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Rights Group Claims Russians Arrested, Tortured Uzbeks


Andijon after the Uzbek government's crackdown 15 July 2005 -- A Russian human rights group today accused authorities in Russia of arresting and torturing 14 people of Uzbek origin following a request by Uzbek officials related to violence in eastern Uzbekistan in mid-May.

According to Memorial, 12 Uzbek nationals, a Russian, and a Kyrgyz were detained in Ivanovo, northeast of Moscow, in June.

According to the nongovernmental rights group, the 14 were beaten and given electric shocks in the presence of Uzbek interrogators for their suspected involvement in violence in the Uzbek eastern city of Andijon.

On 13 May, Uzbek troops opened fire on the protesters. The government says 187 people were killed, half of them armed militants. Human rights groups have claimed that as many as 750-1,000 people died.

(AFP)

See also "Is Russia Helping Tashkent Clean Up After Andijon?"



[For more on the protests and bloodshed in Uzbekistan, see RFE/RL's dedicated Unrest In Uzbekistan archive.]

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