International human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported widely on prison conditions in Uzbekistan, and have noted that torture is widespread in both pre-trial and post-conviction facilities. Furthermore, according to Human Rights Watch, numerous detainees have died in custody as a direct result of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, with the official cause of death often stated to be suicide, accidental overdose while trafficking drugs, severe intestinal illness or tuberculosis.

Claims of torture appear to be particularly prevalent amongst those detained for their criticism of the authorities - both to obtain confessions and as a form of punishment. As a result there are grave fears surrounding the treatment of those featured in this campaign - most of whom claim to have been tortured in detention.

As a result of Uzbekistan's increased international visibility since September 11 2001 the levels of torture and of deaths in custody in Uzbekistan have come under increased scrutiny, and some positive developments have occurred recently as a result. These include the introduction of a draft law to permit complaints against torture and the sentencing of seven law enforcement officers to prison terms for torture in separate cases in 2002, and the creation of a national plan on how to implement the UN's recommendations to stop the use of torture with the UNDP (United Nations Development Program).

However, the positive steps that have been taken tend to be qualified by negative elements. For instance, the Uzbek government took the positive but long overdue step of allowing the United Nations Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur against torture visit the country in November 2002. However, the conclusion drawn from the visit was that torture was 'systematic' in Uzbekistan, and that 'many confessions obtained through torture and other illegal means were then used as evidence in trials [including] in trials that are leading to the death penalty or to very severe punishment.'

The Uzbek authorities have denied the criticism, stating that torture is 'not systematic' in Uzbekistan. However, an official has also been quoted as saying that 'the Uzbek authorities make no secret of the gross violations of human rights committed in prisons and are working to put an end to this practice.' Nevertheless, international assessments of progress carried out recently are largely negative, and the level of reform that the Uzbek authorities are prepared to achieve remains to be seen.