Erkin Musaev (born in 1967) is a former Uzbek military officer serving a 15-year prison sentence on charges of espionage for the United States. Musaev denies the charges and says he was forced to confess under psychological and physical pressure after his arrest in 2006. On February 23, 2009, a United Nations human-rights office declared his detention arbitrary.
Musaev held a highly sensitive position within Uzbekistan’s ministry of defense. Between 2001 and 2004 he spearheaded Uzbekistan’s military cooperation with the Pentagon at a time when the U.S. maintained a military base inside Uzbekistan. That base was established in support of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, just across Uzbekistan’s Southern border. In 2005, after the Uzbek regime launched a brutal crackdown on protesters in the town of Andijan, Uzbekistan’s alliance with the West crumbled. Rejecting calls for an independent investigation, the Uzbeks evicted the Americans from the military base. Musaev had left the defense ministry by then and was working as a manager of a UN border and counter-narcotics project. During his arrest in Tashkent airport, customs officials found a computer diskette with allegedly classified information stuck in the outer pocket of his checked suitcase. Musaev said the diskette had been planted in his luggage. During his detention, Musaev complained of frequent torture. Musaev’s family hopes his case might get another look now that the relations between the U.S. and Uzbekistan are improving. Washington is using Uzbek territory to ship supplies for its massive military and civilian effort in Afghanistan, augmenting the problematic Pakistani route.
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