Ms.Margaret Sekaggya Special Rapporteur..

Ms.Margaret Sekaggya
Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders
Re: Imprisoned human rights defenders in Uzbekistan
December 12th 2008
Dear Ms. Sekaggya,
In support of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU), and in solidarity with all
human rights defenders in Uzbekistan, Front Line urges the United Nations to call on the
Uzbek authorities to immediately release 14 human rights defenders, as well as 4 familymembers
of human rights defenders, who remain in detention and who are at great risk of
torture and ill-treatment. The Uzbek Government has a long-standing record of torture,
control, intimidation, and arbitrary suspension of, or interference with, the work of civil
society groups, the media, human rights defenders, and opposition political parties. Illtreatment
of detainees and serious procedural violations of their rights, as well as harsh
treatment of human rights defenders and political opponents is widespread. In 2003, the U.N.
Special Rapporteur on Torture characterised torture as “systematic” in Uzbekistan.
The situation for human rights defenders and independent journalists has continued to
deteriorate in 2008 as the authorities further restrict their freedom of speech, assembly and
movement. At least 14 human rights defenders, as well as 4 family-members of a human
rights defenders, continue to serve long prison terms in cruel, inhuman and degrading
conditions, having been convicted after unfair trials. Several of them were reportedly tortured
or otherwise ill-treated in detention. Those human rights defenders and journalists not forced
into exile and not in detention are routinely monitored by uniformed or plain-clothes law
enforcement officers. Human rights defenders are regularly called in for questioning to their
local police stations, placed under house arrest or otherwise prevented from attending
meetings with foreign diplomats or delegations, and from taking part in peaceful
demonstrations. Human rights defenders and journalists continue to report threats by members
of the security services for carrying out legitimate activities and several have reported being
beaten by law enforcement officers or people they suspected of working for the security
services. Relatives of human rights defenders also report being threatened and harassed by
security forces; some have been detained and jailed in order to put pressure on human rights
defenders. It is in this context that Front Line and the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan
call for the release of those named below:
1. Norboi Kholzhigitov – Chairperson of the Ishtikhan district branch of the HRSU,
arrested on 4 June 2005, sentenced on 18 October to 10-years imprisonment by the
Samarkand District Criminal Court.
2. Sattor Izraev – member of the Ishtikan district branch of the HRSU, arrested on 4 June
2005, sentenced on 18 October to 6-years imprisonment by the Samarkand District
Criminal Court.
3. Khabibulla Akpulatov – member of the Ishtikan district branch of the HRSU, arrested
on 4 June 2005, sentenced on 18 October to 6-years imprisonment by the Samarkand
district Criminal court.
4. Nasim Isakov – member of the Jizak regional branch of the HRSU, arrested on 27
October 2005, sentenced on 20 December 2006 to 8-years imprisonment by the Jizak
City Court and is currently detained in colony 64/3 in Tashkent.
5. Azam Formonov – Chairperson of the Cyrdarya regional branch of the HRSU,
sentenced on 15 June 2006 to 9-years imprisonment by the Yangier City Court. He is
currently detained in colony 64/71 near Zhaslyk, Republic of Karakalpakstan.
6. Alisher Karamatov – Chairperson of the Mirzaabad district branch of HRSU in the
Syrdarya region, sentenced on 15 June 2006 to 9-years imprisonment by the Yangier
City Court. He is currently detained in colony 64/49 in Karshi, Kashkadarya.
7. Jamshid Karimov – independent journalist, member of the HRSU, correspondent for
the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) and nephew of President Islam
Karimov. He was sentenced on 22 September 2006 to 3-years confinement in a
psychiatric hospital by the Jizak City Court. He is reportedly undergoing “treatment”
despite doctors and medical commissioners failing to give an official diagnosis and
allegedly admitting that there is nothing wrong with his mental health.
8. Yuldash Rasulev – member of the Kashkadarya regional branch of the HRSU, arrested
in April 2007 and sentenced in October 2007 to 10-years imprisonment.
9. Zafar Rakhimov – member of the Kashkadarya regional branch of the HRSU. He was
arrested in Karshi in April 2007 and sentenced in October 2007 to 6-years
imprisonment.
10. Abdurasul Khudoynazarov – head of the Angren district branch of “Ezgulik”, arrested
in July 2005 and sentenced to 6-years imprisonment by the Angren City Court.
11. Yusuf Juma – prominent writer, human rights defender and pro-democracy activist in
Uzbekistan. He was arrested in the Tashkent Region on 22 December 2007. On 15
April 2008, Yusuf Juma was charged with assault and “insulting and resisting
representatives of the government”. Yusuf Juma was sentenced to 5-years
imprisonment.
