Aug 172009
 
HUMAN RIGHTS < back
Gulnara Karimova
17.08.09 16:29
Gulnara Karimova gets chance to improve from “the worst daughter”
Uznews.net – The president of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU), Abdujalil Boymatov, has sent Gulnara Karimova a letter urging her to help to free the imprisoned human rights activist, Norboy Holjigitov, whose advanced diabetes led to his limbs’ gangrene.

Today HRSU President Abdujalil Boymatov sent a letter to the Uzbek envoy to the UN Gulnara Karimova in Geneva, requesting for her urgent involvement in releasing the imprisoned human rights activist, Norboy Holjigitov, who is suffering from a severe form of pancreatic diabetes.

“I am appealing to you as a young politician and the Uzbek ambassador in the UNO, hoping to find the kind heart of a woman and a human-being in you.

I am asking you to help urgently to free the ill and old man, Norboy Holjigitov, a member of the HRSU in Ishtihan District of Samarkand Region, from the 64/49 prison in Karshi. Continue reading »

Aug 132009
 

HUMAN RIGHTS < back
Norboy Holjigitov
13.08.09 17:25
Uzbekistan deprives civil rights convict of diabetes treatment
Uznews.net – Samarkand-based human rights activist Norboy Holjigitov, 61, has been driven by Uzbek jailers to serious condition because as a diabetes patient he is not receiving treatment and cannot even walk now, the Dublin-based Front Line human rights organisation has said.

Front Line said that Holjigitov, who was sentenced to 10 years in 2005, was now in serious condition at Karshi’s UYa 64/49 prison. Relatives of the activist visited him prison recently and let the organisation know about his state.

Since he did not receive treatment in prison sugar levels in his blood had damaged his mobility. He needs assistance now.

Relatives told Front Line that the activist looked much worse now than he looked previously. He has lost all his teeth but one and is now suffering from depression, relatives said. Continue reading »

Aug 122009
 

Uzbekistan: Serious concerns at the deteriorating health of human rights defender Norboy Kholjigitov

Posted on 2009/08/12

Front Line is seriously concerned by new reports of the deteriorating health conditions of human rights defender Norboy Kholjigitov, former President of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU), Ishtikhan district. Continue reading »

Aug 072009
 

One Of The ‘World’s Worst Daughters’

August 07, 2009
After running last week a list of the worst-behaved sons of world leaders, “Foreign Policy” magazine this week looks at the daughters.

Leading the way is Uzbek president’s daughter Gulnara Karimova, who was also appointed as the country’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva:

[B]ack home, Karimova is likely being groomed as successor to her brutal dictator father and has used his influence to amass her own formidable financial holdings.

The consequences of crossing Karimova became clear in 2001 when she divorced her husband, an Afghan-American businessman with extensive holdings in Uzbekistan, and took their children out of the United States in violation of a court order. The unfortunate ex-husband’s Coca-Cola bottling factory in Uzbekistan was promptly shut down, three of his relatives were imprisoned, and 24 were deported at gunpoint to Afghanistan. In 2006, Karimova, whose business interests include most of Uzbekistan’s tea industry, reportedly sent hooded men with machine guns to shut down a rival company and liquidate their holdings.

She also has a burgeoning music career.

— Luke Allnutt

Posted At: 07 August 12:39

Aug 042009
 

Uzbekistan: Human right defender Dilmurod Sayid sentenced to 12.5 years of imprisonment

Posted on 2009/08/04

Uzbek human rights defender, Mr Dilmurod Sayid, was sentenced to 12.5 years of imprisonment on 30 July 2009, following a procedurally flawed trial which had allegedly been instigated by politically-motivated charges.

Further Information

Dilmurod Sayid is an activist of the Tashkent regional branch of the human rights society “Ezgulik”. Prior to his trial, he wrote as independent journalist for the internet site, “Voice of Freedom,” and also defended the rights of farmers in the Samarkand region, whose lands have been illegally seized by the local administration. Front Line previously issued an urgent appeal concerning the trial of Dilmurod Sayid on 24 February 2009.

On 30 July 2009, the Tailak Distict court of Uzbekistan sentenced Dimurod Sayid to 12.5 years of imprisonment under Articles 165 (extortion) and 228 (forgery) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan. The verdict was passed behind closed doors and neither his lawyer, Ruhiddin Komilov, his public defender, Abdurakhman Tashanov, nor his family members had been informed of the trial date in advance.

