CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is concerned by rece=t reports that Uzbek officials are intensifying pressure against human rig=ts defenders in response to the political upheaval and violence in neighbo=ing Kyrgyzstan.
In Uzbekistan, many human rights defende=s have long faced harassment and state scrutiny of their activities. Often= the state has demonstrated a deep distrust for human rights advocacy, lab=ling activists as “enemies” of the state and accusing them of criminal act=vities. Now local sources report that Uzbek law enforcement agencies have =eceived orders from their superiors to increase vigilance and take prevent=tive measures with the population.
According to local sou=ces, human rights activists Saida Kurbanova and Mamir Asimov of Human Righ=s Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU), have been summoned by a local police stati=n, where they have been questioned and forced into signing warning notices=about their “illegal activities against the public.” Another HRSU staff ha= reported the spreading of false rumors about his work that he believes ma= be part of an attempt by the security forces to build a case against him.=Human Rights Alliance leader Elena Urlayeva, who has been working with Kyr=yz refugees, was harassed at her home on July 4, 2010 by an unknown woman =ggressively demanding that she stop her advocacy work. That same night, he= husband was attacked and severely beaten near their home by two men instr=cting him to “tame” his wife.
CIVICUS urges the Uzbek gov=rnment to put a stop to the apparent increase in state pressure on human r=ghts defenders and demonstrate a commitment to fulfilling their obligation= according to the Uzbek Constitution and international law. Freedom of exp=ession is protected by the Uzbekistan Constitution, as well as the Interna=ional Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Uzbekistan =s a party. Article 17 of the ICCPR further provides all individuals with t=e right to the protection of the law against arbitrary or unlawful interfe=ence with their privacy, family, home, or correspondence, as well as unlaw=ul attacks on honor or reputation.
CIVICUS: World Allianc= for Citizen Participation is a global movement of civil society with memb=rs and partners in over a hundred countries. The Civil Society Watch (CSW)=programme of CIVICUS tracks threats to civil society freedoms of expressio=, association and assembly across the world. In 2009, CSW tracked threats =o civil society in over 75 countries around the globe.
Fo= more information, please contact: Rowena McNaughton, Media and Communicat=ons Officer, CIVICUS, rowena.mcnaughton@civicus.org =r Sonia Zilberman and Stephanie Wesley, Civil Society Watch Programme, CIV=CUS, sonia.zilberman@civicus.org and stephanie.wesley@civi=us.org, Tel: +27 -11- 8335959 (office) +27 -76-8840402 (mobile)
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