12. Mashrab Juma – son of dissident writer Yusuf Juma. He was arrested on 4 December
2007. Mashrab was sentenced to 3-years imprisonment on falsified charges of
stabbing a man. On 17 March Bukhara Region’s Jondor District court extended his
prison term from three to four years after hearing an appeal on his case.
13. Salijon Abdurahmanov – founding member and leading journalist with Uznews.net,
member of the Real Union of Journalists of Uzbekistan, and a member of the
Committee to Protect Individuals Rights in Karakalpakstan. He has also worked for
Radio Liberty and the IWPR and has spoken out against human rights violations and
restrictions on freedom of expression in Uzbekistan. He was arrested on 7 June 2008
after drugs were planted in his car. On 10 October 2008 Karakalpakstan’s Tahtakupir
District court sentenced Salijon Abdurahmanov to 10 years in jail, finding him guilty
of drug dealing.
14. Agzam Turgunov – head of the Mazlum Human Rights Organisation and director of
the Tashkent section of the Erk Party, was detained in Karakalpakstan on 11 July
2008. Agzam Turgunov was jailed on October 23 2008 along with Hamza Salayev, a
resident of Mangit, for 10 years by Karakalpakstan’s Mangit town court without solid
evidence proving the case of extortion against them.
15. – 18 The family members of Ahmadjan Madmarov – regional Chairperson of the
Independent Human Rights Organisation of Uzbekistan, NOPCHU. His sons and
nephews, Abdulahat Madmarov, Abdullah Madmarov, Habidulla Madmarov and
Abdusamad Madmarov, were arrested, detained and ill-treated to persecute him for his
human rights activities. He is the winner of the 2006 Front Line Award for human
rights defenders at risk.
Limited progress has been made with regard to the treatment of human rights defenders over
the course of 2007 and 2008. Some human rights defenders have received amnesties,
including Saidjahon Zainabitdinov (Chairperson, Apelliatsia), Umida Niyazova (Journalist)
and Ihtiyor Hamraev (member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan and son of human
rights defender Bakhtiyor Hamraev), Dilmurod Muhitdinov(member of the human rights
organisation Ezgulik in the Andijan region), Mamarajab Nazarov (head of Ezgulik in the
Zarbdor District of Jizak Region).
Mutabar Tadjibaeva, head of the human rights organisation, The Burning Hearts Club, and the
winner of the 2008 Martin Ennals Award and the French Human Rights Award 2008, has
been released for “health reasons”. Front Line and HRSU have welcomed the release of
imprisoned human rights defenders, but remain concerned that the releases were conditional
and the original sentences still stand. Whilst in prison, human rights defenders are routinely
placed in solitary confinement, denied adequate medical care and attention, and denied visits
from family members.
The HRSU and Front Line are gravely concerned by the ongoing persecution of human rights
defenders in Uzbekistan. Continuous threats and acts of harassment are major obstacles
toward the establishment of an environment conducive to human rights activities in the
country and seriously hinder the work of human rights defenders.
Front Line and the HRSU call upon the Organisation of the United Nations to urge the
authorities in Uzbekistan to prioritise the protection of human rights defenders and in doing
so, to:
1. Immediately release all of the aforementioned human rights defenders who remain in
detention as it is believed that they have been jailed solely on account of their
legitimate human rights activities.
2. Conduct an independent inquiry into the threats, ill-treatment, torture and all forms of
intimidation and harassment directed towards all human rights defenders in
Uzbekistan, with a view to identifying those responsible, publishing the results and
bringing those responsible to justice.
3. Ensure that all detained human rights defenders have access to regular visits by family
and lawyers, as well as, adequate medical attention where necessary.
4. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders
whilst in prison and ensure that they are not tortured or ill-treated, as is their right
under Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
5. Take measures to legitimise the work of human rights defenders and organisations,
including through legal registration.
6. Immediately cease the practice of enforced psychiatric hospitalisation of human rights
defenders.
7. Ensure that all human rights defenders in Uzbekistan are free to carry out their
legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals or restrictions.
Abdujalil Boymatov, Deputy Chairperson, Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan.
The Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU) has been active since 2 February 1992. The
HRSU have 600 members and branches in 11 regions of Uzbekistan and in the autonomous
republic of Karakalpakstan. Over the years, 28 HRSU members have been unlawfully
convicted and imprisoned.
_________________
Mary Lawlor,
Director,
Front Line
Front Line, the international foundation for the protection of human rights defenders, has the
specific aim of protecting defenders of human rights and of providing them with “round-theclock”
practical support so that they can continue their legitimate work in protecting the
rights of others. Front Line supports the promotion of an environment where human rights
defenders are able to carry out their activities without any intimidation, harassment or fear of
reprisals.