Bottle rape and other delights.........

[Philandrea]

Former UK Ambassador: CIA Sent People to be ‘Raped with Broken Bottles’

By Daniel Tencer

November 05, 2009 "Raw Story" -- November 04, 2009 --- The CIA relied on intelligence based on torture in prisons in Uzbekistan, a place where widespread torture practices include raping suspects with broken bottles and boiling them alive, [see next post.......phil] says a former British ambassador to the central Asian country.

Craig Murray, the rector of the University of Dundee in Scotland and until 2004 the UK's ambassador to Uzbekistan, said the CIA not only relied on confessions gleaned through extreme torture, it sent terror war suspects to Uzbekistan as part of its extraordinary rendition program.

"I'm talking of people being raped with broken bottles," he said at a lecture late last month that was re-broadcast by the Real News Network. "I'm talking of people having their children tortured in front of them until they sign a confession. I'm talking of people being boiled alive. And the intelligence from these torture sessions was being received by the CIA, and was being passed on."

Human rights groups have long been raising the alarm about the legal system in Uzbekistan. In 2007, Human Rights Watch declared that torture is "endemic" to the country's justice system.

Murray said he only realized after his stint as ambassador that the CIA was sending people to be tortured in Uzbekistan, country he describes as a "totalitarian" state that has never moved on from its communist era, when it was a part of the Soviet Union.

Suspects in Uzbekistan's gulags "were being told to confess to membership in Al Qaeda. They were told to confess they'd been in training camps in Afghanistan. They were told to confess they had met Osama bin Laden in person. And the CIA intelligence constantly echoed these themes."

"I was absolutely stunned -- it changed my whole world view in an instant -- to be told that London knew [the intelligence] coming from torture, that it was not illegal because our legal advisers had decided that under the United Nations convention against torture, it is not illegal to obtain or use intelligence gained from torture as long as we didn't do the torture ourselves," Murray said.

IT'S THE PIPELINE, STUPID

Murray asserts that the primary motivation for US and British military involvement in central Asia has to do with large natural gas deposits in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. As evidence, he points to the plans to build a natural gas pipeline through Afghanistan that would allow Western oil companies to avoid Russia and Iran when transporting natural gas out of the region.

Murray alleged that in the late 1990s the Uzbek ambassador to the US met with then-Texas Governor George W. Bush to discuss a pipeline for the region, and out of that meeting came agreements that would see Texas-based Enron gain the rights to Uzbekistan's natural gas deposits, while oil company Unocal worked on developing the Trans-Afghanistan pipeline.

"The consultant who was organizing this for Unocal was a certain Mr. Karzai, who is now president of Afghanistan," Murray noted.

Murray said part of the motive in hyping up the threat of Islamic terrorism in Uzbekistan through forced confessions was to ensure the country remained on-side in the war on terror, so that the pipeline could be built.

"There are designs of this pipeline, and if you look at the deployment of US forces in Afghanistan, as against other NATO country forces in Afghanistan, you'll see that undoubtedly the US forces are positioned to guard the pipeline route. It's what it's about. It's about money, it's about oil, it's not about democracy."

The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline is slated to be completed in 2014, with $7.6 billion in funding from the Asian Development Bank.

Murray was dismissed from his position as ambassador in 2004, following his first public allegations that the British government relied on torture in Uzbekistan for intelligence.

[Philandrea]

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH:

Deaths Reveal "Horror" of Uzbek Prisons

(New York, August 10, 2002) Two suspicious deaths with apparent signs of torture highlight Uzbekistan's brutal ongoing crackdown against independent Muslims, Human Rights Watch said today. The bodies of Muzafar Avazov and Husnidin Alimov, both religious prisoners at Jaslyk Prison, were returned to family members for burial in Tashkent Thursday.

Individuals who had seen one of the bodies told Human Rights Watch that it showed clear signs of torture. The authorities reportedly restricted viewing of the second body. Both men had been imprisoned at Jaslyk Prison, well-known for its harsh conditions and ill-treatment and torture of religious prisoners.

