Watchdog

TASHKENT -- A court in Uzbekistan has sentenced three activists to 15 days in jail and fined four other activists for participating in an unapproved protest in front of the Ukrainian Embassy in Tashkent.

Eight activists, including a prominent Uzbek photographer and her son, were detained on January 29.

Oleg Karpov, the husband of photographer Umida Akhmedova, said on January 30 that his wife, son, and two other activists were ordered to pay fines of between $900 and $1,350.

He said three activists, including a Ukrainian citizen, Artyom Lyudniy, were sentenced to 15 days in jail.

An eighth activist remains in pretrial detention.

The activists protested in front of the Ukrainian Embassy on January 27 against a violent crackdown by Ukrainian authorities on antigovernment and pro-European demonstrators.

With reporting by Lenta.ru, Fergana.ru, and AFP

The New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch has called for an investigation into police beatings and other brutal attacks amid the ongoing unrest in Ukraine.

In a statement on January 24, HRW accused riot police of brutally beating several people, including a 17-year-old, after detaining them on January 20 during a standoff in Kyiv.

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Yulia Gorbunova, HRW's Ukraine researcher, said the treatment of Mikhailo Niskoguz -- who was beaten, stripped naked, and humiliated -- amounted to "torture."

HRW also called for an independent investigation into the abduction of two activists, Ihor Lutsenko and Yuriy Verbytsky.

Lutsenko was later dumped, alive, in a forest after enduring what he described as at least three mock executions.

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Verbytsky's body was found in a forest outside Kyiv and showed signs of torture.

HRW says several factors point to the possibility that the abductors were in collusion with law enforcement and security services.