Jizak-based human rights activist Bahtiyor Hamrayev dies.

 

 

	Bahtiyor Hamrayev (1955-2013); photo: frontlinedefenders.org

07.05.13 21:44

Jizak-based human rights activist Bahtiyor Hamrayev dies

 

Bahtiyor Hamrayev, the chairman of the Jizak branch of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan, died on 4 May, aged 59.

The human rights activist, who was under constant pressure by the Uzbek authorities, died of liver cancer.

He continued working on human rights right up until his death, revealing and reporting human rights violations to the World, and helping the families of jailed human rights activists.

Bahtiyor Hamrayev described himself as a “man who never fell into depression”

“My dream

My dream is to see a prosperous Uzbekistan in the future”
Bahtiyor Hamrayev

is to see a prosperous Uzbekistan. I do not consider Uzbekistan a separate state. There have always been struggles within Central Asia, which has lots of natural resources given by Allah.

“I want to see all five countries united economically as the European Union has done, and for there to be an improvement in the people’s well-being. This is exactly what I want,” Hamrayev told Jaravon.com three months before his death.

The French human rights organization “The Fiery Hearts’ Club” nominated Bahityor Hamrayev for the 2013 Frontline Defenders Award.

On 28 January, Hamrayev was among the six shortlisted.

Bahtiyor Hamrayev was born on 12 January 1955 in the village of Chelek (formerly known as Formankul Payaryk) in the Samarkand Region.

In 1975 he graduated from the Tashkent professional trade school, but then worked in the construction of the Volgodon nuclear machine building plant in Russia’s Rostov Region. Between 1982 and 1992 he worked as a courier at the Jizak Department for Special Communications.

He joined the Birlik People’s Movement in 1989. In 1996, he was elected chair of the Jizak branch of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan.

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