E/CN.4/2003/68/Add.2 page 61 carried out. The conclusion of this expert opinion is death from suffocation. His sister is said to have asked the forensic expert whether the conclusion meant that he had hung himself or that somebody else had strangled him. It is believed that the expert responded that it was impossible to determine the real cause. The same expert is alleged to have insulted the family when they asked for the body to be exhumed with a view to making a new examination. It is reported that an inquiry into this death in custody has been opened. Azamat Mamankulov, an 18-year-old journalist gathering information on human rights violations in Tashkent and Ruslan Sharipov, another journalist, were reportedly sitting in an Internet café in Aleishi Market in Tashkent on the evening of 21 October 2002 when Azamat Mamankulov was called by someone. Two people reportedly grabbed him (one of whom reportedly lived in his house), twisted his arms to his back and hit him on the head. Ruslan Sharipov was said to have been stopped from leaving the café and told that “his time would come and that he would be spitting blood”. During the arrest, they reportedly told onlookers that they were from the 7th District SNB office in Uzbekistan. In the car, Azamat Mamankulov was elbowed in the chest and hit on the head. According to the information received, he was told that if he continued to work with Ruslan Sharipov, he would be placed in prison or disappear. He was then brought to a marketplace where his mother worked. His mother was then told that her son should not work with Ruslan Sharipov and that they could detain him at the SNB. His mother allegedly told the officers that she would kill herself if they took her son. The officials reportedly pretended that they would take him to the SNB, but subsequently brought him home, warning that Ruslan Sharipov would be arrested in a number of days. The car used by the men is said to belong to the driver of the Minister of Justice. The Minister of Justice was reportedly requested to investigate this incident but no response was reportedly given. Kulmuradov Musurmon was driving his mother to Tashkent city hospital in his own car in order for her to have her eyes examined there on 10 November 2002 when he was arrested at Darband checkpoint by traffic police officers. It is believed that he was suspected of having stolen the car. In order to check his identity card, he was reportedly requested to follow an officer into an office nearby. A while later, the passengers of the car were asked to follow three officers wearing military uniforms. All were reportedly taken to the Sherabad District National Security Service (SNB) office, where Kulmuradov Musurmon had his hands and feet allegedly tied by two military officers wearing masks before being made to sit on a table. There, he was reportedly accused of drug trafficking. It was alleged that he had swallowed bags containing heroin. According to the information, officers started to beat him severely in front of his mother and other family members who were travelling with him. When his mother complained about the treatment her son was allegedly subjected to, she was reportedly cursed and called “an old fox” as well as threatened that she would be put on the same table if she did not shut up. It is said that the volume of the television set and a radio in that room was raised and that Kulmuradov Musurmon continued to be beaten up. At that point, it is reported that his wife and daughters were taken into an office next door. He is said to have refused to sign a confession as he was not guilty. An officer is reported to have brought three bottles of vodka and lots of samsa (baked meat pie) into the room. After having some vodka and samsa, officers allegedly started beating Kulmuradov Musurmon again. It is alleged that he was hit on the head and body with a wire rope and a metal pipe for several times in front of his mother. As he continued to refuse signing a confession, his legs were allegedly pierced with a screwdriver and various parts of his