Jaslyk Prison ( Uzbek : Jaslik, Жаслик , [d͡ʒasˈlək] ) was a detention facility in Karakalpakstan in north-west Uzbekistan where human rights activists and ex-inmates alleged that torture was widespread. Former prisoners include Muzafar Avazov, who was apparently boiled to death .
8-547: The prison, officially known by the codename UYA 64/71, was located in a former Soviet military base once used for testing chemical warfare protection equipment. It was established in 1999. The prison was opened to contain thousands of people arrested following bombings in the capital, Tashkent , and as of 2012 held 5,000–7,000 people according to Human Rights Watch . The prison was shut down by Uzbekistan's president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev , in September 2019. This article about
16-506: A building or structure in Uzbekistan is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 1999 Tashkent bombings The 1999 Tashkent bombings occurred on 16 February when six car bombs exploded in Tashkent , the capital of Uzbekistan . The bombs exploded over the course of an hour and a half, and targeted multiple government buildings. It is possible that five of the explosions were
24-469: A distraction from the sixth, which appeared to be an attempt to assassinate President Islam Karimov . 16 were killed, and over 120 injured. Although the government blamed Islamic rebels – the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) – critics have cast doubt on this assessment. Because of the tight media control in the country, the sequence of events of the attacks is not totally clear. According to
32-591: The United Tajik Opposition (UTO). Others have even suggested that the government itself was responsible, or that competing "clans", whose share of power in the government had recently been cut, were behind the attacks. In particular it has been suggested that the National Security Service , allegedly controlled by the Tashkent clan , was involved. Critics have said that the Karimov regime used
40-525: The attacks, and temporarily closed its border with the country in response. Although the government has blamed the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), an Islamist terrorist organization, for the attacks, critics have doubted this. Some have cast blame on Russia , although others have called this unlikely. Another possibility is that forces in the majority-Muslim Tajikistan government were retaliating for Uzbek support for Tajik opposition groups. Tajik terrorist groups have been suggested as well, especially
48-512: The bombings utilized a mechanical mixture of aluminium powder and ammonia nitrate as the explosive. The terrorists have received instruction in training centers run by Khattab and Basayev in Chechnya. Two hours after the explosion, President Karimov and the heads of the Uzbek security forces declared that Islamic militants were responsible. Many individuals were arrested, with estimates ranging from
56-479: The hundreds to up to 5,000. Human rights groups have criticized the detentions as illegitimate. They have also accused the government of planting evidence and getting confessions through torture. In January 2000, on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan , the government announced the execution of several of the alleged participants in the attacks. The Uzbek government also accused Tajikistan of being complicit in
64-520: The official version of the attacks, four to five men drove a car full of explosives up to the main entrance to the Cabinet of Ministers building a few minutes before Karimov was due to speak there. The attackers left the scene. A separate car explosion and gunfight occurred a few hundred meters away, distracting the guards. The attackers fled the scene. According to the Federal Security Service ,
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