E/CN.4/2003/68/Add.2 page 64 finding out that he was wanted by the authorities on charges of “terrorism” and “religious extremism”. In order to ascertain his whereabouts, the police is said to have detained his 58-year-old father Erkin Khudoberganov and his brother Sanzhar several times. At the end of February 1999, both men reportedly had to be hospitalized as a result of ill-treatment by the police. On 21 February 1999, his father was reportedly taken to the basement of the SNB, handcuffed to the heating and kicked by four officers. As a result, he reportedly suffered a heart attack. The police are furthermore said to have threatened his mother that they would take his brother Sanzhar, if she did not tell them where Iskander Khudoberganov was. As a result, she reportedly had a heart attack on 24 February 1999. Sanzhar Khudoberganov was said to have been held at the SNB office in Tashkent for a week, where he was reportedly kicked and beaten in the stomach, including with rubber truncheons, and subsequently required an emergency operation for his injuries. In August 1999, the two men and Iskander Khudoberganov’s pregnant wife Fazilat Khudoberganova were said to have been summoned to the Tashkent city police department, where they were made to watch two of the defendants in the case, Bekzod Kazymbekov and Nosirkhon Khakimov, being tortured by the police. Nosirkhon Khakimov’s body was reportedly covered in blood as a result of serious beatings, and Bekzod Kasimbekov was reportedly placed in a gas mask, with the air supply being restricted, whilst officers were beating him all over his body. The officers are said to have threatened to do the same to Sanzhar Khudoberganov and Fazilat Khudoberganova, if she did not inform them about the whereabouts of her husband and incriminate him. Fazilat Khudoberganova reportedly fainted at the sight of the two men being tortured. The two men were reportedly told that if they did not take the blame, their wives would also be brought in and raped before their eyes. When they refused to confess, Nosirkhon Khakimov was reportedly hit on the head and collapsed. Sanzhar Khudoberganov was reportedly also kept detained for two days and beaten. Nosirkhon Khakimov and Bekzod Kasyombekov were reportedly serving prison terms of eight years each since April 2000 when they were convicted on anti-State charges. Both men had alleged that these charges had been imposed based on a confession extracted under duress. Although these statements had been noted in the official court protocol in the Chirchik City Court in the Tashkent region, no impartial investigation of these allegations was carried out. Nosirkhon Khakimov and Bekzod Kasyombekov’s parents are also said to have been ill-treated. During parts of the trial at Tashkent City Criminal Court at the end of 2002, Iskander Khudoberganov was reportedly drugged or very weak. He was reportedly held in incommunicado detention throughout most of the trial, and was denied all medical treatment, including for tuberculosis. His sister, who had asked to represent him, was allegedly denied access to him during parts of the trial. The lay judges in the case were said to have been totally disinterested, partly slept through the trial, and once remarked that the case was clear and that the defendants were guilty. It is alleged that the General Procurator claims that he had never received any complaint regarding this case. However, the Special Rapporteur was provided with several letters addressed to him by relatives of Iskander Khudoberganov. Hearings on appeal at the Tashkent City Court were scheduled at the end of January. Finally, it is reported that Iskandar Khudoberganov’s sister received a letter from the Ombudsman indicating that there is no basis for the Ombudsman to intervene. -----