Once justice and legitimacy fade away a state becomes a gang of bandits.
Augustine Aurelius.

The statement of Human rights Society of Uzbekistan
About compulsory and child labour in Uzbekistan

The August, 5th, 2009

Since 2004, Uzbek and international human rights organizations have constantly brought up the question on the use of child and forced labour in the cultivation of a cotton and by the authorities of Uzbekistan. The authorities have not recognized or have denied compulsory attraction of schoolboys, 12-16 aged, to agricultural works. With the boycott beginning on the purchase of the Uzbek cotton by a number of known foreign firms, such as Tesco, Walmart, Target, Levi Strauss, Gap, Limited Brands and Marks and Spencer and H&M the authorities of Uzbekistan in first half of 2008 were forced to ratify two documents of the United Nations on child labour, namely the Convention of the International Labour Organization No.138 “About the minimum age for employment” and the United Nations No.182 “About prohibition and immediate measures on eradication of the worst forms of child labour”. more…

UZB 005 / 0809 / OBS 114

Arbitrary detention / Harassment

Uzbekistan

August 5, 2009

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Uzbekistan.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention of Ms. Oyazimkhon Khidirova, member of the Djizak branch of the Uzbekistan International Society for Human Rights, one the few NGOs registered with the Ministry of Justice. Ms. Khidirova is an active defender of the rights of farmers and she has been denouncing corruption at the local level.

According to the information received, in the morning of July 28, 2009, agents of the ROVD (local delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) in Dustlik arrested Ms. Oyazimkhon Khidirova. The latter was then placed in detention and charged under Articles 277-3-g (hooliganism) , 184 (tax evasion or other payments), 205 (abuse of power or office) and 168 (fraud) of the Criminal Code, reportedly on the basis of criminal proceedings that were initiated against her on July 16, 2009.

On August 3, 2009, the Arnaysaysky District Criminal Court confirmed Ms. Oyazimkhon Khidirova’s detention throughout the stage of the investigation. The latter immediately lodged an appeal.

On August 5, 2009, the Djizak Court of Appeal was to issue a decision regarding this appeal, but no information could be obtained on that question as of issuing this urgent appeal.

Ms. Oyazimkhon Khidirova would remain held at the medical division of the Dustlik detention centre, since her health status would have deteriorated while in detention.

Further, her house would have been searched on July 29, 2009 by representatives of the police forces, reportedly with the aim of discovering weapons, drugs and religious literature, but nothing of this kind was found.

The Observatory expresses its deep concern at Ms. Oyazimkhon Khidirova’s arbitrary detention, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning her human rights activities, in particular the disclosure of information concerning the situation of farmers in the Dustlik district implicating local public officials. More recently, she directly targeted the District Prosecutor and Vice-Governor of the district (vice-hakim) for acts of corruption in an open letter addressed to President Karimov. more…