesty covers women, minors, the elderly and foreign nationals who are first-time offenders and were convicted of lesser offences. It does not include categories such as “especially dangerous recidivists”, anyone convicted of being part of an outlawed organisation, or anyone deemed to represent a threat to national security.



NBCentralAsia observers conclude that only a limited number of convicts will benefit since most - including political prisoners - receive very long sentences, and will not be eligible.



“An amnesty in Uzbekistan is not an amnesty in a proper sense of the word,” said one commentator, who has previously been held in an Uzbek prison. “Convicts are given excessively lengthy sentences, and many are in there either through [judicial] error or because they were framed.”



Other commentators think that the wealthier convicts will simply be able to bribe their way out of jail through the amnesty, or that only prisoners who have been “broken” by the secret services will be considered for release.



The London-based International Centre for Prison Studies estimates there are 184 prisoners per 100,000 people in Uzbekistan, or a total prison population of 50,000.



Some NBCentralAsia analysts dismiss that amnesty as a political tactic designed to rebuild confidence in Uzbekistan in the West, where groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly accused the government of persecuting activists, human rights defenders and journalists for political reasons, and of using torture in prisons.



“This move is only a performance for the benefit of the West, since Uzbekistan is interested in resuming political and economic ties with the West,” said one of NBCentralAsia’s Uzbekistan-watchers.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)