Watchdog

Ten days after the reported mutiny by members of a Georgian tank battalion at the Mukhrovani military base east of Tbilisi, the number of suspects detained or charged remains unclear, the daily "Rezonansi" says.

Initial reports said that 10 servicemen were detained and a further 50 were being questioned in connection with the incident.

On May 13, police arrested Nugzar Otanadze, whose brother Koba has been identified by the Interior Ministry as one of the masterminds behind the alleged revolt. Nugzar Otanadze was formally charged on May 14 with resisting arrest and remanded on May 15 in pre-trial detention for two months.

Georgia's human rights ombudsman, Sozar Subari, told journalists in Tbilisi on May 13 that five men detained in connection with the insurrection, including Nugzar Otanadze, have been beaten or tortured while in detention. He demanded an official investigation.

The Interior Ministry responded by saying that Nugzar Otanadze's injuries were sustained when he resisted arrest. It declined to comment on the condition of the other four men.

Also on May 13, the Georgian Interior Ministry raised from 50,000 laris ($30,000) to 200,000 laris ($121,000) the reward for information concerning Koba Otanadze's whereabouts.

The leader of a group established by Uzbek refugees to focus attention on the 2005 Andijon massacre has accused Uzbek officials of the systematic use of detention, torture, and killing in an effort to silence witnesses of the bloodshed four years ago.

The leader of the group Andijon -- Justice and Resurrection, Nurillo Maqsudov, told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service that four of his relatives died in Uzbek jails last year. He said their bodies showed clear signs of torture when they were returned for burial.

Maqsudov was speaking in connection with a gathering in Dusseldorf, Germany, on May 13 to honor victims of the crackdown on the fourth anniversary of troops' firing on demonstrators.

Members of Maqsudov's group live in various Western countries, where they fled in the wake of the unrest.

They claim that Uzbek authorities vowed to release all their jailed relatives after the December 2007 presidential election that saw Islam Karimov maintain his longstanding grip on power if they would "keep their mouths shut."

Instead, refugees like Shamsiddin Atamatov, 33, say their relatives have been treated even more harshly.

He and other members of the group say that since Karimov and his government failed to keep their promise to release relatives in exchange of their silence, they now are ready to speak out about what happened in Andijon.

They also expressed their willingness to cooperate with independent international investigators if necessary.

The United Nations, United States, and European Union have all called unsuccessfully for officials in Tashkent to allow an international probe into the incident, in which eyewitnesses and rights group say hundreds of peaceful demonstrators were gunned down in central Andijon, in eastern Uzbekistan.