In late April, Turkey extradited two Uzbek dissidents,...

In late April, Turkey extradited two Uzbek dissidents, Rustem Mametkulov and Zaynuttin Askarov, after receiving guarantees from Tashkent that the death penalty would not be demanded for them. Ankara had to demand the guarantee since the two convicted of having a role in the February 16 assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the court subsequently ordered Turkey to suspend the extradition procedures. The European Convention for Human Rights does not allow any signatory to extradite foreign citizens to a country where they face capital punishment, as is the case in Uzbekistan.