A/HRC/22/53/Add.4 purpose of extracting testimony, leading to prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators, and to provide full redress to the victims. (b) JUA 17/04/2012 Case No. UZB 4/2012 State reply: None to date Alleged incommunicado detention and possible torture of person targeted for religious beliefs. 157. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Uzbekistan has not responded to this communication dated 17 April 2012, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council. The communication referred to the alleged religious persecution and subsequent incommunicado detention of Mr. X and possible enforced disappearance. The Special Rapporteur stresses the Government‟s obligation to protect the right to physical and mental integrity of all persons. In response to Mr. X‟s unknown whereabouts, the Special Rapporteur reiterates paragraph 8b of Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23, which reminds States that “detention in secret places can facilitate the perpetration of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and can in itself constitute a form of such treatment, and urges all States to respect the safeguards concerning the liberty, security and the dignity of the person and to ensure that secret places of detention and interrogation are abolished.” Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur reminds the Government of article 12 of the Convention against Torture, which requires the competent authorities to undertake a prompt and impartial investigation wherever there are reasonable grounds to believe that torture has been committed, and article 7 of the Convention against Torture, which requires State parties to prosecute suspected perpetrators of torture. Accordingly, and in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Special Rapporteur concludes that the rights of Mr. X, whose whereabouts remain unknown, have been violated under the UN Convention against Torture. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to end the practice of incommunicado detention and unacknowledged detention. He also calls on the Government to undertake a prompt and impartial investigation of possible acts of torture, leading to the prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators, and to ensure Mr. X obtains redress, including fair and adequate compensation, and as full rehabilitation as possible. Further, if Mr. X is to be tried, the Government must ensure that any evidence against him obtained under torture is declared inadmissible. (c) JUA 03/05/2012 Case No. UZB 5/2012 State reply: 19/06/2012 Allegation of mistreatment and continued arbitrary detention. 158. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Uzbekistan for its reply, dated 19 June 2012, to this communication in reference to the alleged arbitrary detention, solitary confinement, and physical ill-treatment of Mr. Erkin Musaev, an Uzbek national and former UNDP employee. In its reply, the Government stated that Mr. Musaev received a medical examination upon entering prison and has received medical care on several occasions. The Government further stated that was sentenced to three periods of “confinement in a punishment cell” for violating prison rules. The Government also reported that Mr. Musaev has not been subjected to torture or ill-treatment by prison staff. While the Special Rapporteur acknowledges the Government‟s reply, he regrets the Government‟s conclusion that there is “no need to carry out any investigations or medical examinations” with regards the aforementioned allegations. In this context, the Special Rapporteur reminds the Government of its obligation protect the right to physical and mental integrity of all persons, as set forth inter alia in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). The Special Rapporteur reiterates that paragraph 1 of Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23 “[c]ondemns all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including through intimidation, which are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever and can thus never be justified, and calls upon all States to 89