E/CN.4/2003/68/Add.2 page 60 he has been well treated while in custody. His relatives were reportedly asked to pay a bribe of 200,000 sums in order for him to be released on bail. From the time of arrest, it is reported that his daughter and lawyer have been writing complaints to the General Procurator, but their complaints were sent back to the criminal investigator, who was allegedly responsible for the beatings. Izat Muminov was reportedly working as a private taxi driver when, on 7 October 2002, two armed clients threatened him and refused to pay. It is reported that he went to the Shaikhantaur district police station to complain about this incident. There he was told that he should go to the Sobir Rakhimov police station (ROVD), under which jurisdiction this incident had occurred. There, he was asked to stay at the station in order to recognize his two assailants, who were reportedly arrested the following day. At 1.30 a.m. on 8 October, he is said to have called his wife to inform her that he would come home later that day. On 9 October, his wife, sister and other relatives came to the police station to enquire about his whereabouts. They were reportedly told to wait for five minutes as the case in which Izat Muminov was involved was still under investigation. At that point, an investigator is said to have informed the investigator in the case of Izat Muminov that “his guy was finished”. The latter is said to have become very pale and to have asked the family to leave the police station, which was closed shortly afterwards. Izat Muminov’s relatives are said to have waited for three hours outside the police station waiting for information about his whereabouts. An officer is said to have eventually asked for the relatives of Izat Muminov. The latter’s wife and sister were allegedly asked in a derogatory manner who had made them wear a scarf on their head and to which religious organization they belonged. They were reportedly invited in to give further details. There, Izat Muminov’s wife was reportedly told that her husband was accused of serious crimes. His sister was thrown out of the police station and was insulted. At that time, it is believed that Izat Muminov’s body had been transferred to the morgue where MVD officers are said to have told the forensic expert that the body had been found on the street. According to the information received, two marks (7 centimetres each) were visible on each side of the neck and his Adam’s apple was crushed. The head of the ROVD is believed to have claimed that Izat Muminov had hung himself in the basement of the ROVD. This explanation is said to have been denied by the forensic expert as the marks were not consistent with hanging. In the meantime, at 4 p.m., Izat Muminov’s family was called into the police station to be informed that there would be a house search at their place in view of the serious crimes Izat Muminov was accused of. One of their neighbours is said to have received an anonymous phone call informing him that Izat Muminov had been killed and that his body was at the morgue. The family was said to have been denied access to the morgue by ROVD officers. The following night, officers from the ROVD and from the Tashkent City Department of the MVD are said to have come to their home to ask them to take the body and to bury it within eight hours. The family is reported to have refused to do so. Their telephone line was cut for the next 10 days and their house was under constant surveillance. It is reported that the funeral took place on 10 October. The family is said to have witnessed marks on his ankles as if he had been lifted in the air with handcuffs, a large haematoma on the back of his left leg. All his fingers were said to be dark blue. It is believed that the body was frozen allegedly in an attempt to prevent the bruises from appearing. The rope with which he allegedly hung himself was never produced. The official medical expertise is said to only record the marks on the neck. It is noted that even old injuries suffered at the time he was a serviceman during the Afghan war were not recorded in this forensic report. The family’s lawyer is said to have lodged a complaint with the Procurator-General’s Office regarding the way the forensic examination had been