Security and political repression continues to be tight against the background of the unrest in MENA. Rather than addressing the concerns of human rights groups and some Western governments, Uzbekistan has made retrograde steps-the latest of which was the expulsion of Human Rights Watch, an NGO (April 2011, The political scene). However, Human Rights Watch welcomed the release of Yusuf Jumaev, a leading political prisoner, on May 18th. Mr Jumaev is one of the country's best-known poets, and had been one of the country's highest-profile political prisoners. Mr Jumaev had served three years of a five-year sentence in a prison in Jaslyk, a notorious jail where torture is reported to be endemic. He was jailed in 2008 on spurious charges of resisting arrest and wounding two policemen. He had called for Mr Karimov to resign in the run-up to the presidential election in 2007. Mr Jumaev was released early and allowed to leave Uzbekistan for the US. The 53-year-old had previously been given a suspended sentence in 2001 for insulting Mr Karimov's dignity, an offence for which he received a presidential pardon. Human rights groups and foreign governments had consistently called for his release.

Following his release, which appeared to be linked to a public apology that Mr Jumaev made to Mr Karimov, Mr Jumaev spoke publicly about his maltreatment at the hands of the prison authorities. It was already well known that he had been tortured, placed in solitary confinement and attacked by other prisoners. In addition, according to Mr Jumaev, every fortnight he was placed in a small closed container within a police van and driven to Nukus, the nearest large city, and back-a journey of 500 km.