The Jaslyk prison in Uzbekistan is planned for closure. According to a post in Human Rights Watch by Hugh Williamson and Steve Swerdlow Jaslyk Prison closure, albeit planned, is a major victory for Human Rights in Uzbekistan considering the notoriety of the prison. According to the post,

In early August, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced that the notorious Jaslyk prison would be closed. Jaslyk’s planned closure offers hope that Uzbekistan is on the path to making serious improvements in its terrible record on human rights.

Since it opened in 1999, Jaslyk stood as a symbol of Uzbekistan’s terrible human rights record, a “house of torture” for thousands of religious prisoners, government critics, and others. Some inmates never made it out alive.

Jaslyk, known for its hostile environment both outside and inside the prison, lies in a desert in the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan, northwestern Uzbekistan. It was here that stories first emerged of prisoners being tortured by immersion in boiling water; others were given electric shocks, had their fingernails removed, or given long stints in solitary confinement.

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