Human Rights Watch has learned that the body of Muzafar Avazov, a 35-year old father of four, showed signs of burns on the legs, buttocks, lower back and arms. Sixty to seventy percent of the body was burnt, according to official sources. Doctors who saw the body reported that such burns could only have been caused by immersing Avazov in boiling water. Those who saw the body also reported that there was a large, bloody wound on the back of the head, heavy bruising on the forehead and side of the neck, and that his hands had no fingernails.




"These deaths reveal the horror of Uzbek prisons," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia Division. "It seems the small signs of progress on torture we had seen were mere window-dressing, intended to hide Uzbekistan's persistent problem and placate international critics."

These latest incidents of serious human rights violations could complicate Uzbekistan's relations with the United States. The United States has allied itself closely with Uzbekistan in the war against terrorism, but U.S. government officials have expressed concern that Uzbekistan's harsh treatment of independent Muslims could be counterproductive to the anti-terror effort. The U.S. government recently adopted a law requiring that before delivering aid to the Uzbek government, the Bush administration must determine that Uzbekistan is making "substantial and continuing progress" in meeting the human rights commitments contained in a U.S.-Uzbekistan March 2002 joint declaration.

Uzbek authorities, including numerous police officers, brought the body of Muzafar Avazov, to the family home at about 3:30 p.m. on August 8. Police cars surrounded the area and checked visitors who approached the house, preventing some from entering. When the burial occurred at 6:00 p.m. that evening, police closed the road to traffic. Authorities from the office of General Prosecutor Rashidjon Kodirov reportedly threatened the family not to talk to the media or give interviews to others about the circumstances surrounding Avazov's death. In May 2002, Human Rights Watch received reports that prison authorities had beaten Muzafar Avazov and put him in a punishment cell for stating that nothing could stop him from performing his prayers.

The authorities also returned the body of 34-year old Husnidin Alimov to his family in Tashkent on August 8, but they reportedly restricted viewing of the body. Prior to the death, relatives of people imprisoned in Jaslyk told Human Rights Watch that prison officials had placed Alimov in a punishment cell. He was reportedly placed there before the end of June and spent many weeks there before his death. Prisoners are often placed in such cells for praying or refusing to ask for forgiveness from Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Conditions are reportedly severe and beatings common. "Deaths under such circumstances are highly suspicious," said Andersen. "The Uzbek government must ensure that full and open investigations are conducted into these deaths and into the conditions and treatment of prisoners in Jaslyk. There is an urgent need for regular, independent, international monitoring of conditions there." A large number of police accompanied Alimov's body and were present during the funeral.

The father of another man who died in May, apparently after terrible beatings in Jaslyk, was reportedly detained by police directly after the funeral and sentenced Friday to 15 days in custody on an administrative charge, related to his attendance at the funeral. Police reportedly questioned him about how he heard about the funeral and why he attended. Both men were serving prison sentences on charges related to their religious activity. Since 1997, the government of Uzbekistan has waged a campaign against religious Muslims who practice their faith outside of state controls. The peaceful expression of independent religious views has landed thousands in prison on charges of extremism. The government has particularly targeted members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a banned Islamic group that calls for the peaceful reestablishment of the Caliphate in Central Asia. Uzbek authorities routinely prosecute those accused of affiliation with the group on charges of anti-state activities or possession or distribution of "illegal religious materials." "Torture is an unmistakable feature of this campaign," said Andersen. In the past fifteen months alone, Human Rights Watch has documented 11 deaths arising from suspicious circumstances in custody. According to information from the human rights group Memorial, Alimov was sentenced in 1999 to 16 years in prison, on a range of charges, including spreading religious "extremist" materials. Avazov was sentenced in mid-2000 to 20 years in prison. He had been accused of membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir. His sentence was reduced on appeal in February 2001 to 19 years.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

[Albert Soviets]

My favourite Metallica album is KILL 'EM ALL.

Any association you may make with this innocent statement and my feelings about the secret state are your own.

[Albert Soviets]

And one last thing. Anyone who thinks that torturing people was for a legitimate purpose and not a just a bit of a laugh for sadists and psychopaths must also believe that Dr. Mengele was a kindly uncle and humanist visionary.

[Albert Soviets]

Damn. Godwin's Law.

[Philandrea]

I was forced to google Godwins Law. And egad, it's true sir!