It is a violation of international law to return people to a place where they will be persecuted and tortured. Kazakh officials had an obligation to know the risk these men faced if returned, but sent them back anyway.
The government needs to show both perpetrators and victims that violence against minorities will not be tolerated. Condemning ethnically motivated attacks for what they are, and bringing those responsible to justice are crucial.
The judge did not give sufficient weight to the defendants' statements that they confessed under torture, even though the widespread use of torture in Uzbekistan is well-documented.
The international community should insist on a full account of what happened and how these asylum seekers and others ended up in Uzbek custody.
The government's crackdown on civil society is unprecedented, even in Uzbekistan's 14-year history of repression since independence from the Soviet Union.
These men went to Kazakhstan seeking safety, but now face torture and imprisonment. The Kazakh government shares responsibility for their fate and must come clean about its role in their illegal detention and return.
This really isn't about the visa at all. This is about the authorities not wanting to let us document the abuses there.
This is a shocking attempt on the life of a respected human rights defender and champion of the rule of law.
The Uzbek government's promises not to torture these men are not worth the paper they're written on. Diplomatic assurances of this type from Uzbekistan do not provide a reliable safeguard against torture and ill-treatment.
This unprecedented assault on the work of human rights groups will invariably undermine the rights of all Russians.