On 22 February 2009, Dilmurod Sayid was arrested at his home on charges of extortion by the Tashkent branch of the State Tax Committee, under orders from the General Prosecutor’s Office of Uzbekistan.

Following numerous inconsistencies in the investigation and violations of fair trial standards in which court hearings were repeatedly conducted without notice to defence lawyer, the trial began in June 2009.

During the trial several key witnesses withdrew their testimonies and stated that they had been pressurised into giving false evidence against Dilmurod Sayid, however the state prosecutor nonetheless asked the judge for a punishment of 14.5 years of imprisonment.

Dilmurod Sayid suffers from acute tuberculosis and there is serious risk for his health in detention without adequate treatment. Continue reading »

Aug 042009
 

Uzbekistan: Human rights defender, Ms Oyazimhon Hidirova facing charges of “hooliganism”

Posted on 2009/08/04

Human rights defender, Ms Oyazimhon Hidirova, is facing charges of “hooliganism” following her arrest on 28 July 2009. Oyazimhon Hidirova is a member of the International Society of Human Rights of Uzbekistan (ISHRU) and works in the defence of farmers’ land rights in the Djizak region. Front Line is concerned that these charges are directly related to her human rights work.

Further Information

On 28 July 2009, Oyazimhon Hidirova was arrested and detained by representatives of the Department of the Interior of the Dustlik district on charges of “hooliganism.”

The day after, on 29 July 2009, Oyazimhon Hidirova’s home was searched by the police in her absence and in the absence of her lawyer or a representative of her family. On 31 July 2009, Dustlik district criminal court opened a criminal case against Oyazimhon Hidirova under Article 168.2 (fraud), Article 184 (tax evasion) and Article 277.3 (hooliganism) of the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan. Continue reading »

Aug 042009
 

HUMAN RIGHTS
Oyazimhon Hidirova
04.08.09 23:25
Jizak rights activist appeals against her detention
Uznews.net – Lawyers of Jizak-based farmer and human rights activist Oyazimhon Hidirova have appealed against the Arnasay District court’s ruling in line with which Hidirova is being held in custody while an investigation into her case is under way.

The appeal, submitted today, will be heard tomorrow but it is not clear whether she would be able to attend it because while in custody her condition has deteriorated.

At the trial on 31 July she fainted and was taken to the detention centre’s medical unit and she is still there in serious condition.

Local activists said that Hidirova was detained on 28 July on charges of fraud, tax evasion and hooliganism.

The Arnasay District court ordered that she would be kept in custody while an investigation into her case was under way.

They said that she had been detained after she exposed cases of corruption in Jizak Region as a result of which she lost her plot of land.

This prompted her to join a human rights organisation and fight for justice. Now the mother of two is facing an unjust trial and a long sentence, local sympathisers said.

Jul 312009
 


Gulbahor Turayeva; photo: ferghana.ru
31.07.09 22:46
Husband of rights activist assaulted in Andijan

Uznews.net – The husband of human rights activist Gulbahor Turayeva who was pardoned and released was violently beaten up in Andijan on 25 July. This attack is a result of a campaign launched against Turayeva’s family, the Initiative Group of Independent Human Rights Activists of Uzbekistan believes.

The group said that Turayeva’s husband Farit Yangildin was attacked outside his home in Andijan’s residential area on the night of 25 July.

His neighbours Dmitriy Yakubovich and Vladimir Akulshin beat him up and demanded that he and his family move out from Andijan within 15 days, threatened with consequences if he refuses. Continue reading »

Jul 242009
 

poetandhrdyusufjumaUzbekistan: Political Prisoner Abused in Detention

Authorities Should Free Yusuf Jumaev Without Delaygeneva.15.12.2008.

(New York, July 24, 2009) – Uzbek authorities should promptly investigate allegations of ill-treatment against the jailed dissident Yusuf Jumaev and ensure his prompt release from prison, Human Rights Watch said today.

In mid-June 2009, officials at Jaslyk Prison put Jumaev in an isolation cell for eight days without giving him any reason, family members said. He was transferred back to his regular cell only after his health deteriorated severely, said his daughter, who met with him earlier this month. Because the isolation cell is right above the prison kitchen, it is very hot.

Jumaev’s family said that prison guards had burned him several times during his detention by placing a hot electric teapot on his shoulders. He was reportedly denied use of a toilet and was not allowed out of the cell at all during the eight days. He was also denied food and water for at least two of the days. Continue reading »