[JURIST] Russian prosecutors said Thursday that they had approved a request from Uzbekistan [JURIST news archive] to extradite 13 people accused of terrorist acts in connection with last year's uprising in Andijan [JURIST news archive] that resulted in the massacre of unarmed Uzbek civilians [BBC backgrounder]. Russian officials said that Uzbekistan suspects the men incited extremist acts during the uprising and committed murder.

Memorial [advocacy website], a Moscow-based human rights group, says the cases against the 13 men are false and fear they will face torture when they return to Uzbekistan. Memorial has also asserted that the men have been determined to be refugees by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees [official website], but that the government has refused to recognize their refugee status. The Russian Prosecutor General's office [official website, in Russian] said Uzbek prosecutors assured Russian authorities that the 13 men would not be tortured or sentenced to death. MosNews has more. RFE/RL has additional coverage.