E/CN.4/2003/68/Add.2 page 53 witnessed security officers beating the alleged victim to death and then throwing his body into a canal. The witness was reportedly beaten and sodomized with a steel stick because of what he had seen. It is also reported that the family of the deceased was threatened by security officers in order to prevent them from lodging complaints. Three SNB officers reportedly admitted later that they had killed him and were subsequently sentenced for murder by the Military Court in Tashkent. Two of them were given 15 years in prison and the third one, 5 years in prison. They are said to be detained in Behabat prison. His father, who is looking after his son’s two children, has reportedly received no compensation and lodged a complaint about six months ago. Eduard Galustian is said to have been arrested by five officers of the Minister of Internal Affairs on 26 November 2001 at the flat of a business woman in Tashkent. There, he was reportedly knocked to the floor and beaten, before being tied to a radiator. The business woman is then said to have accused him of having sold her some 500 counterfeited United States dollars. It is reported that he was asked some US$ 10,000 to be released. Around 8 p.m., Eduard Galustian reportedly called his wife to ask her to find the money before 10 a.m. the following morning. It is reported that he was then taken to the Tashkent City Department of Internal Affairs (GUVD) where he was held in an office with a telephone in order to allow him to be in contact with his wife. As his wife could not get the money on time and as investigators had discovered that he had already been convicted twice in the past, he was allegedly threatened with a harsher prison sentence. It is alleged that he was beaten and asphyxiated with a gas mask in order to make him sign a confession admitting to counterfeiting money. According to the information received, at the time of signing the confession, he was promised that the latter would be destroyed as soon as the money had been received. Around 5 December, he is said to have been transferred to the Tashturma. On several occasions, it is believed that the authorities wanted to take him back to the GUVD. As a result, he is said to have started a hunger strike not to be returned to the GUVD. According to the information received, he sewed a button on his lips and attempted to commit suicide. At the end of December, it is reported that he was convinced by a State-appointed lawyer to be interned in a psychiatric institution in order to have the charges brought against him reduced. It is reported that this was the first time since his arrest that he could see his wife. It is alleged that his face was covered with bruises, that he was constantly coughing and that he complained about a painful kidney. He is reported to have stayed there for a month before being taken back to Tashturma. The court proceedings are said to have started on 27 February 2002 and to have lasted until April. No evidence is said to have been produced in court. It is reported that he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in a severe regime institution. According to the information received, he complained about the treatment he had allegedly been subjected to while being investigated at the GUVD to the judge, but to no avail. An appeal was reportedly lodged with the Tashkent City Court, which is said to have confirmed the sentence. According to the information received, he is currently detained at the Chirchik colony, where his family can visit him for one hour every three months and for 24 hours twice a year. It is reported that he was transferred at the end of December 2002 to Tashturma with a view of being transferred to Karshi colony. He allegedly refused to be transferred to Karshi because he was afraid that he would be ill-treated there. According to the information recently received, although he is a Russian national, he has been forced to sing the Uzbek national anthem. It is alleged that when he refuses, he is beaten. Odir Khashimov was reportedly arrested by plainclothes officers at home on 10 January 2002 in Zangiata district, in Tashkent region. No reason was given. He was later