Mr. Alisher Karamatov, Head of HRSU…

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????: The Observatory: OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting: Contribution on “Fundamental freedoms”

OSCE HUMAN DIMENSION IMPLEMENTATION MEETING 2009

WARSAW, September 28 – October 9, 2009

Written contribution of
The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH)

and
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

Within the framework of their joint programme,
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Under working session 3 of the agenda on “Fundamental Freedoms”

September 29, 2009

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of their joint programme, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, wish to draw the attention of the Organisation for the Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the deteriorating situation of human rights defenders in some OSCE Participating States.

The Observatory indeed deplores the continuing crackdown on the independent civil society in some OSCE Participating States, a crackdown fuelled and strengthened amongst others by recent geopolitical developments in the OSCE area.

In 2009, freedoms of association and peaceful assembly remained flouted, as for example in Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and Belarus. The year 2009 was marked by an increase of the number of human rights defenders killed in the Russian Federation. Further, some defenders were or have continued to be arbitrarily detained or subjected to judicial harassment (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Turkey, Uzbekistan) while the authorities failed, in a number of cases, to protect human rights defenders when threatened or attacked by non-State actors (Russian Federation).

. . .

Threats and assaults faced by human rights defenders

. . .

In Uzbekistan, on April 15, 2009, Ms. Elena Urlaeva, a member of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan, was assaulted in Tashkent as she was leaving her home with her five-year-old son. Two young men wearing sunglasses beat her in the head and in the chest. They further insulted her and asked why she had not left Uzbekistan already. One of the assailants also made cuts in the jacket she was wearing. Her five-year-old son witnessed the entire attack.

Arbitrary detention and judicial harassment against human rights defenders

In 2009, a number of OSCE Participating States have continued to resort to abusive legislation or administrative practices contrary to international standards in an attempt to silence them.

. . .

In Uzbekistan, although some defenders were released in August 2009 pursuant to decisions of amnesty, several human rights defenders remain currently detained as a means to sanction them for their human rights activities. Some of them are suffering severe health problems as a result of poor conditions and ill-treatments in Uzbekistan’s notoriously abusive prison system. The following is a non-exhaustive list of imprisoned human rights defenders in Uzbekistan whose health condition would require early release to allow for adequate medical treatment:

– Mr. Salijon Abdurahmanov, a human rights activist and journalist, detained since June 7, 2008 is in a very dire situation. His health has severely deteriorated since his arrest and conviction last year. Despite the commitment of the prison authorities to send him to Sangorod (the prison hospital in the Tashkent area), no measure has been taken so far;

– Mr. Yusuf Juma, poet, writer and head of the human rights organisation “Sakhroi sherlar”, detained since December 17, 2007, is suffering from inhumane conditions of detention in the notorious Zhasyk prison. According to his daughter and relatives of Mr. Juma’s fellow prisoners, prison guards are continuously beating and humiliating him, who can hardly walk and is given an insufficient amount of food;

– Mr. Alisher Karamatov, Head of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU) branch in Mirzaabad district, arrested on April 29, 2006, was transferred from the prison Uya 64/49 to Uya 64/18, the sanitary prison in the Tashkent area, on October 12, 2008 because of his health condition. Mr. Karamatov contracted tuberculosis while in detention. His lawyer sought to secure his release on the basis of his health condition, but his attempts have not been successful so far;

– Mr. Norboy Kholjigitov, a 60-year-old member of the HRSU Ishtikhan region branch, has been detained since June 4, 2005. He is suffering from diabetes and is not provided the required medical care. First signs of incipient gangrene have appeared on his left leg and hand, as well as on his face;

– Mr. Khabibulla Okpulatov, member of the HRSU Ishtikhan district branch, arrested on June 4, 2005, is in a dire health condition. According to his relatives, he can not use his right leg and has serious sight problems, which require urgent medical care;

– Mr. Agzam Turgunov, Executive Director and founder of “Mazlum” human rights centre, in Tashkent, and advocate for the rights of prisoners of conscience and against torture, detained since July 11, 2008, was tortured during his interrogation. According to his son who visited him, Mr. Turgunov’s health conditions are worsening and he would weigh today only 40 kilograms. The prison administration has repeatedly ignored his complaints about his health and denied him medical care.

