The following is a news article. 2 Uzbek Inmates Die of Torture By MANSUR MIROVALEV 23rd November 2007 MOSCOW (AP) — Two Uzbek men convicted of Islamic extremism have died in prison and their bodies showed signs of severe torture, relatives and a rights activist said Thursday. The torture of people imprisoned for alleged Islamic extremism has increased ahead of next month's presidential elections in Uzbekistan, human rights advocate Surat Ikramov said. President Islam Karimov is running for a third term on Dec. 23 despite a constitutional two-term limit. Thousands of devout Muslims in the former Soviet nation have been targeted by authorities fearful of the growing threat of Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia. The body of Takhir Nurmukhammedov, 42, was delivered to his family on Nov. 15 and it was clear he had been "brutally, inhumanly tortured," one of his sisters said. The sister, speaking on condition of anonymity because she feared reprisals, said she had visited
"Thoughts are the greatest wealth of any nation."