Furthermore, on February 11, 2009, the Tashkent Court of Appeal upheld the verdict in first instance against Ms. Lyudmila Kutepova, Ms. Victoria Bajenova, Ms. Elena Urlaeva, Mr. A. Mukhitdinov, Ms. T. Davlateva, Ms. Zulkhumor Tuychieva, Mr. A. Volkov, Ms. S. Baymatova, Mr. O. Sarapulov, and Ms. A. Kim, who had been sentenced to a 280,000 soms’ fine (the equivalent of 210 USD, i.e. ten minimum wages) for holding a peaceful protest on December 6, 2008. They were arrested for organising a demonstration near the Prosecutor’s office building in Tashkent on the occasion of the 60^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Uzbek Constitution action. The latter were demanding the release of human rights defenders, journalists and Muslims arbitrarily detained, as well as the end of persecutions on religious grounds.

In addition, on June 29, 2009, a court hearing took place before the Samarkand Oblast Criminal Court in the trial of Mr. Dilmurod Saidov, a journalist and member of the independent human rights organisation Ezgulik who collected and published information to defend farmers whose lands were lusted by local authorities representatives and denounced cases of abuse of power and corruption, thereby bringing up evidence of the involvement of various regional officials. Mr. Dilmurod Saidov has been accused of “extortion” and “production, forgery of documents, stamps, seals, blanks and their sale or use”. On July 30, Judge Navruz Mirmukhammedov, of the Taylasky District Court of the Samarkand region, sentenced Mr. Dilmurov Saidov to 12 years’ imprisonment. However, the sentence was not notified to his family, nor to his lawyers.

On July 18, 2009, Mr. Farhodon Mukhtarov, an active and long-standing member of the Human Rights Alliance of Uzbekistan, was arrested at the District Prosecutor’s office as he was in the premises to submit a statement and a complaint against illegal actions carried out by police officers and investigator Boymatov. The Prosecutor decided indeed to report his visit to the police station, which came to arrest him directly at the Prosecutor’s office. Mr. Mukhtarov was then brought to the Yunus-Abad police station. At the end of May 2009, Mr. Mukhtarov had already been briefly detained after a complaint had been reportedly filed against him by another Uzbek citizen, apparently for “fraud”. However, the authorities had refused to let him view the complaint.

Recommendations

In view of the alarming situation of human rights defenders in the OSCE area, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders urges OSCE Participating States to:

· Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of human rights defenders in the OSCE Participating States;

· Put an end to the continuous repression of human rights defenders and their organisations;

· Release immediately and unconditionally all human rights defenders since their detention is arbitrary as it only aims at sanctioning their human rights activities;

· Order immediate, thorough, impartial and transparent investigations into the above-mentioned threats, acts of harassment, attacks and assassinations in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law;

· Fully recognise the vital role of defenders in the advent of democracy and the rule of law;

· Review their national legislation to conform with international and regional human rights instruments, in particular regarding freedoms of association and assembly;

· Comply with the provisions of the final document of the 1990 Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension, of the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) and of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly;

· Support and implement all recommendations brought to them from the March 2006 Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Human Rights Defenders;

· Comply with the provisions of the resolution titled “Strengthening OSCE engagement with human rights defenders and national human rights institutions”, adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Kiev on July 10, 2007;

· Fully take into account the suggestions of commitments listed in the Report submitted to the OSCE Ministerial Council in response to MC Decision No. 17/05 on Strengthening the Effectiveness of the OSCE;

· Strengthen the Focal Point for Human Rights Defenders and National Human Rights Institutions established by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in order to provide it with means to develop its protective mandate.

Contacts:

– E-mail: Appeals@fidh- omct.org

– Tel and fax FIDH: + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

– Tel and fax OMCT: + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

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